Wu Cheng-en - Journey to the West (vol. 3)

Carrying them on his back, the Ancient Soft-shelled Turtle walked across the waves for the best part of a day. It was nearly evening when, as they approached the East bank, he suddenly asked, “Venerable master, some years ago I begged you when you reached the West and saw our Tathagata Buddha to ask him when I would be converted and how long I would live.”

Now ever since the venerable elder had reached the Western Heaven, bathed in the Jade Truth Temple, cast off his mortal body at the Cloud-touching Crossing and walked up the Vulture Peak, his heart had been set only on worshipping the Buddha; and when he met all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, holy monks and others his whole mind had been devoted to fetching the scriptures. He had given no attention to anything else, and so had not asked about how long the Ancient Turtle would live. Having nothing he could say, and not daring to lie to or deceive the turtle, Sanzang was quiet for a long time and gave no reply. When the turtle realized that Sanzang had not asked the questions on his behalf he gave a shake of his head and submerged with a loud splash, dropping the four of them, horse, scriptures and all, into the water.

Oh dear! But luckily the Tang Priest had cast off his mortal body and achieved the Way. If he had still been as he had before he would have sunk to the bottom. It was also lucky that the white horse was a dragon, that Pig and Friar Sand could swim, and that Brother Monkey gave a smiling and magnificent display of his great magic powers as he lifted the Tang Priest out of the water and up the East bank. The only thing was that the bundles of scriptures, the clothes and the saddle were all soaked.

Master and disciples had climbed up the bank to get themselves sorted out when a sudden fierce wind blew up, the sky turned dark, and amid thunder and lightning stones and sand flew all around. This is what could be seen:

A wind

Throwing heaven and earth into chaos;

Thunder

Rocking mountains and rivers;

Lightning

Flying like fire through the clouds;

Mists

Covering all of the earth.

The wind howled;

Loud roared the thunder.

The lightning streaked red,

While clouds blocked out the moon and the stars.

The wind-blown dust drove into the face,

And tigers and leopards hid in terror.

The lightning flashes set birds cawing,

And tress all vanished in the spreading mists.

The wind whipped up the waves of the River of Heaven;

The thunder terrified the fish and dragons in the River of Heaven;

The lightning lit up the whole of River of Heaven;

The mists enshrouded in darkness the banks of the River of Heaven.

Splendid wind!

Mountains toppled; pines and bamboo fell.

Splendid thunder!

Its majesty alarmed insects and spread terror.

Splendid lightning!

It moved across the sky and lit up the wilds like golden snakes.

Splendid mist!

Darkening the whole of space, obscuring the nine heavens.

This alarmed Sanzang, who pressed down on the bundles of scriptures, while Friar Sand held down their carrying-pole and Pig clung to the white horse. Monkey, however, swung his iron cudgel around with both hands as he kept guard to both right and left.

Now the wind, mist, thunder and lightning were all signals made by evil demons who wanted to steal the scriptures that had been fetched. They tried all night to grab them until the dawn; only then did they stop.

The venerable elder, whose clothes were all soaking wet, shivered and shook as he said, “How did all this start, Wukong?”

“Master,” Brother Monkey replied, snorting with fury, “you don't understand the inner truth. By escorting you to fetch these scriptures we have won the great achievement of heaven and earth. You will enjoy perpetual youth, and your dharma body will never decay. This is something heaven and earth can't stand for, and the demons and gods detest. They wanted to come and steal them in the darkness. But because the scriptures were soaked through and your true dharma body was holding them down, the thunder could not bombard them, the lightning could not illuminate them and the mist could not obscure them. It was also because I whirled my iron cudgel around to make its pure Positive nature protect them. Since dawn the Positive has been in the ascendant again, which is why they can't take them now.”

Only then did Sanzang, Pig and Friar Sand realize what had happened and all express unbounded thanks. A little later, when the sun was shining from high in the sky, they took the scriptures to the top of a high cliff, opened the bundles and put them out to dry. The rocks on which the scriptures were dried in the sun remain there to this day. Then they spread their clothes and shoes out to dry beside the cliff while they stood there, sat down, or leapt around. Indeed:

The pure Positive body was happy in the sun,

When Negative demons dared not use their might.

Even when water is dominant the true scriptures will win,

Not fearing wind or thunder, lightning, mist or light.

After this clarification they come to the true perception;

From now on they will reach the immortals' land in peace.

On the rocks where the scriptures were dried their traces still remain;

Never again will any demons come back to this place.

As the four of them were checking through the scriptures and drying them in the sun one by one some fishermen who were passing the river bank lifted up their heads and saw them there.

One of the fishermen recognized them and said, “Venerable teachers, didn't you cross this river the other year when you were on your way to the Western Heaven to fetch the scriptures?”

“Yes, yes,” said Pig, “that's right. Where are you from? How did you know who we are?”

“We're from Chen Village,” the fisherman replied.

“How far is Chen Village from here?” Pig asked.

“It's seven miles South from this gulch,” the fisherman said.

“Let's take the scriptures to Chen Village and dry them there,” said Pig. “There's somewhere we can stay there, and we'll be able to get something to eat. Besides, we can get their family to wash our clothes. That'll be best, won't it?”

“We will not go there,” said Sanzang. “When we have dried everything here we can pack up and find our way back.”

The fishermen, who passed the gulch to the South, happened to meet Chen Cheng. “You two old gentlemen,” they called, “the teachers who went to be sacrificed instead of your children the other year have come back.”

“Where did you see them?” Chen Cheng asked.

“Drying their scriptures in the sun on the rocks,” the fishermen replied.

Chen Cheng then took several of his tenants across the gulch, saw the pilgrims, and hurried towards them to kneel and say, “My lords, now that you are coming back with your scriptures, your achievement completed and your deeds done, why don't you come to my house? Why are you hanging around here? Won't you please come straight to the house?”

“We'll go with you when we've dried our scriptures in the sun,” Monkey replied.

“How did your scriptures and clothes all get wet, my lords?” Chen Cheng asked.

“The other year the White soft-shelled Turtle kindly carried us West across the river,” Sanzang replied, “and this year he carried us across it Eastwards. We were approaching the bank when he put some questions to me about the enquiries he had asked me to make with the Lord Buddha about how long he would live. Now I never made this enquiry, so he soaked us all in the water. That was how they got wet.”

Sanzang then told the whole story in all its details, and as Chen Cheng was so sincere in pressing his invitation Sanzang could do nothing but pack up the scriptures. As it was not realized that the ends of several rolls of the Buddhacaritakavya sutra had stuck to the rock when wet, the ends were torn off, which is why the Buddhacaritakavya sutra is incomplete to this day and there are still traces of writing on the rocks where the scriptures were dried in the sun.