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

“Three hundred miles of flowing sands,

Three thousand fathoms of weak water,

On which a goose feather will not float,

And the flower of a reed will sink.”

As the three of them were looking at this tablet they heard the waves make a roar like a collapsing mountain as a most hideous evil spirit emerged from the water:

A head of matted hair, as red as fire,

A pair of staring eyes, gleaming like lamps.

An indigo face, neither black nor green,

A dragon's voice like drums or thunder.

On his body a cloak of yellow goose-down,

Tied at the waist with white creeper.

Nine skulls hung around his neck,

And in his hands was an enormous staff.

The monster came to the bank in a whirlwind and rushed straight at the Tang Priest. Monkey picked Sanzang up at once, turned, and made off up the high bank. Pig dropped his carrying-pole, grabbed his rake, and struck at the evil spirit, who parried the blow with his staff. Each of them showed his prowess on the banks of the Flowing Sands River, and it was a fine battle:

The nine-pronged rake,

And the ogre-quelling staff:

Two men fighting on the banks of the river.

One was the great commander Tian Peng

The other the banished Curtain-lifting General.

They used to meet in the Hall of Miraculous Mist,

But now they were locked in ferocious combat.

The rake had dug deep into clawed dragons,

The staff had defeated tusked elephants.

When either was held defensively, it was rock-solid;

In attack they cut into the wind.

While one clawed at head and face,

The other never panicked or left an opening.

One was the man-eating monster of the Flowing Sands River,

The other was a believer, a general cultivating his conduct.

The pair of them battled on for twenty rounds, but neither emerged as the victor. The Great Sage, who was holding on to the horse and looking after the luggage after carrying the Tang Priest to safety, became worked up into such a fury at the sight of Pig and the monster fighting that he ground his teeth and clenched his fists.

When he could hold himself back no longer, he pulled out his cudgel and said, “Master, you sit here and don't be afraid. I'm going to play with him.” Ignoring Sanzang's pleas for him to stay, he whistled, jumped down to the side of the river, and found that the fight between Pig and the ogre was at its height. Brother Monkey swung his cudgel and aimed it at the ogre's head, but the ogre made a lightning turn and plunged straight into the river. Pig was hopping mad.

“Nobody asked you to come, elder brother,” he said. “That ogre was tiring and he could hardly fend my rake off. With few more rounds I would have captured him, but you gave him such a fright that he ran away, damn it.”

“Brother,” said Monkey with a smile, “I must tell you frankly that the sight of you fighting so beautifully gave me an uncontrollable itch. I haven't used my cudgel for a whole month since we came down the mountain after dealing with the Yellow Wind Monster-I just had to join in the fun. How was I to know that the monster wouldn't want to play and was going to run away?”

The two of them then clasped hands and went back talking and laughing to see Sanzang, who asked, “Did you catch the ogre?”

“No,” Monkey said, “he couldn't take any more and dived back into the water.”

“He has lived here for a long time, disciple,” Sanzang said, “and must know the shallows and deeps here. We must have a water expert to lead us across this vast expanse of weak water that has no boats.”

“Yes,” said Monkey, “as the saying goes, 'What's near cinnabar goes red, and what's next to ink turns black.' As that ogre lives here he must be a water expert, so if we catch him we shouldn't kill him-we should make him take you across, master, before finishing him off.”

“There's no time to lose, brother,” said Pig. “You go and catch him while I look after the master.”

“This is something I can't talk big about,” said Monkey with a smile. “I'm not all that good at underwater stuff. Even to walk underwater I have to make a magic hand movement and recite a water-repelling spell before I can move. The only other way I can get about there is by turning myself into a fish, a shrimp, a crab or a turtle. I can manage any strange and wonderful magic on a mountain or in the clouds that you can do, but when it comes to underwater business, I'm useless.”

“When I was the commander of the Milky Way, the heavenly river, in the old days,” said Pig, “I had a force of eighty thousand sailors, so I know a bit about water. But I'm afraid that he might have generations of clansmen down there, and that would be too much for me. And if they got me, we'd be in a real mess.”

“You go into the water and start a fight with him there,” said Monkey. “Don't fight hard, and don't win. You must lose and lure him out, then I can finish him off for you.”

“Very well then, I'll be off,” said Pig. After stripping off his brocade tunic and removing his shoes he swung his rake in both hands and made his way into the water, where the tricks he had learned years back enabled him to go through the waves to the river-bed, across which he advanced.

The ogre had now recovered his breath after his earlier defeat, and when he heard someone pushing the waters aside he leapt to his feet to look. Seeing that it was Pig brandishing his rake, the monster raised his staff and shouted at him, “Where do you think you're going, monk? Watch out, and take this.”

Pig warded off the blow with his rake and replied. “Who are you, evil spirit, and why are you blocking the way?”

“You may not realize who I am,” the monster replied, “but I'm no fiend, demon, ghost or monster, and I don't lack a name either.”

“If you're not a fiend, a demon, or a monster, then why do you live here taking life? Tell me your name truthfully and I'll spare you life.”

“I,” the monster replied,

“Have had a divine essence since childhood,

And have wandered all over heaven and earth.

I have won glory among the heroes of the world,

And brave knights have taken me as their model.

I traveled at will over countries and continents,

Going where I liked in lakes and seas,

To study the Way I went to the edge of the heavens,

And I roamed the wastes in search of teachers.

In those days I had a cassock and an alms-bowl,

And I kept my mind and spirit well controlled.

I traveled the earth by cloud some dozen times,

Visiting everywhere on a hundred journeys.

The Immortal I finally managed to find

Led me along the great and shining Way.

First I gathered mercury and lead,

Then I let go of the Mother of Wood and Metal's Father.

The kidney-water behind my brow entered my mouth,

And the liver-fire in my windpipes entered my heart.

With three thousand accomplishment won,

I bowed to the heavenly countenance;

Piously I worshipped him in his glory.

The Great Jade Emperor then promoted me

To be the General Who Lifts the Curtain.

I was honoured within the Southern Gate of Heaven,

Supreme before the Hall of Miraculous Mist.

At my waist was hung the tiger tally,

In my hand I held my demon-quelling staff.

My golden helmet shone like sunlight,

On my body gleamed a suit of armour.

I led the escort for the Emperor's carriage,

Always took precedence when he entered or left court.

But then the Queen Mother gathered the peaches

And invited all the generals to feast at the Jade Pool.

I carelessly smashed some jade and crystal,

To the horror of all of the heavenly gods.

The Jade Emperor in his terrible fury