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

“Is there really a monster there, Wukong?” Sanzang asked. Monkey could keep his deception up no longer.

“There are a few little devils,” Monkey replied with a bow and a smile, “but they won't dare give us any trouble. Come here, Pig. I'm going to look after you. We're going to escort the master along this steep mountain path as if we were an army on the march.”

“How?” Pig asked.

“You'll be the commander of the vanguard,” Monkey replied, “going in front and clearing the way. If the evil spirit doesn't show up again that will be that; but if he does, you fight him. When you beat the evil spirit that'll be something to your credit.”

Reckoning that the evil spirit's powers were much the same as his own, Pig said, “Very well then. I'm ready to die at his hands. I'll take the lead.”

“Idiot,” said Monkey, “if you start by saying such unlucky things you'll never get anywhere.”

“As you know, brother,” Pig replied,

“When a gentleman goes to a banquet

He gets either drunk or well filled;

When a hero goes into a battle

He gets either wounded or killed.

By saying something unlucky first I'll make myself stronger later.” This delighted Monkey, who saddled the horse and invited the master to ride while Friar Sand carried the luggage as they all followed Pig into the mountains.

The evil spirit meanwhile led a few of his underlings who had survived the rout straight back to his cave, where he sat brooding in silence high up above a rocky precipice. Many of the junior devils who looked after things in his household came up to him and asked, “Why are you so miserable today, Your Majesty? You're usually in-such high spirits when you come back.”

“Little ones,” said the demon king, “usually when I go out to patrol the mountains I can be sure of bringing home a few people or animals I've caught to feed you with. Today my luck was out: I've met my match.”

“Who?” the junior devils asked.

“A monk,” the demon king replied, “a disciple of the Tang Priest from the East who's going to fetch the scriptures. He's called Zhu Bajie. He went for me so hard with his rake that he beat me. I had to run away. I'm thoroughly fed up. For ages now I've heard it said that the Tang Priest is an arhat who has cultivated his conduct for ten successive lifetimes. Anyone who eats a piece of his flesh will live for ever. To my surprise he's come to my mountain today, and it would have been an ideal time to catch him, cook him and eat him. I never realized he'd have a disciple like that one.”

Before he had finished saying this a junior devil slipped forward from the ranks. First he gave three sobs in front of the demon king, then three laughs.

“Why sob then laugh?” shouted the demon king.

The junior devil fell to his knees as he replied, “Because Your Majesty just said that you wanted to eat the Tang Priest. His flesh isn't worth eating.”

“But everyone says that a piece of his flesh will make you live as long as the heavens,” said the demon king. “How can you say that it's not worth eating?”

“If he were so good to eat,” the junior devil replied, “he'd never have got this far. Other demons would have eaten him up. And he's got three disciples with him.”

“Do you know who?” the demon king asked.

“The senior disciple is Sun the Novice,” said the junior devil, “and the third disciple is Friar Sand. The one you met must have been his second disciple Zhu Bajie.”

“How does Friar Sand compare with Zhu Bajie?” asked the demon king.

“He's much the same,” the junior devil said,

“What about Sun the Novice?” the demon king asked, at which the junior devil thrust out his tongue in horror and replied, “I daren't tell you. That Monkey has tremendous magic powers and can do all sorts of transformations. Five hundred years ago he made terrible havoc in heaven. None of the heavenly warriors dared give him any trouble, from the Twenty-eight Constellations, the Star Lords of the Nine Bright Shiners, the Gods of the Twelve Branches, the Five Officers and the Four Ministers, the East and West Dippers and the Gods of the North and the South, to the Five Peaks and the Four Rivers. How can you have the nerve to want to eat the Tang Priest?”

“How do you know so much about him?” the demon king asked.

“I used to live in the Lion Cave of the demon king on Lion Ridge,” the junior devil replied. “He was reckless enough to want to eat the Tang Priest, and that Sun the Novice smashed his way in through the gates with his gold-banded cudgel. It was terrible. They were wiped out. Luckily I had enough sense to escape by the back door and come here, where Your Majesty allowed me to stay. That's how I know about his powers.”

The senior demon turned pale with shock when he heard this: it was a case of the commander-in-chief being afraid of the soothsayer's words. How could he help being alarmed when he heard all this from one of his own people? Just when they were all feeling terrified another junior devil stepped forward and said, “Don't be so upset and afraid, Your Majesty. As the saying goes, easy does it. If you want to catch the Tang Priest let me make you a plan to capture him.”

“What plan?” the senior demon asked.

“I have a plan to 'divide the petals of the plum blossom.'”

“What do you mean by 'dividing the petals of the plum blossom?'“ the demon king asked.

“Call the roll of all the devils in the cave,” the junior devil replied. “Choose the best hundred from all thousand of them, then the best ten out of that hundred, and finally the best three out of the ten. They must be capable and good at transformations. Have them all turn into Your Majesty's doubles, wear Your Majesty's helmet and armor, carry Your Majesty's mace, and lie in wait in three different places. First send one out to fight Zhu Bajie, then one to fight Sun the Novice and finally one to fight Friar Sand. This way you'll only have to spare three junior devils to draw the three disciples away. Then Your Majesty will be able to stretch down from mid-air with your cloud-grabbing hand to catch the Tang Priest. He'll be in the bag. It'll be as easy as catching flies in a dish of fish juice. Nothing to it.”

This suggestion delighted the demon king, who said, “What a brilliant plan, brilliant! If I don't catch the Tang Priest this way, that'll be that. But if I do I can assure you you'll be richly rewarded. I'll make you commander of the vanguard.” The junior devil kowtowed to thank him for his grace and went off to call the roll of the devils. After all the monsters in the cave had been carefully checked through, three capable junior devils were selected. They turned into the senior devil's doubles and went to lie in wait for the Tang Priest with their iron maces.

The venerable Tang elder meanwhile was following Pig along the way without a care in the world. When they had been going for some time there was a crashing sound from beside the track and out leapt a junior devil who rushed straight at them, evidently to grab Sanzang. “The evil spirit's here, Pig,” Monkey shouted. “Get him!”

The idiot, who was taken in by the imposture, hacked wildly at the devil with his rake. The evil spirit parried Pig's blows with his mace as he met the onslaught. While the battle between the pair of them ebbed and flowed on the mountainside there was a noise in the undergrowth as another monster sprang out and charged at the Tang Priest.

“This is bad, Master,” said Monkey. “Pig can't see straight. He's let the monster escape to catch you. I'm going to fight him.” Pulling his cudgel out in a flash, he went up to the monster, shouting, “Where d'you think you're going? Take this!”

Without saying a word the evil spirit raised his mace to meet the attack. But while the two of them were locked in combat, swinging at each other, there was a howling wind from the other side of the mountain and a third evil spirit sprang out who also rushed straight at the Tang Priest. When Friar Sand saw it he exclaimed in alarm, “Master, big brother and second brother both can't see straight. They've let the evil spirit get away to catch you. Stay on the horse while I get him.”