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

On Pagoda Mountain Xuanzang Receives the Heart Sutra

The monster shot forward as a stream of sparks, with the Great Sage behind him on his coloured cloud. As he was racing along, Monkey saw a tall mountain appear in front of them. Here the monster put himself together again by reassembling the sparks, rushed into a cave, and came out with a nine-pronged rake in his hand to do battle.

“Wretch,” shouted Monkey, “where are you from? How do you know my name, you evil demon? What powers have you got? Tell me honestly, and I'll spare your life.”

“You don't know what I can do,” the monster replied. “Come a little nearer and stand still while I tell you:

I was born stupid,

An idler and a slacker.

I never nourished my nature or cultivated the truth,

But spent my time in primal ignorance.

Then I happened to meet a true Immortal,

Who sat down with me and chatted about the weather,

Advised me to reform and not to sink among mortals,

For taking life was a heinous sin.

One day, when my life came to an end,

It would be too late to regret the punishments in store.

His words moved me to seek reform,

And my heart longed for miraculous spells.

I was lucky enough to have him as my teacher;

He showed me the gates of Heaven and Earth.

He taught me the Nine Changes and the Great Return of Cinnabar,

As we worked by night and day with never a break.

It reached up to the Mud Ball Palace in my head,

And down to the Bubbling Spring in my feet.

The circulating magic liquid reached the Flowery Pool under my tongue,

And the Cinnabar Field in my abdomen was given extra warmth.

The Babe, lead, and the Girl, mercury, were married,

And combining together, they divided into sun and moon.

The Dragon and the Tiger were harmonized,

The Sacred Tortoise drank the Golden Crow's blood.

The Three Flowers gathered at the top and returned to the root.

The Five Essences faced the Origin and flowed in all directions.

When their work was done, I could fly,

And the Immortals of Heaven came in pairs to greet me.

Coloured clouds grew beneath my feet,

As I faced Heavenly Palace gates with a body light and strong.

The Jade Emperor gave a banquet for all the Immortals,

And all lined up according to their grades.

I was made Field Marshal in charge of the Milky Way,

Commanding all the sailors on that river in the sky.

When the Queen Mother gave a Peach Banquet,

She invited many guests to the Jade Pool.

As drunkenness clouded my mind that day,

I lurched and staggered around.

As I charged in drunken pride into the Cool Broad Palace

I was greeted by an exquisite immortal maiden.

At the sight of her beauty my soul was captivated,

And I could not repress my mortal passions of old.

Losing all sense of rank and dignity,

I seized the beauty and asked her to sleep with me.

Three times, four times she refused,

Dodging and trying to hide in her distress.

Great was the courage of my lust, and I roared like thunder,

All but shaking down the gates of heaven.

The Miraculous Inspecting Officer reported to the Jade Emperor,

And from that day I was doomed.

The Cool Broad Palace was closely surrounded.

I could neither advance nor retreat: escape was impossible.

Then I was arrested by the gods,

But as I was still drunk I was not scared.

I was marched to the Hall of Miraculous Mist to see the Jade Emperor,

And, after questioning, sentenced to death.

Luckily the Great White Planet

Stepped forward, bowed low, and interceded.

My sentence was commuted to two thousand strokes of the heavy rod,

Which tore my flesh and all but smashed my bones.

I was released alive and expelled from Heaven,

So I tried to make a living on the Mount of Blessing.

For my sins I was reborn from the wrong womb,

And now I am known as Iron-haired Pig.”

“So you are an earthly reincarnation of Marshal Tian Peng,” said Brother Monkey when he heard this. “No wonder you knew my name.”

“Ha,” the monster snorted angrily. “Your insane rebellion caused trouble for very many of us, Protector of the Horses. Have you come here to throw your weight around again? I'll teach you some manners. Take this!” Monkey was in no mood to spare him after this, and he struck at the monster's head with his cudgel. The pair of them fought a magnificent midnight battle on that mountainside:

Monkey's golden pupils flashed with lightning;

The monster's glaring eyes sparked silver.

One disgorged coloured mist,

The other breathed out red clouds.

The red clouds lit up the night;

The coloured mists illuminated the darkness.

A gold-banded cudgel,

A nine-toothed rake,

And two splendid heroes.

One a Great Sage down among the mortals,

The other a marshal banished from Heaven.

One had been stripped of his honors and become a monster,

The other had been saved when he took service with a priest.

When the rake attacked, it was like a dragon stretching its claws;

The cudgel blocked it as nimbly as a phoenix flying through flowers.

Pig said,

“In wrecking my marriage your crime is as great as parricide.”

Monkey replied,

“You deserve to be arrested for raping that young girl.”

Amid these exchanges

And wild shouts,

The cudgel and the rake crossed and clashed.

They fought each other till the day began to dawn,

And the monster's arms were tired right out.

They fought from the second watch of the night until the sky began to grow light in the East. The monster, no longer able to resist his enemy, broke away and fled, turning himself into a hurricane again. He went straight back to his cave, shut the gates behind him, and did not come out. Monkey saw a stone tablet outside the cave on which was inscribed CLOUD PATHWAY CAVE. The monster did not come out again and it was now broad daylight, so Monkey thought that as his master might be waiting for him he had better go back to see him. He could come back later to catch the monster. He gave his cloud a kick and was back in Old Gao Village in an instant.

Sanzang, meanwhile, had been talking all night with the elders about things ancient and modern, and had not slept a wink. Just as he was beginning to think that Brother Monkey would not come back, Monkey appeared in the courtyard, put away his iron club, straightened his clothes, and entered the main room.

“Master, I'm here,” he announced, giving the old men such a surprise that they all fell to their knees and thanked him for his efforts.

“You've been out all night, Monkey,” Sanzang said. “Where did you catch that evil spirit?”

“He's no common or garden ghost, master,” Monkey replied, “and he isn't an ordinary wild animal turned monster. He is Marshal Tian Peng, who was exiled to the mortal world. As he was placed in the wrong womb he has a face like a wild boar, but he's still kept his original divine nature. He says that he takes his name from his looks and is called Zhu Ganglie, Iron-haired Pig. I was going to kill him in the building at the back, but he turned into a hurricane and fled. When I struck at this wind, he changed into sparks, went straight back to his cave, came out with a nine-pronged rake, and fought me all night. He broke off the engagement in terror as the dawn broke and shut himself in his cave. I was going to smash down the gates and have it out with him, but then it occurred to me that you might be worried after waiting for me so long, so I came back to put you in the picture first.”

After Monkey had made his report, Squire Gao came up and knelt before him saying, “Venerable sir, I'm afraid that although you've chased him away, he'll come back after you've gone; so this is no real solution. Please, I beg of you, catch him for me and exterminate him to prevent trouble later. I promise you that I shall not be remiss if you do this for me, and there will, of course, be rich rewards. I shall write a deed, witnessed by my relations and friends, giving you half of my property and my land. Please, please eradicate this evil weed and save the honour of the family.”