Journey to the West (vol. 1)

Chapter 17

Brother Monkey Makes Trouble on the Black Wind Mountain

Guanyin Subdues the Bear Spirit

As Monkey leapt up with a somersault, the senior and junior monks, the novices, the page-boys, and the servants of the monastery all bowed low to the sky and said, “Master, you must be a cloud-riding Immortal come down from Heaven. No wonder that fire can't burn you. Damn that stupid old skinflint of ours: he destroyed himself with his own scheming.”

“Please rise, gentlemen,” replied Sanzang, “there's no need to hate him. If my disciple finds the cassock our troubles will all come to an end; but if he doesn't find it, he has rather a nasty temper and I'm afraid that none of you will escape with your lives.” When they heard this warning, the monks' hearts were in their mouths, and they implored Heaven to let him find the cassock and spare their lives.

Once in mid-air, the Great Sage Sun Wukong reached at the Black Wind Mountain with one twist of his waist. Stopping his cloud while he took a careful look around, he saw that it was indeed a fine mountain. It was a spring day:

The myriad valleys' streams compete,

A thousand precipices vie in beauty.

Where the birds call, no man is;

When the blossoms fall, the trees are still fragrant.

After the rain, the sky and the lowering cliff are moist;

As the pines bend in the wind, they spread an emerald screen.

The mountain herbs grow,

The wild flowers blossom,

Hanging over beetling crags;

The wild fig thrives

And fine trees flourish

On craggy range and flat-topped hill.

You meet no hermits,

And can find no wood-cutters.

Beside the stream a pair of cranes drink,

And wild apes gambol on the rocks.

Peaks like mussel-shells, gleaming black,

Lofty and green as they shine through the mist.

As Monkey was looking at the mountain scenery he heard voices from in front of the grassy slope. He slipped off to conceal himself under the rock-face and take a discreet look. He saw three fiends sitting on the ground. At the head was a dark fellow, to his left was a Taoist, and to his right a white-robed scholar, and they were all talking about lofty and broad matters: about refining cinnabar and mercury with tripods and cauldrons; and about the white snow, mercury, the yellow sprout, lead, and other esoteric teachings.

In the middle of this the dark fellow said, “As it's my birthday tomorrow, I hope you two gentlemen will do me the honour of coming along.”

“We celebrate your birthday every year, Your Majesty,” the white-robed scholar replied, “so of course we shall come this year.”

“I came by a treasure last night,” the dark fellow went on, “a brocade cassock for a Buddha, and it's a wonderful thing. I'm going to give a big banquet for it the day after tomorrow and I'm inviting all you mountain officials to come and congratulate me, which is why I'm calling it a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet.'”

“Wonderful, wonderful,” the Taoist exclaimed with a smile. “Tomorrow I'll come to congratulate you on your birthday, and the day after I'll come again for the banquet.”

As soon as Monkey heard him mention the Buddha's robe he was sure it was their treasure, and unable to hold back his anger he leapt out from the cliff brandishing his gold-banded cudgel with both hands and shouting, “I'll get you, you gang of devils. You stole our cassock, and now you think you're going to have a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet'. Give it back to me at once.”

“Don't move,” he barked, swinging the cudgel and bringing it down towards the monster's head. The dark fellow turned into a wind to flee in terror, and the Taoist rode off on a cloud; so Monkey was only able to slay the white-robed scholar with a blow from the club. When he dragged the body over to look at it, he saw that it was a white-patterned snake spirit. In his anger he picked the corpse up and tore it to pieces, then went into the recesses of the mountain in search of the dark fellow. Rounding a sharp pinnacle and traversing a dizzy precipice, he saw a cave palace in the cliff:

Thick, misty clouds,

Dense with cypress and pine.

The thick and misty clouds fill the gates with color;

The dense stands of cypress and pine surround the door with green.

For a bridge there is a dried-out log,

And wild fig coils around the mountain peaks.

Birds carry red petals to the cloud-filled valley;

Deer tread on scented bushes as they climb the stone tower.

Before the gates the season brings out flowers,

As the wind wafts their fragrance.

Around the willows on the dike the golden orioles wheel;

Butterflies flit among the peach-trees on the bank.

This ordinary scene can yet compete

With lesser views in Fairyland.

When he reached the gates Monkey saw that they were very strongly fastened, and above them was a stone tablet inscribed with the words Black Wind Cave of the Black Wind Mountain in large letters. He brandished his cudgel and shouted, “Open up!” at which the junior devil who was on the gates opened them and asked, “Who are you, and how dare you come and attack our Immortals' cave?”

“You damned cur,” Monkey railed at him. “How dare you call a place like this an 'Immortals' cave'? What right have you to use the word 'Immortal'? Go in and tell that dark fellow of yours that if he gives back my cassock at once, I'll spare your lives.”

The junior devil rushed in and reported, “The 'Buddha's Robe Banquet' is off, Your Majesty. There's hairy-faced thunder god outside the gates who's demanding the cassock.”

The dark fellow, who had barely had time to shut the gates and had not even sat down properly since Brother Monkey chased him, away from the grassy slope, thought on hearing this news, “This wretch has come from I don't know where, and now he has the effrontery to come yelling at my gates.” He called for his armour, tightened his belt, and strode out of the gates with a black-tasseled spear in his hands. Monkey appeared outside the gates holding his iron cudgel and glaring wide-eyed at that ferocious-looking monster.

His bowl-shaped iron helmet shone like fire;

His black bronze armour gleamed.

A black silk gown with billowing sleeves,

A dark green silken sash with fringes.

In his hands a spear with black tassels,

On his feet a pair of dark leather boots.

Lightning flashed from his golden pupils;

He was indeed the Black Wind King of the mountains.

“This wretch looks as though he's been a brick-burner or a coal-digger,” Monkey thought as he smiled to himself. “He's so black he must be the local soot-painter.”

“What gives you the nerve to act so big round here, monk, and what the hell are you?” shouted the monster at the top of his voice.

Monkey rushed him with his cudgel and roared, “Cut the cackle, and give me back the cassock at once, kid.”

“What monastery d'you come from? Where did you lose the cassock? Why come and ask for it here?”

“My cassock was in the rear abbot's lodgings at the Guanyin Monastery due North of here. When the monastery caught fire you made the most of the confusion to do a bit of looting and brought it back here, you wretch, and now you're planning to hold a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet'. Don't try to brazen it out. Give it back at once, and I'll spare your life, but if even a hint of a 'no' gets past your teeth I'll push the Black Wind Mountain over, trample your cave flat, and flatten every one of you fiends into noodles.”

The monster laughed evilly and replied, “You've got a nerve. You were the one who started the fire last night. You were sitting on the roof of the abbot's lodgings and calling up a wind to make it worse. What's it to you if I did take a cassock? Where are you from? Who are you? You must have a lot of tricks up your sleeve if you have the nerve to talk so big.”

“You can't recognize your own grandfather.” Brother Monkey replied. “I, your grandfather, am the disciple of His Highness the Patriarch Sanzang, the younger brother of the Emperor of the Great Tang. My name is Brother Sun Wukong. If you want to know about my tricks, just give me the word. I'll slaughter you here and now, and send your souls flying.”

“I've never heard of these tricks of yours, so you'd better tell me about them.”

“Stand still and listen to me, my child,” Monkey replied, and went on to say:

“Great have been my magic powers since childhood;

Changing with the wind, I show my might.

Nourishing my nature and cultivating the truth,

I have lived out the days and months,

Saving my life by jumping beyond the cycle of rebirth.

Once I searched sincerely for the Way

Climbing the Spirit Terrace Mountain to pick medicinal herbs.

On that mountain lives an ancient Immortal

One hundred and eight thousand years old.

I took him as my master,

Hoping that he would show me a road to immortality.

He said that the elixir is in one's own body-

It is a waste of effort to seek it outside.

I learned a great spell of immortality.

I could scarcely have survived without it.

Turning my gaze inwards, I sat and calmed my mind,

While the sun and moon in my body intermingled.

Ignoring the affairs of the world, I made my desires few,

When senses, body, and mind were purified, my body was firm.

Reversing the years and returning to youth is then easily done;

The road to immortality and sagehood was not long.

In three years I acquired a magic body,

That did not suffer like a common one.

I wandered around the Ten Continents and Three Islands,

The corners of the sea and the edge of the sky.

I was due to live over three hundred years

But could not yet fly up to the Nine Heavens.

I got a real treasure for subduing sea dragons:

An iron cudgel banded with gold.

On the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit

I was supreme commander;

In the Water Curtain Cave

I assembled the fiendish hosts.

The Great Jade Emperor sent me a decree

Conferring high rank and the title 'Equaling Heaven'.

More than once I wrecked the Hall of Miraculous Mist,

And stole the Queen Mother's peaches several times.

A hundred thousand heavenly soldiers in serried ranks

Came with spears and swords to put me down.

I sent the heavenly kings back up there in defeat,

Made Nazha flee in pain at the head of his men.

The True Lord Erlang, skilled at transformations,

Lao Zi, Guanyin and the Jade Emperor

Watched me being subdued from the Southern Gate of Heaven.

As he was given some help by Lord Lao Zi,

Erlang captured me and took to Heaven.

I was tied to the Demon-subduing Pillar,

And divine soldiers were ordered to cut off my head.

Though hacked with swords and pounded with hammers

I remained unharmed.

So then I was struck with thunder and burned with fire.

As I really do have magic powers,

I was not in the slightest bit afraid.

They took me to Lao Zi's furnace to be refined.

The Six Dings roasted me slowly with divine fire.

When the time was up and the furnace opened, out I jumped,

And rushed round Heaven, my cudgel in my hand.

No one could stop me making trouble everywhere,

And I caused chaos in the thirty-three Heavens.

Then our Tathagata Buddha used his Dharma power

And dropped the Five Elements Mountain on my back.

There I was crushed for full five hundred years,

Until Sanzang came from the land of Tang.

Now I have reformed and am going to the West

To climb the Thunder Peak and see the Buddha.

Enquire throughout the Four Seas, Heaven and Earth:

You'll find that I'm the greatest monster ever.

On hearing this the fiend laughed and said, “So you're the Protector of the Horses who wrecked Heaven, are you?”

Monkey, who got angrier at being addressed by this title than at anything else, was furious. “You vicious monster. You steal the cassock and refuse to give it back, and on top of that you insult your lord and master. Just hold it, and see how you like my club.” The dark fellow dodged the blow and then riposted with his spear. The pair of them fought a fine battle.

An As-You-Will cudgel,

A black-tasseled spear,

And two men showing their toughness at the mouth of a cave.

One stabs at heart and face,

The other tries for arm and head.

This one strikes cunning sideswipes with a club,

That one brandishes his spear in three swift movements.

The white tiger climbs the mountain to sink in his claws;

The yellow dragon lying on the road turns round fast.

Snorting out coloured mists,

Disgorging rays of light,

The two immortal fiends are hard to choose between:

One is the Sage Equaling Heaven who has cultivated the truth;

The other is the Great Black King become a spirit.

On this battlefield in the mountains

The pair of them fight for the cassock.

The fiend fought some ten inconclusive rounds with Monkey, and as the sun was now rising steadily towards the zenith, the dark fellow raised his halberd to block the iron cudgel and said, “Brother Monkey, let's lay down our arms. I'll come back and fight you again after I've eaten.”

“You accursed beast,” Monkey replied, “how can you call yourself a real man? If you were, you wouldn't be needing to eat after only half a day. I never even tasted water once in those five hundred years I spent under the mountain, but I wasn't hungry. Stop making excuses, and don't go. I'll let you have your meal if you give me back my cassock.” The fiend waved his halberd in a feint, withdrew into the cave, and shut the doors fast behind him. Summoning his junior goblins, he ordered that a banquet be spread and wrote invitations asking all the devil kings of the mountain to come to the celebratory feast.

Monkey charged the gates but was unable to force them open, so he had to go back to the Guanyin Monastery, where the monks had buried the old patriarch and were now all in attendance on the Tang Priest in the abbot's quarters. Breakfast was over, and lunch was being brought in. Just as they were bringing soup and more hot water, Monkey descended from the sky. The monks all bowed low and took him into the abbot's room to see Sanzang.

“Ah, you're back, Wukong,” he said. “What about the cassock?”

“I've found the answer. We misjudged these monks. It was in fact stolen by a fiend from the Black Wind Mountain. I went to have a quiet look for him and found him sitting in front of grassy slope talking to a white-gowned scholar and an old Taoist. He's a self-confessed monster, and he said with his own mouth that he was inviting all the evil spirits to come and celebrate his birthday tomorrow, and that as he had come by a brocade Buddha's robe last night he wanted to celebrate that too, so he was going to give a great feast that he called an 'Assembly for the Celebration and Admiration of the Buddha's Robe'. I rushed him and took a swipe at him with my club, but the dark fellow turned into a puff of wind and fled. The Taoist disappeared too, and I was only able to kill the white-clad scholar, who was a white snake turned spirit. I went to the mouth of his cave as fast as I could and told him to come out and fight me. He admitted that he had carried it off. We fought for half a day without either of us winning, and then the monster went back to his cave for lunch and shut the stone gates behind him. He was too scared to come out again, so I came back to give you this news, master. Now we know where the cassock is, there's no need to worry that he won't give it back.”

On hearing this, the monks put their hands together or kowtowed as they invoked Amitabha Buddha and exclaimed, “He's found where it is-we're saved.”

“Don't be so happy about it,” Monkey warned, “I haven't got it yet, and my master hasn't left your monastery yet. You'll have to wait till I've recovered the cassock and my master has been seen off properly from here before you can consider yourselves safe. And if there is the slightest mistake, remember that I'm a very quick-tempered boss. Have you given my master the best food and tea? Have you given my horse the best fodder?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” the monks hastened to assure him. “We haven't been remiss in any way while looking after his Reverence.”

“While you were away all morning I've drunk tea three times and eaten twice, and they have not been at all offhand with me,” Sanzang explained. “You'd better go back and do everything possible to recover that cassock.”

“Don't be in such a hurry,” Monkey replied. “I know where it is, and I guarantee that I'll capture this wretch and return the cassock to you. There's no need to worry.”

As he was talking the senior abbot came in, set out the vegetarian meal, and invited Lord Monkey to eat. After swallowing a few mouthfuls Monkey mounted his magic cloud once more and went off on his hunt. On his way he saw a junior goblin going along the main path with a rosewood box under his left arm. Guessing that there must be some kind of letter in the box Monkey raised his cudgel and brought it down on his head. The blow did not just kill the goblin: it left him looking like a hamburger. Throwing his remains aside, Brother Monkey wrenched open the box and saw that it contained an invitation:

Your pupil Bear presents his humble greetings to Your Excellency, the Supreme and Venerable One of the Golden Pool:

I am deeply grateful for the magnificent kindness that I have so frequently received from you. When I saw the fire last night I failed to put it out, but I am sure that your divine intelligence will have suffered no harm from it. As your pupil has been lucky enough to obtain a Buddha's robe, I am giving a banquet, to which I hope you will come to appreciate the robe. I would be profoundly grateful if you would honour me with your presence at the appointed time. Written two days beforehand.

On reading this, Monkey roared with laughter and said, “That crooked old monk. He thoroughly deserved to be killed. He'd been ganging up with evil spirits, had he? It's odd that he should have lived to be two hundred and seventy. I suppose that evil spirit must have taught him a few tricks about controlling his vital essence, which was why he lived so long. I can remember what he looked like, so I think I'll make myself look like him and go into that cave. This way I can see where he's put that cassock, and if I'm lucky I'll be able to get back and save a lot of trouble.

The splendid Great Sage recited a spell, faced the wind, and made himself look just like the old monk. He hid his cudgel, walked straight to the entrance of the cave, and shouted, “Open up.”

The junior goblin opened up, and as soon as he saw him he rushed back to report, “Your Majesty, the Elder of the Golden Pool is here.” The monster was astounded.

“I've only just sent a youngster with an invitation for him, and the message can't have reached him yet. How could he possibly have got here so fast? The youngster can't even have met him. Obviously Brother Monkey has sent him here to ask for the cassock. Steward, hide that cassock somewhere where he won't see it.”

As he came to the front gates Monkey saw that the courtyard was green with bamboo and cypress, while peach and plum trees vied in beauty amid blossoming shrubs and fragrant orchids. It was a cave paradise. He also saw a couplet inscribed on the gates that read:

In peaceful retirement deep in the hills, one is free of vulgar worries;

Dwelling quietly in a magic cave, happy in divine simplicity.

“This wretch has escaped from the dirt and dust of the world,” thought Monkey, “and is a fiend who understands life.” Going through the gates he went further inside and passed through a triple gate. Here were carved and painted beams, light windows and coloured doors. He saw that the dark fellow was wearing a dark green silken tunic over which was slung a black patterned silk cloak; on his head was a soft black hat, and on his feet a pair of dusky deerskin boots.

When he saw Monkey approaching he straightened his clothes and came down the steps to greet him with the words, “I've been looking forward to seeing you for days, Golden Pool. Please take a seat.” Monkey returned his courtesies, and when they had finished greeting each other they sat down and drank tea. Then the evil spirit bowed and said, “I sent you a note just now asking you to come over the day after tomorrow. Why is it that you've come to see me today, old friend?”

“I was on my way here to visit you when I happened to see your message that you were giving a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet,' so I hurried over to ask you to let me have a look.”

“You've misunderstood, old friend,” replied the evil monster with a smile. “It's the Tang Priest's cassock, and as he's been staying at your place you must have seen it there. Why come here to see it?”

“When I borrowed it,” Monkey said, “it was too late at night for me to be able to look at it. Since then, to my great surprise, it has been taken by Your Majesty. On top of that, the monastery has been burnt down and I have lost everything I own. That disciple of the Tang Priest's is quite a bold fellow, but he could not find it anywhere. I have come here to look at it as Your Majesty has had the great good fortune to recover it.”

As they were talking, a junior goblin came in from patrolling the mountain to announce, “Your Majesty, a terrible thing's happened. Brother Monkey has killed the lieutenant who is taking the invitation by the main path, and taken the chance of making himself look like the Elder of the Golden Pool to come here and trick the Buddha's robe out of you.”

“I wondered why the elder came today,” the monster thought, “and why he came so soon, and now I see that it's really him.” He leapt to his feet, grabbed his halberd, and thrust at Monkey. Monkey pulled the cudgel from his ear in a flash, reverted to his true form, parried the halberd's blade, jumped out from the main room into the courtyard, and fought his way back out through the front gates. This terrified all the fiends in the cave, scaring the wits out of young and old alike. The fine combat on the mountain that ensued was even better than the previous one.

The courageous Monkey King was now a monk,

The cunning dark fellow had hidden the Buddha's robe.

At matching words they were both masters;

In making the most of chances there was nothing between them.

The cassock could not be seen, whatever one wished;

A hidden treasure is a true wonder.

When the junior demon on mountain patrol announced a disaster,

The old fiend in his fury showed his might.

Monkey transformed himself and fought his way out of the cave,

As halberd and cudgel strove to decide the issue.

The club blocked the lengthy halberd with resounding clangs;

The halberd gleamed as it parried the iron club.

Sun Wukong's transformations were rare on earth;

Few could rival the foul fiend's magic.

One wanted to take the robe to bring himself long life;

One had to have the cassock to return with honour.

This bitter struggle was not to be broken up;

Even a Living Buddha could not have resolved it.

From the mouth of the cave the pair of them fought to the top of the mountain, and from the top of the mountain they battled their way beyond the clouds. They breathed out wind and mist, set sand and stones flying, and struggled till the red sun set in the West, but the contest was still undecided. Then the monster said, “Stop for the moment, Monkey. It's too late to go on fighting tonight. Go away, go away. Come back tomorrow, and we'll see which of us is to live and which to die.”

“Don't go, my child,” Monkey shouted back. “If you want to fight, fight properly. Don't use the time of day as an excuse to get out of it.” With that he struck wildly at the dark fellow, who changed himself into a puff of wind, went back to his cave, and fastened the stone gates tightly shut.

Monkey could think of no alternative to going back to the Guanyin Monastery. Bringing his cloud down, he called to his master, who had been waiting for him anxiously until he appeared suddenly before his eyes. Sanzang was very glad, until seeing that there was no cassock in Monkey's hands his happiness turned to fear. “Why haven't you got the cassock this time either?” he asked.

Brother Monkey produced the invitation from his sleeve, and as he handed it to Sanzang he said, “Master, that fiend was friends with that dead crook. He sent a junior goblin with this invitation asking him to go to a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet'. I killed the goblin, made myself look like the old monk, went into the cave, and tricked a cup of tea out of them. I asked him to let me see the cassock, but he wouldn't bring it out. Then as we were sitting there a mountain patrolman of some sort gave the game away, so he started to fight me. We fought till just now, and neither of us was on top, when he saw that it was late, shot back to his cave and shut the stone doors behind him. This meant that I had to come back for the moment.”

“How do your tricks compare with his?” Sanzang asked.

“I'm not much better than him,” Monkey replied, “and I can only keep my end up.” Sanzang read the invitation and handed it to the prelate.

“Can it be that your Patriarch was an evil spirit?” he said.

The prelate fell to knees as fast as he could and said, “My lord, he was human. But because that Great Black King was cultivating the ways of humanity he often came to our temple to discuss the scriptures with our Patriarch, and taught him some of the arts of nourishing the divine and controlling the vital essence. That was why they were on friendly terms.”

“None of these monks have anything satanic about them,” Monkey said. “They all have their heads in the air and their feet on the ground, and are taller and fatter than I am. They're not evil spirits. Do you see where it says 'Your pupil Bear' on the invitation? He must be a black bear who has become a spirit.”

To this Sanzang said, “There's an old saying that 'Bears and baboons are alike'. If they are all animals, how can they become spirits?” Monkey laughed and replied, “I'm an animal too, but I became the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. I'm just the same as him. All the creatures on heaven and earth that have nine openings to their bodies can cultivate their conduct and become Immortals.”

“Just now you said his abilities were the same as yours, so how are you going to beat him and get the cassock back?” Sanzang went on to ask. “Don't worry, don't worry,” Monkey replied, “I can manage.” As they were talking, the monks brought their evening meal and invited them to eat. The Sanzang asked for a lamp and went to bed in the front meditation hall as before. The monks all slept under thatched shelters rigged up against the walls, leaving the abbot's quarters at the back for the senior and junior prelate. It was a peaceful night.

The Milky Way was clear,

The jade firmament free of dust.

The sky was full of coruscating stars,

A single wave wiped out the traces.

Stilled were all sounds,

And the birds were silent on a thousand hills.

The fisherman's light beside the bank was out,

The Buddha-lamp in the pagoda dimmed.

Last night the abbot's bell and drum had sounded;

This evening the air was filled with weeping.

This night he spent asleep in the monastery. Sanzang, however, could not sleep for thinking about the cassock. He turned over, and seeing that the sky was growing light outside the window, got straight out of bed and said, “Monkey, it's light, go and get the cassock.” Brother Monkey bounded out of bed, and in an instant a host of monks was in attendance, offering hot water.

“Look after my master properly,” he said. “I'm off.”

Sanzang got out of bed and seized hold of him. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“I've been thinking,” said Monkey, “that this whole business is the Bodhisattva Guanyin's fault. Although this is her monastery and she receives the worship of all these monks, she allows that evil spirit to live in the neighbourhood. I'm going to the Southern Sea to find her and ask her to come here herself to make that evil spirit give us back the cassock.”

“When will you come back?” Sanzang asked.

“After you've finished breakfast at the earliest, and by midday at latest, I'll have done the job. Those monks had better look after you well. I'm off now.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he had disappeared without a trace and reached the Southern Sea. Stopping his cloud to take a look, he saw:

A vast expanse of ocean,

Waters stretching till they joined the sky.

Propitious light filled the firmament,

Auspicious vapours shone over mountains and rivers.

A thousand snow-capped breakers roared at the azure vault,

A myriad misty waves reared at the sky.

Water flew in all directions,

Torrents poured everywhere.

As the water flew in all directions it echoed like thunder;

As the torrents poured everywhere they crashed and roared.

Let us leave the sea,

And consider what lay in it:

A precious mountain in many a misty color-

Red, yellow, purple, black, green, and blue.

Then did he see the beautiful land of Guanyin,

Potaraka Island in the Southern Sea.

What a wonderful place to go-

Towering peaks

Cutting through the sky,

With a thousand kinds of exotic flowers below them,

And every type of magical herb.

The wind shook priceless trees,

The sun shone on golden lotus.

Guanyin's palace was roofed with glazed tiles,

The gates of the Tide Cave were set with tortoise shell.

In the shade of green willows parrots talked,

While peacocks called amid purple bamboo.

On the marbled stone

The protecting gods are majestically severe;.

Before the agate strand

Stands the mighty Moksa.

Not pausing to take in the whole of this exotic scene, Monkey brought his cloud straight down to land under the bamboo grove. A number of devas were already there to meet him, and they said, “The Bodhisattva told us some time ago that you had been converted, Great Sage, and praised you very warmly. But if you are now protecting the Tang Priest, how have you found the time to come here?”

“Because something has happened while I've been escorting him on his journey. Please go and tell the Bodhisattva that I'd like an audience with her.” When the devas went into the cave to report this, Guanyin summoned him inside. Monkey did as he was told and bowed to her beneath the lotus throne.

“What have you come for?” the Bodhisattva asked.

“My master's journey has brought him to a monastery of yours,” Monkey replied, “and I find that although you accept incense from its monks, you allow a black bear spirit to live in the neighbourhood, and have let him steal my master's cassock. I've tried to take it off him a number of times but got nowhere, so now I've come to ask you to demand it from him.”

“What nonsense, you ape,” the Bodhisattva retorted. “Even if a bear spirit has stolen your cassock, what business have you to ask me to go and demand it for you? It all happened because you wanted to show it off, you big-headed and evil baboon, in front of petty-minded people. On top of that, in your wickedness you called up the wind to spread the fire that burnt down my monastery. And now you have the nerve to try your tricks here.”

These words from the Bodhisattva made Monkey realize that she knew all about the past and the future, so he hastily bowed down in reverence and pleaded, “Bodhisattva, forgive your disciple his sins, everything you say is true. All the same, my master will recite that spell again because that monster won't give back the cassock, and I couldn't bear the agonizing headache. That's why I came to bother you, Bodhisattva. I beg you in your mercy to help me catch that evil spirit, get the cassock back, and carry on towards the West.”

“That monster's magical powers are certainly no weaker than yours,” the Bodhisattva said. “Very well then, out of consideration for the Tang Priest I'll go there with you.” Monkey thanked her and bowed again, asked her to come out, and rode on the same magic cloud as her. In next to no time they reached the Black Wind Mountain, where they landed the cloud and headed for the cave on foot.

As they were on their way, a Taoist priest appeared on the mountain slope. He was carrying a glass salver on which were two pills of the elixir of immortality. Monkey was immediately suspicious of him, so he struck straight at his head with the iron cudgel, sending blood splattering out from brain and chest.

“Are you still as wild as this, you ape?” the shocked Bodhisattva asked. “He didn't steal your cassock, you didn't even know him, and he was no enemy of yours. Why kill him?”

“You may not know him, Bodhisattva,” Monkey replied, “but he was a friend of the Black Bear Spirit. Yesterday they and a white-clad scholar were sitting talking in front of the grassy mountainside. Today is the Black Spirit's birthday, and tomorrow he was coming to the 'Buddha's Robe Banquet'. That's why I recognized him. I'm sure that he was coming to greet that monster on his birthday.”

“If that's the way it is, very well then,” said the Bodhisattva. Monkey then went to lift up the Taoist to take a look at him, and he saw that he had been a grey wolf. There was an inscription under the glass salver that lay beside him. It read, “Made by Master Emptiness-reached”.

Brother Monkey laughed and sand, “What luck, what luck. This helps me and will save you trouble too, Bodhisattva. This monster has confessed of his own free will, and the other monster there can be finished off today.”

“What do you mean?” the Bodhisattva asked.

“I have a saying,” he replied, “that goes 'beat him at his own game'. Are you willing to let me do things my way?”

“Tell me about it,” the Bodhisattva said.

“The two pills of immortality you see on that salver will be the present we take to visit him with,” said Monkey, “and the words inscribed underneath-'Made by Master Emptiness-reached'-are the bait we'll set for him. If you do as I say, I have a plan for you that does not call for force or fighting. The fiend will collapse before our eyes, and the cassock will appear. If you won't let me have my way, then you go West, I'll go East, we can say good-bye to the Buddha's robe, and Sanzang will be up the creek.”

“You've got a cheek, you ape,” replied the Bodhisattva with a smile.

“No, no, I really have got a plan,” Monkey protested.

“Tell me about it then,” said Guanyin.

“You know it says on the salver, 'Made by Master Emptiness-reached,' Well, Master Emptiness-reached must be his name. Bodhisattva, if you're prepared to let me have my way, then change yourself into that Taoist. I shall eat one of those pills and then change myself into a pill, though I'll be a bit on the big side. You are to take the tray with the two pills on it and go to wish the fiend many happy returns. Give him the bigger of the pills, and when he's swallowed me, I'll take over inside him. If he doesn't hand the cassock over then, I'll weave a substitute out of his guts.”

The Bodhisattva could only nod her agreement.

“What about it then?” said the laughing Monkey, and at this the Bodhisattva in her great mercy used her unbounded divine power and her infinite capacity for transformation to control her will with her heart and her body with her will-in an instant she turned into Master Emptiness-reached.

The wind of immortality blew around his gown,

As he hovered, about to rise to emptiness.

His dark features were as ancient as a cypress,

His elegant expression unmatched in time.

Going and yet staying nowhere,

Similar but unique.

In the last resort all comes down to a single law,

From which he is only separated by an evil body.

“Great, great,” exclaimed Brother Monkey at the sight. “Are you a Bodhisattva disguised as an evil spirit, or a Bodhisattva who really is an evil spirit?”

“Monkey,” she replied with a laugh, “evil spirit and Bodhisattva are all the same in the last analysis-they both belong to non-being.” Suddenly enlightened by this, Monkey curled up and turned himself into a pill of immortality:

Rolling across the plate but not unstable,

Round and bright without any corners.

The double three was compounded by Ge Hong,

The double six was worked out by Shao Weng.

Pebbles of golden flame,

Pearls that shone in the daylight.

On the outside were lead and mercury,

But I cannot reveal the formula.

The pill he changed himself into was indeed a little larger than the other one. The Bodhisattva noted this and went with the glass salver to the entrance of the fiend's cave. Here she saw

Towering crags and lofty precipices,

Where clouds grow on the peaks;

Blue cypresses and green pines

Where the wind soughs in the forest.

On towering crags and lofty precipices

The devils come and go, and few men live.

The blue cypresses and green pines

Inspire Immortals to cultivate the hidden Way.

The mountains have gullies,

The gullies have springs,

Whose gurgling waters sing like a guitar,

Refreshing the ear.

Deer on its banks,

Cranes in the woods,

Where the reticent Immortal's pipe is casually played

To delight the heart.

Here an evil spirit can attain enlightenment,

And the boundless vow of the Buddha extends its mercy.

When the Bodhisattva saw this she thought, “If the beast has chosen this cave, there must be some hope for him.” And from then on she felt compassion for him.

When she reached the entrance of the cave, the junior goblins at the gates greeted her with the words, “Welcome, Immortal Elder Emptiness-reached.” As some of them ran in to announce her, the monster came out of the gates to meet her and say, “Master Emptiness-reached, how good of you to put yourself to this trouble. This is an honour for me.”

“Allow me to present you with this magic pill that, I venture to say, will confer immortality on you,” the Bodhisattva replied. When the two of them had finished exchanging greetings they sat down, and the monster started to talk about the events of the previous day. The Bodhisattva quickly changed the subject by passing the salver to him and saying, “Please accept this token of my regard for you.” She observed which was the bigger one and handed it to him with the words, “I wish Your Majesty eternal life.”

The monster handed the other pill to her and said, “I hope, Master Emptiness-reached, that you will share it with me.” When they had finished declining politely, the fiend picked up the pill and was on the point of swallowing it when it went rolling into his mouth. Then Monkey resumed his true form and struck up some acrobatic postures, at which the fiend fell to the ground. The Bodhisattva too resumed her true form and asked the monster for the Buddha's cassock. As Monkey had now emerged through the monster's nostrils, she was worried that the evil spirit might misbehave again, so she threw a band over his head. He rose to his feet, ready to run them through with his spear, but Monkey and the Bodhisattva were already up in mid-air, where she began to recite the spell. As the monster's head began to ache, he dropped the spear and writhed in agony on the ground. The Handsome Monkey King collapsed with laughter in the sky, while the Black Bear Spirit rolled in torment on the earth.

“Beast, will you return to the truth now?” asked the Bodhisattva.

“I swear to, I swear to, if only you spare my life,” the monster repeated over and over again.

Monkey wanted to finish him off with no more ado, but the Bodhisattva stopped him at once: “Don't kill him-I've got a use for him.”

“What's the point in keeping that beast alive instead of killing him?” Monkey asked.

“I've got nobody to look after the back of my Potaraka Island,” she replied, “so I shall take him back with me to be an island-guarding deity.”

“You certainly are the all-merciful deliverer who doesn't allow a single soul to perish,” said Monkey with a laugh. “If I knew a spell like that one of yours, I'd say it a thousand times over and finish off all the black bears I could find.”

Although the bear spirit had come round and the spell had stopped, he was still in great pain as he knelt on the ground and begged pitifully, “Spare my life and I promise I'll return to the truth.” The Bodhisattva descended in a ray of light, placed her hands on his head, and administered the monastic discipline to him; then she told him to take up his spear and accompany her. The black bear's evil intentions ceased from that day on, and his unbounded perversity came to an end.

“Sun Wukong,” ordered the Bodhisattva, “go back now. Serve the Tang Priest well, don't be lazy, and don't start trouble.”

“I'm very grateful to you for coming so far, Bodhisattva, and I must see you home,” Monkey said. “That will not be necessary,” she replied. Monkey took the cassock kowtowed to her, and departed. The Bodhisattva took Bear back to the sea, and there is a poem to prove it:

A magic glow shines round the golden image,

The thousand rays of glorious light.

She saves all men, giving of her pity,

Surveying the whole universe and revealing the golden lotus.

Many shall now preach the scriptures' meaning,

Nor shall there be any flaw therein.

Subduing a demon and bringing him to truth, she returns to the sea;

The religion of Emptiness has recovered the brocade cassock.

If you don't know how things developed, listen to the explanation in the next chapter.