Wu Cheng-en - Journey to the West (vol. 1)

“I wondered why the elder came today,” the monster thought, “and why he came so soon, and now I see that it's really him.” He leapt to his feet, grabbed his halberd, and thrust at Monkey. Monkey pulled the cudgel from his ear in a flash, reverted to his true form, parried the halberd's blade, jumped out from the main room into the courtyard, and fought his way back out through the front gates. This terrified all the fiends in the cave, scaring the wits out of young and old alike. The fine combat on the mountain that ensued was even better than the previous one.

The courageous Monkey King was now a monk,

The cunning dark fellow had hidden the Buddha's robe.

At matching words they were both masters;

In making the most of chances there was nothing between them.

The cassock could not be seen, whatever one wished;

A hidden treasure is a true wonder.

When the junior demon on mountain patrol announced a disaster,

The old fiend in his fury showed his might.

Monkey transformed himself and fought his way out of the cave,

As halberd and cudgel strove to decide the issue.

The club blocked the lengthy halberd with resounding clangs;

The halberd gleamed as it parried the iron club.

Sun Wukong's transformations were rare on earth;

Few could rival the foul fiend's magic.

One wanted to take the robe to bring himself long life;

One had to have the cassock to return with honour.

This bitter struggle was not to be broken up;

Even a Living Buddha could not have resolved it.

From the mouth of the cave the pair of them fought to the top of the mountain, and from the top of the mountain they battled their way beyond the clouds. They breathed out wind and mist, set sand and stones flying, and struggled till the red sun set in the West, but the contest was still undecided. Then the monster said, “Stop for the moment, Monkey. It's too late to go on fighting tonight. Go away, go away. Come back tomorrow, and we'll see which of us is to live and which to die.”

“Don't go, my child,” Monkey shouted back. “If you want to fight, fight properly. Don't use the time of day as an excuse to get out of it.” With that he struck wildly at the dark fellow, who changed himself into a puff of wind, went back to his cave, and fastened the stone gates tightly shut.

Monkey could think of no alternative to going back to the Guanyin Monastery. Bringing his cloud down, he called to his master, who had been waiting for him anxiously until he appeared suddenly before his eyes. Sanzang was very glad, until seeing that there was no cassock in Monkey's hands his happiness turned to fear. “Why haven't you got the cassock this time either?” he asked.

Brother Monkey produced the invitation from his sleeve, and as he handed it to Sanzang he said, “Master, that fiend was friends with that dead crook. He sent a junior goblin with this invitation asking him to go to a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet'. I killed the goblin, made myself look like the old monk, went into the cave, and tricked a cup of tea out of them. I asked him to let me see the cassock, but he wouldn't bring it out. Then as we were sitting there a mountain patrolman of some sort gave the game away, so he started to fight me. We fought till just now, and neither of us was on top, when he saw that it was late, shot back to his cave and shut the stone doors behind him. This meant that I had to come back for the moment.”

“How do your tricks compare with his?” Sanzang asked.

“I'm not much better than him,” Monkey replied, “and I can only keep my end up.” Sanzang read the invitation and handed it to the prelate.

“Can it be that your Patriarch was an evil spirit?” he said.

The prelate fell to knees as fast as he could and said, “My lord, he was human. But because that Great Black King was cultivating the ways of humanity he often came to our temple to discuss the scriptures with our Patriarch, and taught him some of the arts of nourishing the divine and controlling the vital essence. That was why they were on friendly terms.”

“None of these monks have anything satanic about them,” Monkey said. “They all have their heads in the air and their feet on the ground, and are taller and fatter than I am. They're not evil spirits. Do you see where it says 'Your pupil Bear' on the invitation? He must be a black bear who has become a spirit.”

To this Sanzang said, “There's an old saying that 'Bears and baboons are alike'. If they are all animals, how can they become spirits?” Monkey laughed and replied, “I'm an animal too, but I became the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. I'm just the same as him. All the creatures on heaven and earth that have nine openings to their bodies can cultivate their conduct and become Immortals.”

“Just now you said his abilities were the same as yours, so how are you going to beat him and get the cassock back?” Sanzang went on to ask. “Don't worry, don't worry,” Monkey replied, “I can manage.” As they were talking, the monks brought their evening meal and invited them to eat. The Sanzang asked for a lamp and went to bed in the front meditation hall as before. The monks all slept under thatched shelters rigged up against the walls, leaving the abbot's quarters at the back for the senior and junior prelate. It was a peaceful night.

The Milky Way was clear,

The jade firmament free of dust.

The sky was full of coruscating stars,

A single wave wiped out the traces.

Stilled were all sounds,

And the birds were silent on a thousand hills.

The fisherman's light beside the bank was out,

The Buddha-lamp in the pagoda dimmed.

Last night the abbot's bell and drum had sounded;

This evening the air was filled with weeping.

This night he spent asleep in the monastery. Sanzang, however, could not sleep for thinking about the cassock. He turned over, and seeing that the sky was growing light outside the window, got straight out of bed and said, “Monkey, it's light, go and get the cassock.” Brother Monkey bounded out of bed, and in an instant a host of monks was in attendance, offering hot water.

“Look after my master properly,” he said. “I'm off.”

Sanzang got out of bed and seized hold of him. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“I've been thinking,” said Monkey, “that this whole business is the Bodhisattva Guanyin's fault. Although this is her monastery and she receives the worship of all these monks, she allows that evil spirit to live in the neighbourhood. I'm going to the Southern Sea to find her and ask her to come here herself to make that evil spirit give us back the cassock.”

“When will you come back?” Sanzang asked.

“After you've finished breakfast at the earliest, and by midday at latest, I'll have done the job. Those monks had better look after you well. I'm off now.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he had disappeared without a trace and reached the Southern Sea. Stopping his cloud to take a look, he saw:

A vast expanse of ocean,

Waters stretching till they joined the sky.

Propitious light filled the firmament,

Auspicious vapours shone over mountains and rivers.

A thousand snow-capped breakers roared at the azure vault,

A myriad misty waves reared at the sky.

Water flew in all directions,

Torrents poured everywhere.

As the water flew in all directions it echoed like thunder;

As the torrents poured everywhere they crashed and roared.

Let us leave the sea,

And consider what lay in it:

A precious mountain in many a misty color-

Red, yellow, purple, black, green, and blue.

Then did he see the beautiful land of Guanyin,

Potaraka Island in the Southern Sea.

What a wonderful place to go-