Journey to the West (vol. 1)

Chapter 38

Questioning His Mother, the Boy Sorts Right from Wrong

When Metal and Wood Join in the Mystery, Truth and Falsehood Are Clear

If you speak only of the causation arising from birth,

You can be present at the Buddha's assembly.

The Buddha of the dusty world thinks only peaceful thoughts;

People of all quarters watch while the spirit is subdued.

If you wish to know who is the true monarch,

You must ask the mother who bore you.

You have never yet seen another world;

At every step a new flower appears.

Soon after taking his leave of the Great Sage, the crown prince of Wuji was back in the city. As instructed, he did not make for the main palace gates or announce his arrival, but went straight to a back gate that was kept by some eunuchs. Not daring to stop him, they let him in. The splendid prince rode his horse straight to the foot of the Brocade Fragrance Pavilion, in which sat the queen attended by some dozens of consorts and concubines holding fans. The queen was in tears, leaning against a carved balustrade. Do you know why? It was because she half remembered but had half forgotten a dream she had had in the small hours of the morning. Now she was deep in thought.

The prince dismounted, knelt at the foot of the pavilion and called, “Mother.”

The queen forced herself to look cheerful and called to him, “What a pleasure to see you, my child, what a pleasure. I've been worried about you for two or three years. Despite all my requests to His Majesty your father in the hall of audience I haven't been able to see you. How ever were you able to get leave to see me today? I'm so, so happy. But why do you sound so sad, child? Your father is getting on now. One day the dragon will have to return to the jade-green sea and the phoenix to the crimson clouds. Then the throne will be yours. So why be so miserable?”

To this the prince replied with a kowtow, “Mother, who is it who now occupies the throne? Who is it who uses the royal 'we?'”

“The boy's gone mad,” exclaimed the queen. “It's your father who's king. Why do you ask?”

“I beg you, Mother,” said the prince, kowtowing again, “to forgive your son's crime so that I may ask once more. If you can't pardon me, I can't ask.”

“There can't be criminal proceedings between mother and son,” the queen said. “You're forgiven. Now, hurry up and ask.”

“Mother,” said the prince, “I want to ask you whether there is any difference in the affection between you and my father now compared with three years ago.”

The moment the queen heard this her souls went flying and she rushed down to the foot of the pavilion to hug the prince close to her. “Child,” she said as tears flowed from her eyes, “why do you come to the harem after we've been kept apart for such a long time to ask me this?”

“Mother,” said the prince in great anger, “tell me at once what you have to say or you will ruin everything.”

The queen ordered her attendants to withdraw, then said in a low and tearful voice, “If you hadn't asked me about it I would have taken the secret to the grave with me. Now that you have asked, listen while I tell you:

He used to be so passionate and tender,

But three years later on he's turned to frost.

If I whisper to him warmly on the pillow

He pleads old age and says the urge is lost.”

At this the crown prince broke away from his mother's embrace and remounted his horse. “What's up, child?” the queen asked, holding on to him. “Why are you off before we've even finished our conversation?”

The prince then knelt before her and said, “I hardly dare tell you, Mother. When I went out hunting this morning with the falcons and hounds His Majesty kindly lent me I happened to meet a holy monk who was on his way to fetch the scriptures. His senior disciple is Sun the Novice, or Brother Sun. He is very good at exorcising demons. It appears that His Majesty my father is dead in the eight-sided well with glazed tiles in the palace gardens, and that the wizard turned himself into my father's double in order to usurp the throne. In the middle of last night my father came to him in a dream. He asked the priest to come here to capture the fiend. I came to ask you that question because I couldn't quite bring myself to believe them. From what you have just told me, Mother, I'm now sure he is an evil spirit.”

“You shouldn't believe what strangers tell you, my son,” said the queen.

“I wouldn't have believed him at all,” replied the crown prince, “except that His Majesty my father left proof with him.” When the queen asked what it was, the prince produced the gold-bordered white jade scepter from his sleeve and handed it to her. The queen saw it and recognized it as the king's treasure. She could not hold back her tears.

“My lord,” she cried out, “why did you never come to me in the three years since you died? Why did you appear to the holy monk and then to the prince first?”

“What do you mean, Mother?” the prince asked.

“My child,” said the queen, “I too had a dream in the small hours of the morning. I saw your father standing soaking wet in front of me. He told me himself that he had been killed and that his ghost had called on the Tang Priest to ask him to capture the impostor on the throne and rescue him. I can remember him saying all this, but only very vaguely. I was just wondering about it when you came, asked that question, and showed me the scepter. I'll keep it, and you go and ask that holy monk to be as quick as possible. Then the evil mists can be swept away, truth can be separated from falsehood, and you can repay His Majesty your father for his kindness in raising you.”

The prince quickly remounted and went out through the back gate of the palace to get away from the city. Indeed:

With tears in his eyes he took leave of his mother;

Bowed down with grief he returned to Sanzang.

He was soon out of the city and back at the gate of the Precious Wood Monastery, where he dismounted amid the greetings of the whole army. It was now almost sunset. The crown prince ordered that the soldiers were to make no unnecessary movements. He then went back into the monastery, neatened up his clothes, and went to pay his respects to Brother Monkey just as he was swaggering out of the main hall.

The prince fell to his knees and said, “Master, I'm back.”

Monkey went over to him to raise him to his feet and said, “Please get up. Who did you question when you went into town?”

“I questioned my mother,” the crown prince replied, going on to tell him everything that had happened.

Monkey grinned slightly as he said, “If he's that cold he must be a transformation of something icy. Never mind. It doesn't matter. I'll wipe him out for you. The only trouble is that it's a bit late to do anything today. Go back now and wait till I come to see you tomorrow.”

The prince knelt down again, kowtowed and said, “Let me stay here to be at your beck and call till I go in with you tomorrow.”

“No,” said Monkey, “that would be no good. If we two went into town together the fiend would have his suspicions. He wouldn't think that I'd just met you by chance. He'd say that you'd asked me to come, and then be angry with you.”

“But-he's going to be angry with me anyhow if I go back to the city now,” replied the prince.

“Why?” asked Monkey.

“Because I'll have no way to face him when I go back without having caught a single thing after taking out so many men, horses, falcons and hounds on his orders this morning,” said the prince. “If he punishes me for incompetence I'll be thrown into jail and you'll have nobody to help you when you go into town tomorrow. And in this whole force there isn't a single friend of mine.”

“No problem,” said Monkey. “If you'd told me earlier I'd have a good bag ready for you now.”

Splendid Great Sage. Watch him as he shows off his powers in front of the prince, leaping up into the clouds with a single bound, making the magic with his fingers, and saying the esoteric words, “Om ram Pure Dharma World.”

He made the mountain gods and local deities of the place bow to him in mid-air and say, “Great Sage, what orders do you have for us humble deities?”

To this Brother Monkey replied, “I've escorted the Tang Priest this far and now I want to capture a demon. The trouble is that the crown prince has caught nothing on his hunt, so he doesn't dare return to the palace. I'd like to ask a favour of you all. Will you fetch some river-deer, antelopes, deer, hares, other birds and beasts to send him back with?” None of the mountain gods or local deities dared not to accept this order.

When they asked how many of each were wanted the Great Sage replied, “It doesn't matter. Just get some.”

The gods then mustered their invisible soldiers and made a magical animal-gathering wind blow. They caught hundreds and thousands of pheasants, deer, antelopes, river-deer, foxes, badgers, raccoon dogs, hares, tigers, leopards and wolves, which they presented to Monkey.

“I don't want them,” he said. “I'd like you to hamstring them and set them out on both sides of the fifteen miles of the road back so that the hunters can take them to the capital without having to use their falcons or hounds. That will redound to your credit.” The gods did as they were told, put their magic wind away, and set the prey out beside the road.

Only then did Brother Monkey bring his cloud down to land and say to the prince, “You may go back now, Your Highness. Your bag is set out by the road for you to collect.” After the mid-air display of Monkey's amazing powers the prince was utterly convinced that this had happened, so he could but kowtow and take his leave. He then went out of the monastery and ordered the soldiers back to the city. There were indeed no end of wild animals by the road that the soldiers could catch with their bare hands, not needing the falcons or dogs. They all cheered the prince and said that this was due to his very good luck, not realizing that it was Monkey's magical achievement. Just listen to the triumphant songs as they swarm back to the capital.

Monkey, meanwhile, was guarding Sanzang. Seeing how well the two of them were getting on with the prince, the monks of the monastery had to treat them with great respect. They provided them with vegetarian meals and looked after the Tang Priest, who was still resting in the meditation hall. For nearly a whole watch, or about two hours, Monkey was too troubled to sleep.

He jumped up, went over to the Tang priest's bed and called, “Master.”

Sanzang was still awake too, but he pretended to be asleep because he knew that Monkey was someone who caused alarms and trouble. So Monkey rubbed Sanzang's shaven pate and shouted wildly, “Why are you asleep, Master?”

“Wicked creature,” said the Tang Priest angrily, “what are you shouting for at this time of night when you ought to be asleep?”

“But Master,” said Monkey, “there's something I want to talk about with you.”

“What?” Sanzang asked.

“I can't sleep,” Brother Monkey replied, “because when I was boasting to the crown prince yesterday about how my magical powers were higher than mountains and deeper than the sea I said that I could catch that fiend as easily as taking something out of a bag. I'd only have to stretch out my hand to grab him. Thinking about it I realize it would be difficult.”

“If it is difficult,” said the Tang Priest, “then give up the idea of catching the monster.”

“He's certainly got to be caught,” said Monkey, “but it isn't right.”

“You're talking nonsense, ape,” said the Tang Priest. “The fiend has usurped a throne. What do you mean by 'it isn't right?'”

“All you know about is reciting sutras, worshipping the Buddha, sitting in contemplation and seeking religious instruction,” said Monkey. “You've never seen the Legal Code. As the saying goes, 'You can't arrest someone for theft without the loot as evidence.' That fiend has been king for three years now without giving the game away. He sleeps with the consorts and concubines in the harem and shares the pleasures of the civil and military officials at court. I have the power to catch him all right; but it'll be hard to make the charges against him stick.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked the Tang Priest.

“Even if he normally kept his mouth as shut as an unopened gourd,” said Monkey, “he'll brazen it out with you and say, 'I'm the monarch of Wuji. What crime have I committed against Heaven that you should come to arrest me?' What written documentation have you got to back up your case against him?”

“How would you cope?” asked Sanzang.

“My plan's already made,” said Brother Monkey with a laugh. “The only thing is that it affects Your Reverence and your favoritism.”

“How do I show favoritism?” the Tang Priest asked.

“Because Pig is so stupid he's rather a pet of yours.”

“What do you mean by that?” the Tang Priest asked.

“Well, if he's not your favorite, be a bit bolder today and agree to stay here with Friar Sand while Pig and I go ahead to the capital of Wuji, find the palace gardens, open up the glazed-tile well, fish out the remains of the dead king, and wrap them up in a carrying-cloth. Then when we go into town tomorrow never mind about the travel documents-as soon as I see the fiend I'll have my cudgel out to kill him. If he tries to argue, show him the remains and the clothes and say, 'This is the man you murdered.' Then bring the crown prince in to mourn his father and the queen to identify the remains of her husband. Let all the civil and military officials see their true lord, and then Pig and I will set to. That's the only way we'll be able to win a contested lawsuit afterwards.”

On hearing this the Tang Priest concealed his delight and said, “But Pig might not be willing to go.”

“There you are,” said Monkey, “I said you showed favoritism. How do you know he won't want to go? It's just like the way you refused to respond for a whole hour when I kept trying to wake you. My three inches of tongue could make Pig come with me even if he were a Pig-and-a-half.”

“Very well,” said Sanzang, “call him if you like.”

Monkey then took his leave of the master, went straight to Pig's bed, and called his name. The idiot was lying with his head hanging down, snoring heavily after his exhausting journey. Mere calling was not going to wake him. Monkey grabbed him by his ears and his bristles, pulled him up, and shouted “Pig!” again. The idiot was still fast asleep.

When Monkey called him again Pig said, “Go to sleep, and stop fooling around. We've got to be on our way again tomorrow.”

“I'm not fooling,” said Monkey. “There's a piece of business for us two to do.”

“What sort of business?” Pig asked.

“Didn't you hear the prince telling us?” said Monkey.

“I didn't even see him,” said Pig, “let alone hear him say anything.”

“The prince told me that the fiend has a treasure that makes him a match for ten thousand men in a fight,” said Monkey. “When we go into town we'll have to fight him, and if he has that treasure he'll beat us. That would be terrible. I reckon that if the other side is stronger than you the best thing to do is to strike first. Wouldn't be best if the two of us went and stole his treasure?”

“You're trying to trick me into thieving, brother,” said Pig. “I'll come in on this bit of business, and I'll be very useful to you too, but first I want to get something clear with you. When we've stolen the treasure and captured the demon I won't stand for any mean, small-minded sharing out of the treasure. I want the lot.”

“Why?” Monkey asked. “I haven't got your gift of the gab. I can't wheedle food out of people. I'm clumsy and rough-spoken, and I can't recite sutras. When I'm really on my uppers I can always swap it for food.”

“All I'm interested in is fame,” said Monkey. “I don't care about treasures. You can have it if you like.” The idiot was so happy to be promised the treasure that he rolled himself out of bed, dressed, and set out with Monkey. It was a case of

Clear wine makes the cheeks go red;

Gold turns everybody's head.

The two of them opened the door very quietly, left Sanzang and took an auspicious cloud straight to the city.

They were soon there, and as they brought their cloud down to land they heard the drum on the tower being beaten twice. “It's the second watch, brother,” said Monkey.

“Just right,” said Pig, “just right. Everybody's fast asleep.” The two of them avoided the main gate and went round to the back gate of the palace, where clappers and bells were being sounded. “Brother,” said Monkey, “it sounds as though there's an alarm at both front and back gates. How are we going to get in?”

“Who ever heard of burglars going in through the gates?” said Pig. “Let's go over the wall so that nobody sees us.” Monkey accepted his suggestion, and with a bound he was on top of the inner wall. Pig jumped up too, then the pair of them crept inside and tried to find their way to the palace gardens.

As they walked along they saw a gate-tower in front of them with triple eaves and white ornaments. On it were two huge words, gleaming bright: ROYAL GARDENS. Going up to it for a closer look Brother Monkey saw that layer after layer of sealing paper had been pasted over the gates, and the locks on them had rusted hard. He then told Pig to get moving. The idiot raised his iron rake and brought it down with all his might on the gates, smashing them to splinters. Monkey was just going to step inside when he was seized with an irresistible urge to leap about and shout, to the horror of Pig who went up to him, grabbed him and said, “You'll be the death of me, brother. Who ever heard of burglars yelling like that? You'll wake them up and get us arrested and handed over to for trial. Then it'll be either a death sentence or being sent home as convicts.”

“Brother,” said Monkey, “do you know why I'm so upset? Just look!

Carved and painted balustrades all in a mess,

Precious pavilions leaning awry.

The sedge and nutweed on the bank are buried.

The peonies and raspberries have been ruined.

Gone is the fragrance of rose and jasmine;

Tree peony and wild lily flower in vain.

Hibiscus and rose of Sharon are overgrown,

And all the precious flowers choked.

The hillocks built from strange-shaped rocks have collapsed;

The fish are dead in the dried-up ponds.

Dry as tinder the pine and bamboo;

Mugwort and wormwood carpet the paths.

Broken the branches of peach and osmanthus,

Twisted the trunks of pomegranate and kerria.

Moss grows on the zigzag way to the bridge:

A desolate garden scene.”

“What are you getting so upset about?” Pig asked. “Let's get on with our bit of business.” Despite his distress Monkey remembered how in his dream the Tang Priest had been told that the well was under a plantain. As he went further he did indeed see a plantain that was most luxuriant, unlike all the other flowers and trees. Indeed:

It was a divine shoot

Born with an empty nature.

Papery strips came from every branch,

And all the leaves wrapped up fragrance.

A thousand fine stands of emerald green,

A touch of red at the heart.

It grieved in the cold of autumn rain;

It withered with fear of the autumn winds.

It was grown through the efforts of the gardener,

Raised through the Creator's work.

Wonderful its value as writing paper,

Marvellous its use for dripping water.

Would that phoenix feathers could have compared;

A phoenix tail was no match for its leaves.

When the ample dew dripped gently

The tree was lightly wreathed in mist.

Its green shade covered the window,

Its jade shadow fell on the frame.

The wild goose could not perch in its fronds,

Nor the charger be tethered to its trunk.

On a frosty day it looked withered;

It was dim in the moonlight.

It could only refresh one in summer's heat

And offer some shelter from the blazing sun.

It lacked the beauty of peach or plum,

Standing lonely to the East of the whitewashed wall.

“Set to, Pig,” said Monkey. “The treasure's buried under the plantain.” The idiot raised his rake in both hands and sent the tree crashing down. Then he rooted in with his snout to a depth of three or four feet, revealing a stone cover.

“We're in luck, brother,” exclaimed the idiot with delight. “There really is a treasure here under this stone cover. I wonder whether it's inside a jar or a box.”

“Lift the cover and we'll see,” said Monkey. With another root of his snout the idiot prized it open. There was a glow of multicolored light, and a bright, white vapor.

“We're in luck, we're in luck,” chortled Pig. “The treasure's shining.”

Going nearer for a closer look they saw that it was in fact the starlight and the moonlight reflected by the water in a well.

“Brother,” said Pig, “you ought to think ahead.”

“What do you mean, think ahead?” asked Monkey.

“This is a well,” said Pig. “If you'd told me back in the monastery that the treasure was hidden in a well I'd have brought a couple of the luggage ropes along with me and we could have worked out a way of letting me down the well. But how am I going to go down there to fetch the thing empty-handed?”

“Are you willing to go down?” Monkey asked.

“I would if I could,” said Pig, “but there's no rope.”

“Take that garment off-I know what to do,” said Monkey with a grin.

“I've got nothing good enough to be called a garment,” said Pig. “The only thing I could take off is this tunic.”

The splendid Great Sage brought out his gold-tipped cudgel, pulled it at both ends, and said, “Grow!” It grew seventy or eighty feet long. “You hold one end, Pig, and I'll lower you in,” said Monkey.

“Let me down till I reach the water, brother, and then stop,” said Pig.

“Understood,” said Monkey. As the idiot clung to the tip of the cudgel Monkey lightly lifted him up and lowered him into the well. Before long Pig had reached the water. As soon as Monkey heard him call out that he was there, Monkey thrust the cudgel down, making the idiot let go of it and tumble in with a splash.

“Heavens, I'm being murdered,” Pig mumbled in the water. “I told you not to let me go when I got to the water, but you pushed me in.”

Monkey pulled his cudgel out and asked with a laugh, “Can you find the treasure, brother?”

“What treasure?” said Pig. “There's only a wellful of water.”

“The treasure's at the bottom,” said Monkey, “so go down and have a feel around.” The idiot, who really was a good swimmer, did a surface dive and plunged down. Wow! The well was extremely deep, so he thrust himself even further down, and was suddenly gazing in astonishment at an ornamental arch on which were written the word WATER CRYSTAL PALACE.

“That's enough of this,” said Pig with horror. “I've taken the wrong turning. I must have blundered into the sea. There are water crystal palaces in the sea, but there couldn't possibly be one in a well.” What Pig did not realize was that this was the water crystal palace of the Dragon King of the Well.

As Pig was talking to himself a patrolling yaksha opened the gates and shot straight back inside again at the sight of him to report, “A disaster, Your Majesty. A monk with big ears and a long snout has just fallen into the well. He's dripping wet and stark naked. He's still alive and is talking for all he's worth.”

The news was a great shock to the Dragon King of the Well, who thought, “This must be Marshal Tian Peng. Yesterday evening the Patroller of the Night came with an edict ordering me to send the soul of the king of Wuji to visit the Tang Priest and ask that the Great Sage Equaling Heaven be sent to capture the fiend. I suppose that the Great Sage and the Marshal must be here now. I must be very polite to them and go straight out to welcome them.”

The dragon king neatened up his clothes and went out through the gates at the head of his watery tribe. “Please come in and take a seat, Marshal Tian Peng,” he called at the top of his voice.

This made Pig feel a great deal happier. “So it's an old friend,” he thought. Without any further thought the idiot went straight into the water crystal palace. He really had no sense of proper behavior, and sat, stark naked as he was, in the place of honour.

“Marshal,” said the dragon king, “I hear that you have been given a new life, been converted to the Buddhist faith, and are escorting the Tang Priest on his journey West to fetch the scriptures. What bring you here?”

“It's just as you say. My senior fellow-disciple Monkey sends his respects and has told me to come here to ask you for some kind of treasure.”

“Oh dear,” said the dragon king, “we don't have any treasure here. I'm no match for the dragon kings of the Yangtse, Yellow, Huai or Ji rivers, who can fly around, do transformations, and get treasure that way. I've been stuck here for ages, and not been able to broaden my horizons for many a long month, so how could I possibly get any treasures?”

“Stop trying to fob me off,” said Pig. “Bring out whatever you've got.”

“It's true I do have one treasure,” admitted the dragon king, “but I can't move it. Perhaps you would like to come and see it for yourself, Marshal.”

“Splendid, splendid, splendid,” said Pig. “I really must have a look.”

The idiot followed as the dragon king led the way. As they left the halls of the water crystal palace they saw a body six feet long lying in an open corridor. “There's the treasure,” said the dragon king, pointing to it. When Pig took a closer look he saw to his astonishment that it was the body of a king stretched ramrod-straight and wearing a heaven-touching crown, a robe of yellow ochre, no-worry shoes and a belt of Lantain jade.

“This is no good at all,” chuckled Pig, “no good at all. Can't call that a treasure. I remember that when I was an ogre in the mountains I often used to make a meal out of things like that. Never mind how many of them I've seen-I've eaten a lot. There's no way you could call that a treasure.”

“There are some things you don't know, Marshal,” said the dragon king. “It's the body of the king of Wuji. When he fell into the well I put a face-preserving pearl on him and he has not decomposed. If you were to carry the body up to see the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, and if it could be brought back to life, then you'd get anything you asked for, never mind just treasures.”

“If what you say is right and I carry him up for you, tell me how much you'll pay me for arranging his funeral,” Pig said.

“Honestly, I don't have any money,” the dragon king replied.

“So you like making people work for nothing, do you?” said Pig. “No money, no carriage.”

“If you won't, then please be on your way,” replied the dragon king. Pig left with two hefty yakshas who carried the body outside the palace gates, where they put it down and removed the water-repelling pearl.

At once there was a watery noise. Pig turned straight back to look, but the water crystal palace had disappeared. After feeling the king's corpse he floundered around until he was weak from exhaustion, then surfaced and took hold of the wall of the well. “Brother,” he yelled, “lower the cudgel and rescue me.”

“Got a treasure?” asked Monkey.

“No way,” said Pig. “All I found under the water was the Dragon King of the Well who wanted me to carry a corpse up. When I refused he saw me out and the water crystal palace disappeared. I could only grasp that corpse. I was in such a panic that I went weak all over and I can't move it. Brother, for goodness' sake rescue me.”

“But that is the treasure,” said Monkey. “Why didn't you bring it up?”

“I knew he'd been dead for ages,” said Pig, “so what would have been the point?”

“If you won't bring it up I'm going back,” said Monkey.

“Where to?” Pig asked.

“Back to the monastery and our master to go to bed,” replied Monkey.

“Can't I come?” said Pig.

“You're welcome if you can climb out, but if you can't, tough luck,” said Monkey. This threw Pig into a panic as he could not climb out.

“Just think,” he called, “a city wall is hard enough to climb. This well narrows towards the top. It's got round, overhanging walls, all overgrown with very slippery moss because nobody's drawn water from it for years. How d'you expect me to climb it? Brother, don't forget we're good friends. I'm going down to get it.”

“Good,” said Monkey. “Bring it up quick and we'll go back to bed.” The idiot then did another surface dive and plunged straight down. He groped around till he found the body, dragged it over and carried it up till he surfaced again.

“I've brought it up, brother,” Pig called as he supported himself at the side of the well. When Monkey took a good look and saw that Pig really had brought the body up he lowered the gold-banded cudgel back into the well. Pig was so angry that he opened his mouth and bit on the cudgel while Monkey gently lifted him out.

Pig put the corpse down, retrieved his own clothes, and put them back on. Monkey examined the king's face and saw that it was exactly as it had been in life. “Brother,” he said, “he's been dead three years. Why is his face so well preserved?”

“You wouldn't know about that,” said Pig. “The Dragon King of the Well told me that he'd used a face-preserving pearl to stop the body from decomposing.”

“What luck,” said Monkey, “what luck. He hasn't had his revenge yet, and we're going to succeed. Put him over your shoulder, brother.”

“Where shall I take him?” Pig asked.

“Take him to see the master,” Monkey replied.

“What a way to treat me,” grumbled Pig, “what a way. I was fast asleep when that baboon used his slippery tongue to fool me with that talk of a bit of business. Now I've done it for him I've got to carry this dead body. All this dirty water is dripping down on me and making my tunic filthy. There's nobody to wash it for me. The patches on the shoulders will get damp on overcast days. I won't possibly be able to wear it.”

“You carry him to the monastery,” said Monkey, “and I'll give you something else to wear instead.”

“You're shameless,” said Pig. “You have well-nigh nothing to wear yourself and you talk of giving me something else.”

“If you're going to moan like this then don't carry it,” said Monkey.

“I won't then,” said Pig.

“Then put your ankles out for twenty strokes of the cudgel,” said Monkey.

“But, brother, your cudgel hits very hard,” protested Pig in panic. “Twenty strokes and I'll be like this king.”

“If you don't want a beating then get on with carrying him,” said Monkey. As he really was afraid of a beating Pig dragged the body over, put it across his shoulder and walked out of the palace gardens with an ill grace.

The splendid Great Sage made magic with his hands, said a spell, and blew towards the direction of the wind trigram. At once a tremendous gust of wind plucked Pig out of the palace grounds and over the city wall and moat. The wind then fell, dropping the pair of them on the ground to continue on their way more slowly. The idiot, who was still feeling very hard done by and wanted to get his own back on Monkey, said to himself, “That ape put one over on me, and when we get back to the monastery I'm going to get my own back on him. I'll tell the master that Monkey can bring the body back to life. When he fails the master will say the Band-tightening Spell and all the brains will be squeezed out of that ape's head. That's the only way I'll be satisfied. No, that's no good,” he went on to think as he walked along. “If I ask him to revive the body that'll be too easy for him. He'll only have to call on the King of Hell and ask for the king's soul back. The best way will be to ban him from going to the Underworld. He'll have to bring the king back to life in the world of the living.”

While he was still thinking these thoughts he arrived back at the monastery gates. He went straight in, flung the corpse to the ground right in front of the doors to the meditation hall, and shouted, “Master, come and see a freak.” The Tang Priest, unable to sleep, was talking to Friar Sand about how Monkey had tricked Pig into going and how long they'd been gone when he heard Pig's shout. The Tang Priest got straight out of bed and said, “See what?”

“Brother Monkey's grandpa, and I've had to carry him back,” said Pig.

“You dreg-guzzling idiot,” said Monkey. “I've got no grandpa.”

“Well, brother,” replied Pig, “if he isn't your grandpa, why did you make me carry him? It was damned hard work.”

When Sanzang and Friar Sand opened the doors to look they saw that the king's face was quite unchanged from what it had been in life. “Your Majesty,” said the Tang Priest sorrowfully, “who knows in what earlier life you earned the wizard's hatred? That must be why when you met in this one he murdered you and snatched you from your wives and children unbeknown to any of the civilian or military officials. What a pity it was that in their ignorance your wives and children should never have burnt incense and offered tea to your spirit.” He broke into sobs and his tears poured down like rain.

“What's his death to you?” asked Pig, laughing at Sanzang. “He's not your father or grandfather, so why weep for him?”

“Disciple,” sighed Sanzang, “compassion is the fundamental quality of a monk, and helping others is a monk's way. How can you be so hard-hearted?”

“I'm not hard-hearted,” said Pig. “Monkey told me that he could bring this body back to life. Otherwise I wouldn't have carried it here.” The venerable elder, as easily swayed as ever, was taken in by the idiot.

“Wukong,” he called, “if you have the power to bring this king back to life, it would be a case of saving a single human life being better than building a seven-storied pagoda. For us it would be even better than worshipping the Buddha on Thunder Peak.”

“Don't believe that idiot's nonsense, Master,” said Monkey. “By the time people have been dead for three weeks, then five weeks, and finally for seven hundred days, they've paid for all their sins in this life and go off to be reborn. He's been dead for three years now. He's beyond saving.”

At this the Tang Priest said, “Oh well, forget it.” Pig was still burning with a sense of injustice. “Master,” he said, “don't be taken in by him. He's talking rubbish. You just recite your spell and I guarantee he'll bring the king back to life for you.” The Tang Priest did indeed say the Band-tightening Spell, which squeezed Monkey so badly that his eyes bulged and his head ached.

If you don't know how the king was revived, listen to the explanation in the next installment.