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

Disaster strikes at triumph's height;

In time of joy comes sorrow's blight.

If you don't know what happened when they carried on with their journey, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

The Monks and Their Supporters Meet With Demonic Attack

The Sage Makes the Spirit Reappear to Save the Primal One

We will tell not of how the Tang Priest and the others endured a hard night in the dilapidated palace of Padmaprabha, but of a group of evil villains in Diling county in the prefecture of Brazentower who had squandered all their families' fortunes in whoring, drinking and gambling. Having nothing else left to live on they had formed a criminal gang of a dozen and more members and were discussing which family was the richest in the city and which the second richest. The idea was to rob them of their gold and silver and thus get some money to spend.

“There's no need to go round making enquiries,” one of them said, “or work it out in detail. The Mr. Kou who saw the Tang monk off today is rolling in money. Let's strike tonight in the rain. There'll be nobody ready for us in the streets and the fire wardens won't be patrolling. When we've stolen his property we'll be able to go with the girls, gamble and have a good time again. That would be great, wouldn't it?”

The other robbers were all delighted with the suggestion, and with one heart they all set out in the rain carrying daggers, spiked clubs, sticks, coshes, ropes and torches. Flinging open the main gates of the Kou house they charged inside, shouting and sending everyone inside, young and old, male and female, scurrying into hiding. The old woman hid under the bed and the old man slipped behind the gates, while Kou Liang, Kou Dong and their families fled for their lives in all directions. Holding their knives in their hands and lighting torches, the bandits opened up all the chests in the house and grabbed as much of the gold, silver, jewelry, hair ornaments, clothing, vessels and other household goods as they wanted. Mr. Kou could not bear to lose all this, so taking his life in his hands he come out from behind the gate to plead with the robbers.

“Take as much as you want, great kings,” he said, “but please leave me a few clothes to be buried in.” The robbers were in no mood for argument. They rushed up to him, tripped and kicked him to the ground. Alas,

His three souls vanished to the underworld;

His seven spirits left the world of men.

The successful robbers left the Kou house, put up a rope ladder from the foot of the city wall, took it in turns to cross and fled Westwards in the rain. Only when they saw that the robbers had gone did the servants of the Kou family dare show their heads again. When they looked for old Mr. Kou and found him lying dead on the floor they started weeping aloud. “Heavens! The master's been murdered!” they all said as they wept, embracing the body and sobbing in misery.

When it was almost the fourth watch the resentful Mrs. Kou, who was angry with the Tang Priest and his followers for rejecting their hospitality, and also because the extravagance of their send-off had provoked this disaster, decided to ruin the four of them. Helping Kou Liang to his feet, she said, “Don't cry, my son. Your father fed monks day in and day out. Who ever would have thought that he would complete the number by feeding a gang of monks who'd murder him?”

“Mother,” the brothers asked, “how did those monks murder him?”

“Those bandits were so bold and vicious that when they charged in I hid under the bed,” she replied. “Although I was trembling I made sure to take a very good look at them by the light of the torches. Do you know who they were? The Tang Priest was lighting torches, Pig was holding a knife, Friar Sand was taking the gold and silver, and Monkey killed your father.” The two sons believed all this.

“If you saw all that clearly, mother,” they said, “you must be right. They spent a fortnight in our house, so they knew all the doors, walls, windows and passageways. They must have been tempted by our wealth and come back here under cover of rain and darkness. How evil! They've stolen our property and murdered our father. Once it's light we'll go to the local government and report them as wanted men.”

“What sort of wanted notice should we write?” Kou Dong asked.

“We'll write what our mother said,” Kou Liang replied, and he wrote:

The Tang Priest lit the torches, Pig incited to murder, Friar Sand stole the gold and silver and Sun the Novice murdered our father.

The whole household was in such a hubbub that before they noticed it day had dawned. While invitations were sent out to their relatives and a coffin was ordered Kou Liang and his brother went to the local government offices to deposit their complaint. Now the prefect of Brazentower:

Had always been upright,

Was good by nature.

As a boy he had studied by the light of the snow;

When young he had taken the palace examinations.

His heart was always set on loyalty and justice,

And filled with thoughts of kindness and benevolence.

His name would be transmitted in annals for a thousand years,

Like a Gong Sui or Huang Ba come back to life;

His fame would resound for ten thousand ages in the balls of office,

Zhuo Mao and Lu Gong reborn.

When he had taken his seat in the hall and declared that all matters could be dealt with, he ordered that the placard asking for plaints should be carried outside. Kou Liang and his brother then came in holding the placard, knelt down and called aloud, “Your Honour, we have come to denounce some bandits as thieves and murderers.” The prefect accepted their complaint and read what it had to say.

“I was told yesterday that your family completed your vow of feeding monks,” the prefect said, “by feeding four distinguished ones, arhats from the Tang Dynasty in the East. You made a great display of sending them off with drums and music. So how could such a thing as this have possibly happened?”

“Your Honour,” said Kou Liang, kowtowing, “our father Kou Hong had been feeding monks for twenty-four years. These four monks who had come from afar just happened to make up the ten thousand, which was why he held a service to mark the completion and kept them there for a fortnight. They got to know all the passageways, doors and windows. They were seen off during the day and came back yesterday evening. During the dark and stormy night they charged into the house with torches and weapons to steal our gold, silver, jewelry, clothes and hair ornaments. They beat our father to death and left him lying on the ground. We beg you to be our protector.” On hearing this the prefect mustered infantry, cavalry and able-bodied civilian conscripts, 150 men in all, who rushed straight out of the Western gate carrying sharp weapons in pursuit of the Tang Priest and his three disciples.

The story now tells how master and disciples stayed in the ruins of the minor palace of padmaprabha until dawn, when they went out and started hurrying Westwards. The bandits, who had gone along the main road West all night till daybreak after robbing the Kou family and leaving the city, had passed the palace of Padmaprabha and hidden in the mountains some six or seven miles to the West. Here they were just dividing up the gold and silver when the Tang Priest and his three followers came into view, also heading West along the road.

The bandits, whose greed was not yet sated, pointed at the Tang Priest and said, “Look! Aren't they the monks who were seen off yesterday?”

“And a very welcome arrival too,” said the other bandits, laughing, “Let's do a bit more of our dirty business. Those monks coming along the road spent a long time in the Kou house. Goodness only knows how much stuff they're carrying. Let's hold them up, take their travel money and white horse, and share it all out. That'll suit us very nicely.” The robbers then rushed to the road, brandishing their weapons and yelling their war cry as they formed a line.