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

“We were careless,” Sanzang said with remorse. “We did not pay enough attention.”

“You're wrong,” said Monkey with a laugh, “you're wrong. Heaven and earth are incomplete and this scripture used to be complete. Now it's been soaked and torn to fulfil the mystery of incompleteness. This is not something that could have been achieved through human effort.” When master and disciples had finished packing the surras they returned with Chen Chang to his village.

In the village one person told ten, ten told a hundred, and a hundred a thousand, till all of them, young and old, came out to welcome and see the pilgrims. As soon as Chen Qing heard of it he had an incense table set out to greet them in front of the gates; he also ordered drummers and players of wind instruments to perform. A moment later the travelers arrived and were welcomed and taken inside. Chen Qing led out his whole household to greet them with bows and thank them for their earlier kindness in saving their son and daughter. Tea and a vegetarian meal were then ordered; but since receiving the immortal food and immortal delicacies of the Lord Buddha and casting off his mortal body to become a Buddha, Sanzang had lost all desire for mortals' food. As the two old men's urgings were so insistent, he took some of the food as a mark of gratitude.

The Great Sage Monkey had never been one to eat cooked food, so he said, “That will be enough.”

Friar Sand did not eat either, and even Pig was not the Pig he used to be: he soon put his bowl down.

“Aren't you eating any more either, idiot?” Monkey asked.

“I don't know why,” Pig said, “but my stomach's gone weak all of a sudden.” The vegetarian banquet was then cleared away as the old men asked about how they had fetched the scriptures. Sanzang then gave them a detailed account that started with the bath in the Jade Truth Temple and the lightening of their bodies at Cloud-touching Crossing and went on to tell how they had seen the Tathagata at Thunder Monastery, been feasted at the jeweled tower, given the scriptures in the precious library-wordless scriptures at first because when the two arhats had demanded presents they had refused them-had gone back to pay their respects to the Tathagata again to be given the number of rolls in a single store, had been plunged into the water by the White Soft-shelled Turtle, and nearly had the scriptures stolen in the darkness by evil spirits. After telling all this Sanzang took his leave.

But the whole family of the two old men was not at all willing to let them go. “We have been under a great debt to you for saving our children that we have not yet been able to repay,” they said. “We have built a Temple of Deliverance where incense has been burned to you ever since without ceasing.” Then they called out the children in whose place Monkey and Pig had gone to be sacrificed, Chen Guan-given and Pan of Gold, to kowtow in thanks and ask them into the shrine to take a look. Sanzang then put the bundles of scriptures in front of the hall of their house and read them one roll of the Precious Eternity sutra. Then they went to the temple, where the Chens had set out delicacies. Before the pilgrims could sit down another group of people came to invite them to another meal, and before they could pick up their chopsticks yet another group came with a third invitation. This went on and on without end, so that they had no chance to eat properly. Sanzang, who dared not decline the invitations, had to make gestures of eating. The shrine was indeed most handsomely built:

The gateway was thickly painted in red

Thanks to the generous donors.

A tower rose there

Where houses with a pair of cloisters had now been built.

Red were the doors

And the Seven Treasures were finely carved.

Incense floated up to the clouds;

Pure light filled the vault of space.

Some tender cypress saplings were still being watered;

A number of pine trees did not yet form a grove.

Living waters met one in front

Where the waves of the River of Heaven were rolling;

High cliffs rose behind

Where range upon range of mountains joined the earth dragon.

When Sanzang has seen everything he climbed the high tower, where statues of the four pilgrims had been placed. “Looks just like you, brother,” said pig, tugging at Monkey, when he saw them.

“Second brother,” said Friar Sand, “Your statue's just like you too. The only thing is that the master's is too good-looking.”

“It is very good,” said Sanzang, “it is very good.” They then came downstairs, where people were still waiting, and urged them to eat the vegetarian food that was set out in the hall and in the cloisters behind it.

“What happened to the Great King's Temple that used to be here?” Brother Monkey asked.

“It was demolished that year,” the old men replied. “My lords, we have had good harvests every year since this monastery was established, thanks to your lordships' blessed protection.”

“That was heaven's gift,” said Monkey with a smile, “nothing to do with us. But after we have gone this time I guarantee that the families in your village will have many sons and grandsons, flourishing livestock, wind and rain at the right time year in and year out, and rain and wind year out and year in at the right time.” The people all kowtowed in thanks.

What could then be seen were a countless number of people lined up behind each other to offer fruit and other vegetarian food. “I'll be blowed,” said Pig with a laugh. “In the old days, when I could eat, nobody ever asked me to do so ten times over. But now, when I can't, one family won't wait for another to finish before offering me food.”

Although he was feeling full he did get going a little and ate eight or nine meatless dishes; and despite having an injured stomach he also downed twenty or thirty steamed breadrolls. When they were all full, more people came with further invitations. “Grateful though I am for your great affection,” Sanzang said, “I do not deserve it. I hope that we may be allowed to rest tonight. Tomorrow morning we will accept some more.”

It was now late at night. Sanzang, who was guarding the true scriptures and would not leave them for a moment, sat in meditation at the foot of the tower to keep a vigil. As the third watch of the night approached he said quietly, “Wukong, the people here know that we have found the Way and completed our undertaking. As the old saying goes, 'The true adept does not show his face; who shows his face is no true adept.' I am afraid that if we tarry too long here that we may fail in our main enterprise.”

“What you say is right, Master,” Monkey replied. “Let's slip quietly away in the middle of the night while they're all sound asleep.” Pig too understood, Friar Sand comprehended very clearly, and the white horse also knew what he meant. So they got up, quietly loaded the packs, shouldered the poles, and carried the things out along the cloister. When they reached the main gates and found them locked Monkey used unlocking magic to open the inner gates and the main gates. They followed the path East, only to hear the Eight Vajrapanis calling from mid-air. “Come with us, escapers.” The venerable elder then smelt incense as he rose up into the air. This was indeed a case of:

When the elixir is formed one sees the original face;

When the body is strong one can then visit one's sovereign.

If you do not know how he saw the Tang emperor, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

The Journey Back to the East Is Made

The Five Immortals Achieve Nirvana

We will tell not of how the four travelers escaped and rose on the wind with the vajrapanis, but of the many people in the Temple of Deliverance in Chen Village. After they rose at dawn to prepare more fruit and delicacies to offer they came to the ground floor of the tower and found the Tang Priest gone. Some asked questions and others searched. They were all thrown into panic and did not know what to do.