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

Then the senior prince got up and said, “Tang Master, there is one thing I would like to ask of you, but I do not know whether your three illustrious disciples will grant it.”

“My disciples will obey any instruction that Your Royal Highness gives them,” Sanzang replied.

“When I first saw you gentlemen,” said the prince, “I took you for pilgrim monks from distant Tang, and because I am a mere mortal with fleshly eyes I treated you in a most offhand way. It was only when I saw Teacher Sun, Teacher Zhu and Teacher Sand whirling around in the sky that I realized you are immortals and Buddhas. My three wretched sons have been fond of the martial arts all their lives and they now wish most sincerely to be accepted as your disciples and learn some of your skills. I beg that in the greatness of your hearts you will agree to be the salvation of my boys. I will certainly reward you with all the wealth of the city.”

When Brother Monkey heard this he could not restrain himself from replying with a chuckle, “You really don't understand, Your Royal Highness. As monks we'd love to have disciples, and your fine sons have their hearts set on goodness. But you mustn't talk about material benefits. As long as they can get on with us we'll look after them.” This delighted the prince, who ordered a great banquet in the main hall of the palace. It was amazing: no sooner had he issued his order than everything was there. This is what could be seen:

Fluttering silken decorations,

Darkly fragrant incense smoke.

Gold-inlaid tables hung with knotted silks,

Dazzling the eyes;

Lacquered chairs with cushions of brocade,

Making them even more splendid.

Fresh fruit,

Fragrant tea.

Three or four courses of pure confectioneries,

One or two servings of rich and pure breadrolls.

The crisp steamed honeycakes were even finer;

The deep-fried sweets were truly delicious.

There were jugs of mild rice-wine,

Better than nectar when poured;

Servings of Yangxian tea that is fit for immortals,

More fragrant than cassia when held in the hands.

Every possible dish is provided;

All that is offered is outstanding.

Meanwhile there was singing, dancing, instrumental music, acrobatics and opera to entertain them. Master, disciples, the prince and his sons all had a day of delight, and after night fell unnoticed they dispersed. The princes then had beds and curtains set up in the pavilion and invited their teachers to turn in for the night; early the next morning they would piously burn incense and call on them again to ask them to teach their martial skills. These orders were obeyed, and hot, scented water was brought in for the travelers to bath in, after which everyone went to bed. At that time

The birds perched high in the trees and all was silent;

The poet came down from his couch to end his chanting.

The light of the Milky Way now filled the sky,

And the grass grew thicker along the overgrown path.

The bang of a washing stick came from another courtyard;

The distant mountains and passes made one long for home.

The chirp of crickets expressed people's feelings,

Chirruping at the bedside interrupted one's dreams.

That describes the night. Early the next morning the prince and his three sons came to call on the venerable elder again. The previous day they had greeted each other with the etiquette appropriate to a prince, but today's greetings were those appropriate to teachers.

The three young princes kowtowed to Monkey, Pig and Friar Sand, then asked with bows, “Will you let your disciples have a look at your weapons, honoured teachers?” As soon as Pig heard this request he happily brought out his iron rake and threw it on the ground, while Friar Sand tossed his staff against the wall. The second and third young princes sprang to their feet to pick them up, but they might just as well have been dragonflies trying to shake a stone pillar: they both strained themselves till they were red in the face without moving the weapons in the slightest. When their elder brother saw this he said, “Don't waste your efforts, brothers. Our teachers' weapons are all magical ones. Goodness only knows how heavy they are.”

“My rake's not all that heavy,” said Pig with a smile. “It only weighs a couple of tons-5,048 pounds including the handle.”

The third prince then asked Friar Sand how heavy his staff was. “It's 5,048 pounds too,” replied Friar Sand with a smile.

The oldest of the young princes then asked Brother Monkey to let him see the gold-banded cudgel. Monkey produced the needle from his ear, shook it in the wind to make it as thick as a rice bowl, and stood it upright in the ground in front of him, to the consternation and alarm of all the princes and officials. The three young princes then kowtowed again and said, “Teacher Zhu and Teacher Sand carry their weapons under their clothes where they can get them out. Why do you take yours out of your ear, Teacher Sun? How do you make it grow in the wind?”

“You wouldn't realize that this isn't some mere mortal object,” Monkey replied.

“When chaos was first parted the iron was cast:

Yu the Great had the work done himself.

When he unified the depths of rivers, lakes and seas

This cudgel served as a measuring rod.

In the prosperity after mountains and seas had been ordered

It floated to the gates of the Eastern Ocean.

Over the years it gave off a coloured glow,

Learned to shrink and to grow and shine with pure light.

It was my destiny to recover this rod

Which endlessly changes when I say the spell.

When I tell it to grow it fills the universe,

But it can be as tiny as a needle's eye.

It's known as As-You-Will and called gold-banded;

In Heaven and on Earth it is quite unique.

Its weight is thirteen thousand and five hundred pounds;

Whether thick or fine it can bring life or death.

Once it helped me make havoc in Heaven,

And took part when I attacked the Underworld.

It always succeeds in subduing dragons and tigers,

Everywhere wipes out monsters and ogres.

If it points up the sun goes dark;

Heaven, earth, gods, devils, all are afraid.

Passed on by magic since the birth of time,

This is no ordinary piece of iron.”

When the young princes had heard this they all started kowtowing endlessly, bowing over and over again as they earnestly begged for instruction.

“Which fighting skills do the three of you want to learn?” Monkey asked.

“The one of us who uses a rod wants to learn that,” the young princes replied, “the one who fights with a rake wants to learn the rake, and the staff man wants to learn the staff.”

“Teaching would be easy enough,” replied Monkey with a smile, “except that you're all too weak to be able to use our weapons, so you won't be able to master them. 'A badly-drawn tiger only looks like a dog.' As they used to say in the old days, 'If the teaching isn't strict it shows the teacher is idle; if the student doesn't learn it's his own fault.' If you're really sincere you'd better burn incense and bow to Heaven and Earth. I'll give you some magic strength before teaching you how to fight.”

The three young princes were very pleased to hear him say this, and they at once carried in an incense table themselves, washed their hands, lit incense sticks and bowed to Heaven. This done, they asked their teachers to instruct them.

Monkey stepped down and said to the Tang Priest with a bow, “Please forgive your disciple, honoured Master. Ever since in your goodness you rescued me at the Double Boundary Mountain and I became a Buddhist all those years ago we've been travelling West. Although I've never done very much to repay your kindness I have crossed plenty of rivers and mountains and done everything I possibly could. Now that we've come to this land of the Buddha and had the good fortune of meeting these three young princes, they've taken us as their teachers of martial arts. As our pupils they'd be your pupils' pupils, so I ask you respectfully, Master, to allow us to instruct them.”