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

The lay brother bowed to him in reply and said, “Where are you from, sir?”

“Is this where the Bodhisattva Lingji preaches the scriptures?” Monkey asked.

“Yes, this is the place,” the lay brother replied. “Have you a message for him?”

“I would like you to tell him that I am Brother Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, a disciple of the Patriarch Sanzang, the younger brother of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Tang in the East, and there is a matter about which I should like to see the Bodhisattva.”

“That's far too many words for me to remember, sir,” said the lay brother with a smile.

“Then tell him that the Tang Priest's disciple Sun Wukong is here,” Monkey replied. The lay brother did as he asked and went into the preaching hall to pass on the message. The Bodhisattva put on his cassock, burnt some incense, and prepared to receive him. As the Great Sage went through the gate and looked inside he saw:

A hall full of brocade,

A room of awe-inspiring majesty.

All the monks were chanting the Lotus Sutra

While the aged head priest lightly struck the golden chime.

The offerings made to the Buddha

Were magic fruit and magic flowers;

Set out on tables

Were meatless delicacies.

Dazzling candles

Sent golden flames up to the rainbow,

From fragrant incense

Jade smoke rose to the translucent mist.

With the sermon over and the mind at peace, a trance was entered.

White clouds coiled around the tops of the pine trees.

When the sword of wisdom is sheathed, the demon is beheaded;

Great are the powers of the prajna-paramita.

The Bodhisattva straightened his clothes and came out to meet Monkey, who climbed the steps into the hall and sat in the guest's seat. When the orders were given for tea to be brought, Monkey said, “I won't trouble you to give me tea. My master is in trouble on the Yellow Wind Mountain, and I have come to ask you, Bodhisattva, to use your great powers to subdue the demon and rescue my master.”

“I have been ordered by the Tathagata Buddha to guard over the Yellow Wind Monster,” the Bodhisattva replied. “The Tathagata gave me a Wind-settling Pill and a Flying Dragon Staff. When I captured that monster before, the Tathagata spared his life and exiled him to live in seclusion on this mountain, where he is not allowed to kill or do any other evil. I never imagined that he would want to murder your master today. I must hold myself responsible for this as I have failed to carry out my orders.” The Bodhisattva wanted to keep Monkey for a meal and a talk, but in response to Monkey's urgent pleading he took his Flying Dragon Staff and rode off with the Great Sage by cloud.

A moment later they reached the Yellow Wind Mountain, and the Bodhisattva said, “Great Sage, as this evil monster is a bit scared of me, I'd better stay here inside the cloud while you go down and challenge him to come out and fight. Once you've lured him out, I can use my divine power.” Doing as he suggested, Monkey brought his cloud down to land; and without more ado he smashed down the gates of the cave with his iron cudgel.

“Fiendish monster,” he shouted, “give my master back.”

The junior fiends on the gate all rushed back to report this, and the old monster said, “That damned ape really has a cheek-instead of behaving himself properly, he comes to smash my gates down. This time I'll use a magic wind that will certainly blow him to death.” Putting on his armour and taking his trident as before, he went out through the gate, and the moment he saw Monkey, he thrust straight at his chest with his trident, not uttering a single word. Monkey sidestepped to dodge it and hit back at the monster's face with his cudgel. When only a few rounds had been fought, the monster turned to the Southeast and was just going to open his mouth and blow out a wind when the Bodhisattva Lingji appeared in mid-air and dropped the Flying Dragon Staff on him. While the monster recited all sorts of spells, an eight-clawed golden dragon grabbed him with two of its claws and smashed him several times against a rock-face. At this the monster reverted to his real form-a brown marten.

Monkey rushed at it and had raised his cudgel to kill it when the Bodhisattva stopped him and said, “Don't kill it, Great Sage. I must take it back to see the Tathagata. He used to be a marten who had obtained the Way underneath the Vulture Peak, and once he stole some of the pure oil from a crystal lamp. When the lamp went out he was so afraid of being caught by a Vajrapani that he ran away and became a spirit monster here. The Tathagata decided that as this was not a capital offence I should be sent to keep guard over him; but if he took life or committed any other evil deeds he was to be taken to the Vulture Peak. As he has now offended you, Great Sage, and captured the Tang Priest with the intention of murdering him, I must take him to see the Tathagata to be sentenced for his crime before this business can be regarded as cleared up.”

Pig, meanwhile, who had been wondering about Monkey as he waited in the wood, heard a shout from the mountainside, “Pig, bring the luggage and the horse out.”

Recognizing the voice as Monkey's, the idiot rushed out of the wood with the things and asked Monkey, “How did it go?”

“I asked the Bodhisattva Lingji to come, and he used his Flying Dragon Staff to capture the evil spirit, who turned out to have been the spirit of a brown-coated marten and was taken off to the Vulture Peak by the Bodhisattva to see the Buddha. We two had better go into the cave to rescue our master.” The idiot was very pleased to hear the news.

The pair of them charged into the cave and killed all the evil hares, fox-fiends, roebuck, and deer inside with the iron club and the rake. Then they went into the garden at the back to rescue their master. When he was outside he asked, “How did you two capture that evil spirit? How did you manage to rescue me?” Monkey told him all about how Lingji had subdued the fined, and Sanzang expressed his gratitude at great length while the two prepared a meal from the meatless food that there was in the cave. Then they left the cave and looked for the main path West once more.

If you don't know what happened later, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

Pig Fights a Great Battle in the Flowing Sands River

Moksa Obeys the Dharma and Wins Friar Sand Over

The story tells how the Tang Priest and his two disciples escaped from their troubles and pressed forward. Before long they had crossed the Yellow Wind Ridge and were heading West across a plain. The time passed rapidly, and summer gave way to autumn. Cold cicadas sang in moulting willow trees, and the Great Fire Star sank below the Western horizon. As they were travelling one day they saw the mighty waves of a great river, boiling and raging. “Disciple,” called out Sanzang from his horse, “do you see that broad river in front of us? Why are there no boats on it, and how are we going to get across?”

“Those are really terrible waves,” said Pig when he saw the river, “and there aren't any boats to ferry us over.” Monkey sprang into the sky, shaded his eyes with his hand, and looked. “Master,” he said with horror, “we're in big trouble here. I can cross a river like this with a twist of my waist, but I'm afraid you'll never be able to cross it in ten thousand years.”

“How wide is it, then?” Sanzang asked. “I can't see the other bank from here.”

“About three hundred miles,” Monkey replied. “How can you be so sure of the distance, brother?” Pig asked. “These eyes of mine can see what's happening three hundred and fifty miles away in daytime,” Monkey replied. “When I took a look from up in the air just now I couldn't make out the length of the river, but I could see that it was a good three hundred and fifty miles wide.” Depressed and worried, Sanzang reined in his horse and noticed a stone tablet beside the river. The three of them went to look at it, and they saw the words FLOWING SANDS RIVER inscribed on it in the ancient curly style. On the base of the tablet were four lines in the standard script: