Journey to the West (vol. 3)

Chapter 95

False and True Form Combine When the Jade Hare is Captured

The True Female Is Converted and Meets With Spiritual Origin

The story tells how the Tang Priest was feeling thoroughly miserable as he accompanied the king into the inner quarters, from where a great sound of drums and music arose and fine perfumes could be smelt. He kept his head bowed, not daring to look up. Monkey, secretly very pleased, had fixed himself to the Vairocana mitre, from where he used his magic light to look around with his fiery eyes and golden pupils. There were two ranks of court ladies, making it seem like a palace of flowers or immortals, and finer than a spring breeze blowing past a brocade screen. Indeed, they were

Graceful and charming,

Jadelike, and with ice-smooth skin.

Bewitching pairs more lovely than the girl of Chu,

Beauties two by two, rivaling the lady Xi Shi.

Their hair was coiled high like flying phoenixes;

Their eyebrows were just visible, low lines of distant hills.

Elegantly played the pipe and shawm;

Fast sounded flute and drum.

All the notes of the scale rang out,

Rising then falling again together.

Delightful were they as they danced and sang,

A carpet of flowers, every one of them lovely.

Seeing that his master was not in the least moved by this Monkey silently smacked his lips in admiration and said, “What a fine monk! What a fine monk!

Dwelling amid splendor, his heart forms no attachment;

Walking through magnificence, his mind is not confused.”

A little later the princess came out of the Jay Palace surrounded by the queens and consorts so greet the king with cheers of “Long live the king! Long live the king!” This so alarmed the venerable elder that he trembled, not knowing what to do.

By now Monkey had already noticed a touch of the demonic-though nothing very vicious-that could just be made out in the aura above the princess's head. Monkey crawled quickly to Sanzang's ear and said, “The princess is a fake, Master.”

“If she is a fake,” the venerable elder replied, “then how are we to make her turn back into her real form?”

“I'll give myself a magic body and catch her right here,” said Monkey.

“That would terrify His Majesty,” said Sanzang. “Wait till he and his queens have withdrawn before using your magic.”

Now Monkey had been impatient by nature all his life, so he could not restrain himself. With a great and angry roar he resumed his true from, rushed up and grabbed the princess. “You're a fine, evil beast,” he said abusively. “You've had no end of luxury here, you impostor, but it wasn't enough for you. You're so sex-crazed you had to try to trick my master and destroy his primal masculinity.” This struck the king speechless with fright, and made the queens and consorts fall about. The palace beauties all ran off to hide, fleeing for their lives. It was just like

A roaring wind in spring,

The howling autumn gale.

When the roaring wind in spring blows through the wood

A thousand blossoms are shaken;

When the howling autumn gale hits the park

Ten thousand leaves all swirl and fly.

The tree peony beneath the balustrade is snapped;

Herbaceous peonies beside the balcony fall over.

Hibiscus on the pond's banks are shaken all about.

While chrysanthemums are flung in heaps at the foot of the terrace.

The delicate begonia collapses in the dust;

The fragrant rose is now sleeping in the wilds.

The spring wind smashes caltrop, lotus and pear;

Winter snows weigh down the plum tree's tender blossoms.

The petals of the pomegranate

Are scattered all around the inner courtyard;

The branches of the willow

Are blown sideways within the royal palace.

Fine blooms, and a night of raging wind and rain:

Countless red petals carpet the ground with brocade.

Sanzang hastily put his trembling arms round the king and said, “Don't be afraid, Your Majesty. It is only my wicked disciple using his magical powers to find out whether she is an impostor or not.”

Seeing that things were going badly for her, the evil spirit broke free, tore off her clothes, flung down her jewelry and hair ornaments and ran to the shrine of the local deity in the palace garden. From here she brought out a short club shaped like the head of a trip-hammer, with which she started hitting wildly at Monkey as she turned quickly towards him. Monkey, who had caught up with her at once, struck back at her face with his iron cudgel, Shouting and roaring at each other, the two of them started fighting in the palace gardens. Then each began a great display of magic powers, riding clouds as they battled in mid air. In this fight

Great was the fame of the gold-banded cudgel;

No one had heard of the hammerhead club.

One of them was there to fetch the true scriptures;

The other was lingering for love of rare flowers.

Long had the demon known of the holy Tang Priest,

And she longed to mate with his primal seed-juices.

In a past year she had carried off the real princess,

And taken the form of the king's true daughter.

When she met the Great Sage, who saw her evil aura,

He could tell true from false as he came to save a life.

The murderous club was flung at the head;

The mighty iron cudgel struck back at the face.

Ranting and roaring, they were locked in struggle,

Filling the skies and blotting out the sun.

As the two of them battled in mid air they terrified the common people of the city, and struck fear into all the officials at court. The venerable elder kept saying as he supported the king, “Don't be alarmed, and please tell Her Majesty and all the others not to be afraid. Your princess is an impostor pretending to be her. When my disciple has captured her you will be able to see whether she is good or evil.” Some of the bolder consorts brought clothes and jewelry to show the queen.

“These are what the princess wore. She tore them off and is fighting that monk up in the sky stark naked. She must be an evil spirit.” Only then did the king, queens and consorts come to their senses and look up into the sky.

When the evil spirit and the Great Sage had been fighting for half a day without either emerging as victor Monkey threw his cudgel up and called “Change!” One turned into ten, ten into a hundred, and a hundred into a thousand. Half the sky was filled with writhing serpents and pythons striking wildly at the evil spirit. With a flurry of her hands and feet she turned into a pure wind and fled into the azure sky. Monkey said a spell, took all the iron cudgels back into a single cudgel, and went straight after her magic light.

As he approached the Western Gate of Heaven and saw the dazzling flags and banners Monkey shouted at the top of his voice, “Heavenly gatekeepers, stop that evil spirit and don't let her get away.” The gate was being held by the Heavenly King Lokapala with the four great marshals Pang, Liu, Gou and Bi, who did indeed use their weapons to block the way. As she could not get further she turned straight back and started fighting Monkey with her short club.

As he wheeled his iron cudgel the Great Sage looked carefully at her and saw that one end of her club was thick and one end thin, just like the lead of a trip-hammer used for hulling with a mortar, so he gave a furious roar and shouted, “Beast! What's that implement you're holding? How dare you fight me with it? Surrender at once or I'll smash your skull with a single blow from my cudgel.”

Grinding her teeth, the evil spirit replied, “You don't know about this weapon of mine, so listen while I tell you:

Its immortal root was a piece of mutton-fat jade,

Which took countless years to be worked into shape.

It was already mine when chaos was separated;

When the primal disorder was sorted out I came first.

Its origins cannot be compared with mere mortal things;

Its nature has always belonged to the highest heaven.

Embodying the golden light and the four images

With the auspicious vapors of the Five Elements and the Three Primaries.

Long did it live with me in the Moon Palace,

Staying beside me in the Cassia Hall.

For love of flowers I descended to the mortal world,

Coming to India as a beautiful impostor.

The only reason why I shared the King's pleasures

Was because I wanted my destined marriage with the Tang Priest.

How could you be so cruel as to ruin this fine mating,

Pursuing me and giving rein to your vicious nature?

Great is the fame of this implement of mine,

Which is older than your cudgel with gold bands.

It was a drug-pounding pestle in the Moon Palace:

One blow from this and a life is ended.”

When Monkey heard this he replied with a mocking laugh, “Evil beast! If you used to live in the Toad Palace you must have heard of my powers. How dare you argue with me! Turn back into your real self and surrender at once if I'm to spare your life.”

“I know you,” the monster replied. “You're the Protector of the Horses who made great havoc in the palaces of Heaven five hundred years ago. By rights I ought to give way to you, but because you've wrecked my marriage I hate you as much as if you'd killed my mother and father. It's more than I can stand for. I'm going to kill you, you Protector of the Horses, for breaking the laws of Heaven.” The words Protector of the Horses always infuriated the Great Sage, so the moment he heard them he flew into a great rage, lifted his iron cudgel and struck at her face. The evil spirit swung her pestle in reply. A ferocious battle then ensued in front of the Western Gate of Heaven. In this combat there were

A gold-banded cudgel,

A drug-pounding pestle,

Two immortals' weapons, a worthy match.

One had come down to earth for the sake of a marriage;

The other was there to protect the Tang Priest.

It was because the king was not a righteous one

And loved flowers that he attracted the evil spirit,

Causing today's bitter strife

As two of them gave Ml play to their stubbornness of heart.

Charging and rushing each other they strove for triumph;

In cutting words they fought on with their tongues.

Rare was the martial prowess of the medicine pestle,

But finer still was the iron cudgel's might.

A powerful golden light flashed at the heavenly gates;

Brilliantly coloured mists went right down to the earth.

After a dozen rounds of fighting to and fro

The evil spirit became too weak to resist.

When the evil spirit had fought another dozen or so rounds with Brother Monkey she could see how thick and fast his blows were coming, and realized that she could not win. Feinting with her pestle, she shook herself and fled due South in ten thousand beams of golden light with the Great Sage in pursuit. Suddenly they reached a great mountain, where the evil spirit landed her golden light and disappeared into a cave. Monkey, who was worried that she might escape, return to India and do some underhand harm to the Tang Priest, made sure he could recognize the mountain then turned his cloud round and went straight back to the capital.

It was now about four in the afternoon. The king was clinging to Sanzang, shivering and shaking as he kept saying, “Save me, holy monk!”

The consorts and queens were all in a panic as the Great Sage came down from the clouds with a cry of, “Here I am, Master!”

“Stand still, Wukong,” said Sanzang. “You must not alarm His Majesty. Now, I am asking you what in fact happened about the imitation princess.” Standing outside the Jay Palace, Monkey put his hands together in front of his chest and said, “The imitation princess was an evil spirit. First of all I fought her for half a day, and she couldn't beat me, so she turned into a pure wind and fled straight to the gates of heaven. I shouted to the gods to block her way. She turned back into her real self and fought another dozen or so rounds with me. Then she turned herself into golden light and fled due South to a mountain, beaten. I chased her as fast as I could till I got to the mountain, but I couldn't find her anywhere. Then I came back because I was worried she might come here to harm you.”

When the king heard this he grabbed hold of the Tang Priest and asked, “If the false princess was an evil spirit, where is my real princess?”

“When I've caught the false princess your real princess will turn up by herself,” Monkey replied straight away. When the queens and consorts heard this their fears vanished, and each of them came forward to bow and say, “We beg you to rescue our real princess, holy monk, and sort out the light from the dark. You will be richly rewarded.”

“This is no place for us to talk,” said Monkey. “I beg Your Majesty to go from the inner quarters to the throne hall with my master. Her Majesty and the rest of them should all go back to the inner palace, and my fellow-disciples Pig and Friar Sand should be sent for to protect my master so that I can go and subdue the demon. That will keep a proper distinction between the inner and outer quarters of the palace, and spare me from worrying. I am going to sort this out to show my sincerity.”

The king accepted the suggestion and was boundlessly grateful. He led the Tang Priest out of the inner quarters and straight to the throne hall. All the queens and consorts returned to the inner palace. A vegetarian meal was ordered while Pig and Friar Sand were sent for. The two of them soon arrived. Monkey explained to them both about what had happened and told them to guard the master carefully. The Great Sage set off by his cloud somersault and flew up into mid air. All the officials in front of the throne hall looked up into the sky and bowed low.

The Great Sage Monkey went straight to the mountain that lay due South. When the evil spirit had fled in defeat to the mountain and gone into her den she blocked the entrance with boulders and lay hidden there, terrified. Having looked around for a while and seen no sign of life Monkey felt very impatient, so he made a spell with his hands and said the magic words, calling out the local deity and mountain god to be questioned. A moment later the two gods arrived, kowtowed and said, “We didn't realize, we didn't realize. If we had known we'd have gone a long way to meet you. We beg you to forgive us.”

“I won't hit you just now,” Monkey said. “Tell me what this mountain's called. How many evil spirits are there here? Tell me the truth and I'll forgive you your crimes.”

“Great Sage,” the two gods replied, “this mountain is called Mount Hairtrip. There are three have warrens in the mountain, but from remote antiquity there have never been any evil spirits here. This is a blessed land of five felicities. Great Sage, if you want to find an evil spirit, take the road to the Western Heaven.”

“I've reached the kingdom of India in the Western Heaven, where the king has a princess who was carried off by an evil spirit and abandoned in the wilds. The evil spirit turned herself into the princess's double to deceive the king into building a decorated tower from which she could throw an embroidered ball to find herself a husband. When I got to the foot of the tower while escorting the Tang Priest she deliberately hit the Tang Priest because she wanted to mate with him and lure his primal masculinity out of him. When I saw through her I turned back into myself in the palace to catch her. She threw off her human clothes and jewels and fought with me for half a day with a short club that she called a medicine-pounding pestle. Then she turned herself into a pure wind and disappeared. When I chased her as far as the Western Gate of Heaven and fought another dozen or more with her she realized she couldn't beat me, turned herself into golden right and fled here. Why didn't you see her!”

When the two gods heard this they led Brother Monkey to search the three warrens. When they first looked by the warren at the foot of the mountain a few frightened hares were startled and ran away. When their search reached the cave at the top of the mountain they saw that the entrance was blocked with two great boulders.

“The evil spirit must have gone inside,” the local god said, “when you were chasing her so hard.”

Monkey then pried the boulders apart with his iron cudgel. The evil spirit, who was indeed hiding in there, sprang out with a whoosh, raising her medicine pestle to strike him with. As Monkey swung his cudgel to parry her blow the mountain deity fell back in terror and the local god fled.

From the demon's mouth came abusive grumbles: “Who told you to bring him here to find me?” She continued to fend off the iron cudgel as she fled up into mid air in a fighting retreat.

Just at the moment of crisis, when it was getting late in the day, Monkey became more vicious than ever and his blows were even harder. He wished he could finish her off with a single stroke. Just then a call came from the ninefold azure sky of, “Don't strike, Great Sage! Don't strike! Be kind with your cudgel.”

When Monkey turned round he saw that it was the Star Lord of the Moon leading his beauties and immortals down on multicolored clouds to stand in front of him. A flustered Monkey at once put his iron cudgel away, bowed and said, “Where are you going, Old Man? I'm sorry I didn't keep out of your way.”

“The evil spirit fighting you is the Jade Hare who pounds the immortal elixir of mysterious dew in my palace,” the Moon replied. “A year ago she secretly opened the golden locks on the jade gates and absconded from the palace. As I reckoned that she would be in mortal peril I have come here to save her life. I do beg you, Great Sage, to spare her life out of consideration for me.”

Monkey assented, saying only, “I wouldn't dare harm her, I wouldn't dare. No wonder she's so good with a medicine-pounding pestle. She's the Jade Hare. What you don't know, Old Moon, is that she has kidnapped the king of India's daughter, made herself into the princess's double, and wants to ruin my master's primal masculinity although he's a holy monk. This is the truth. We can't stand for crimes like that. How can you possibly let her off so lightly?”

“There are things you don't know,” the Moon replied. “That king's daughter is no ordinary mortal. She was the White Beauty from the Moon Palace. Eighteen years ago she slapped the Jade Hare, after which she longed for the human world and came down to it in a beam of magic light to the womb of the king's senior queen. She was born then. The Jade Hare was getting her own back for that slap when she ran away from the palace last year and threw White Beauty into the wilds. But she was wrong to want to marry the Tang Priest. That's an offence she mustn't get away with. It was a good thing you were careful enough to see through her before she ruined your master. But I plead with you to forgive her for my sake and let me take her back.”

“If that's why it happened,” Brother Monkey replied with a smile, “I wouldn't dare to make any objections. But if you take the Jade Hare back I'm worried that the king might not believe it, so I'd like to trouble you and the immortal sisters to take the Jade Hare over there to prove it to the king. Then I'll be able to show off my powers and explain how White Beauty came down to earth. I'll make the king fetch Princess White Beauty to prove the truth of retribution.

The Moon was persuaded, so he pointed at the evil spirit and shouted, “Repent and submit, evil beast!” The Jade Hare rolled on the ground and turned back into her real form. Indeed she was

Gap-lipped and sharp-toothed,

Long-eared and with few whiskers.

Her body was covered with jade-coloured fur;

When she stretched out her legs she flew over mountains.

Her straight nose was like yogurt,

Glossier than face-cream with powder.

Two eyes glowed red,

Brighter than dots of rouge on the snow.

Crouching on the ground

She was a heap of pure white silk;

When she stretched herself out

She was a structure of dazzling silver wire.

Often did she

Drink in the purest dew of the heavenly dawn,

Pounding the elixir with her pestle of jade.

When the Great Sage saw this he was delighted, and treading clouds and light he led the way as the Moon Lord brought all the beauties and immortals, taking the Jade Hare with them as they headed straight for India. It was now dusk, and the moon was slowly rising. When they reached the walls of the capital they heard the drums being beaten on the watch-towers. The king and the Tang Priest were still inside the throne hall, while Pig, Friar Sand and the officials were standing in front of the steps. They were just discussing whether the king should withdraw when a sheet of coloured cloud as bright as day was seen due South.

When they all raised their heads to look they heard the Great Sage Monkey shouting at the top of his voice, “Your Majesty, King of India, ask your queens and consorts to come out and look. Under this canopy is the Star Lord of the Moon Palace, and the immortal sisters to either side of him are the beauties of the moon. This Jade Hare was the bogus princess of yours who has now turned back into her real form.” The king then quickly called his queen, consorts, palace beauties and maids out, and they all kowtowed towards the sky. The king, the Tang Priest and the officials also bowed to the sky in thanks. There was nobody in any house throughout the whole city who did not set out an altar on which to burn incense, kowtow and recite the name of the Buddha.

Just when everyone was looking up Pig felt a surge of uncontrollable desire, leapt up into the air and flung his arms round an immortal girl dressed in a rainbow. “We're old Mends, darling,” he said. “Let's go and have a bit of fun.” Monkey went up to Pig, grabbed hold of him, gave him a couple of slaps and swore at him: “You village idiot. What sort of place is this for getting randy?”

“I was just going to chat her up for a bit of fun,” said Pig.

The Moon Lord had his celestial canopy turned about as he took the Jade Hare straight back to the Moon Palace with all his beauties. Brother Monkey threw Pig down into the dust, then was thanked by the king in the throne hall.

When the king was told what had happened he said, “We are very grateful to you, holy monk, for using your great magical powers to capture the imitation princess. But where is our real daughter?”

“She is no ordinary human either,” Monkey replied, “but the immortal girl White Beauty from the Moon Palace. Because she slapped the Jade Hare in the face eighteen years ago she yearned for the lower world, came down to the womb of Your Majesty's senior queen and was born here. It was because the Jade Hare nursed her old grudge that she surreptitiously opened the golden lock on the jade gate's, came down here, abandoned White Beauty in the wilds and made herself look like White Beauty to deceive you. The Moon Lord himself told me about this chain of events. Today we've got rid of the imposter, and tomorrow I'll invite Your Majesty to go in your royal carriage to fetch the real one.”

This came as rather a shock to the king, who said with the tears streaming down his cheeks, “Daughter! In all the time since we came to the throne as a child we have never even gone outside the city gates. Where are we to go to look for you?”

“No need to upset yourself,” said Monkey with a smile. “Your daughter is now in the Almsgiver's Spread Gold Monastery, pretending to be mad. Everyone can go home now. Tomorrow morning I'll bring your real princess back to you.”

“Please stop worrying, Your Majesty,” the officials all said, kowtowing. “These holy monks are all Buddhas who can ride clouds and mists: they are sure to know all about causes and effects in the future and the past. If we trouble the holy monks to come with us tomorrow to look for her we will learn the truth.”

Accepting their suggestion, the king invited the monks to the Lingering Spring Pavilion, where a vegetarian meal was provided and they were to spend the night. By now it was almost the second watch. Indeed:

The copper water-clock drips in the moon's bright glow;

The chimes of the golden bell are carried by the wind.

When the cuckoo sings the spring is half-way gone;

The blossoms fall aimlessly as the third watch draws near.

The swing casts a shadow in deserted royal gardens;

The silver river spans the sky's blue vault.

No travelers are to be seen in markets and streets;

The constellations make the night sky shine.

That night they all went to bed, and of that no more need be said.

During the night the king lost his demonic aura, and his spirit grew with great speed, so that at three marks after the fifth watch he came out of the inner quarters to give audience once more. When the audience was over he ordered that the Tang Priest and his three disciples be fetched to discuss the search for the princess. Sanzang then came and did obeisance to the king, while the Great Sage and the other two also paid their respects. The king bowed to them and said, “Yesterday you spoke of our daughter the princess. May we trouble you divine monks to find and rescue her?”

“The day before yesterday we had been walking from the East till evening,” the venerable elder replied, “when we saw the Almsgiver's Spread Gold Monastery. We went inside to ask for accommodation and had the good fortune to be entertained by the monks there. After supper I took a moonlight stroll in the former Spread Gold Garden, and as I was looking at the remains I heard wailing. When I asked what it was all about, an ancient monk, over a hundred years old, sent everyone else away before telling me, 'Now, about that wailing, in the late spring of last year I was enjoying the moon when suddenly heard a gust of wind and the sound of someone grieving. I got out of bed, went into the Jetavana and saw a girl there. When I questioned her the girl said, “I am a princess, the daughter of the king of India. The wind blew me here when I was looking at the flowers by moonlight.”' The ancient monk knows a lot about correct behavior, so he locked the princess up in a quiet, out-of-the-way cell. As he was worried that the monks of the monastery might sully her he put it about that he had locked up an evil spirit. The princess, who understood what he was doing, ranted and raved during the day and demanded food and tea. Only late at night, when there was nobody about, did she think of her mother and father and cry for them. The ancient monk did come to the capital to make enquiries several times, but when he found that the princess was well and in the palace he didn't dare say anything or submit a memorial. When the ancient monk saw that my disciple had some magic powers he repeatedly insisted that we were to come here to investigate. I never expected that she would turn out to be the Jade Hare from the Moon Palace who had put on an imitation of the real body and made herself look like the princess. She was also set on ruining my primal masculinity. Fortunately my disciple showed his mighty magic and detected the fraud. The Jade Hare has now been recaptured by the Moon Lord. Your worthy princess is now pretending to be crazy in the Spread Gold Monastery.”

After hearing the story in all this detail the king started to weep aloud. This soon alarmed the queens and consorts of the three palaces and six compounds, who all came out to ask why. Everybody began to weep bitterly, and it was a long time before the king asked, “How far is the Spread Gold Monastery from the city?”

“Only twenty miles,” Sanzang replied.

The king then issued these commands: “Let the Queens of the Eastern and Western Palaces look after the court while the High Minister takes charge of the nation's business. We are going to the monastery with our Senior Queen, our officials and the four holy monks to fetch the princess.”

Carriages were at once prepared and a line of them left the palace. Watch as Brother Monkey sprang up into the air and with a bend of his back was the first to reach the monastery. The monks all hastily knelt to greet him.

“When you left, sir,” they said, “you walked with the others, so why did you come down from the sky today?”

To this Monkey replied with a smile, “Where is your ancient teacher? Ask him to come out straight away, and set out incense tables to welcome His Majesty. The king and queen of India, the officials and my master are all coming.” The monks could not understand what he meant, so they asked the ancient monk to come out.

When the ancient monk saw Monkey he prostrated himself before him with the words, “What has happened about the princess, sir?” Monkey told him all about how the imitation princess had thrown the embroidered ball, wanted to mate with the Tang Priest, been chased, fought, and been recaptured by the Moon Lord as the Jade Hare. The ancient monk kowtowed to him again in thanks.

“Please stop kowtowing,” said Monkey, helping him up, “please stop. Hurry up and get ready to receive His Majesty.” Only then did the monks realize that it was a girl locked up in the garden at the back. Surprised and delighted, they all set out a row of incense tables outside the monastery gates, put on their cassocks and started striking the bell and the drum. Soon after this the king's carriage arrived. Indeed:

The sky is filled with clouds of holy incense;

Sudden blessing comes to the monastery.

The rainbow flows for a thousand years; rivers and seas are pure.

The eternal spring round which lightning flickers is finer than those of Yu and Tang.

Thanks to the royal grace the plants' colours are finer than ever;

The wild flowers have extra fragrance because of this generosity.

Men of distinction have always left their mark behind them;

Today all rejoice at an enlightened king's arrival.

When the king arrived outside the monastery gates the monks were all lined up on their knees in orderly ranks, bowing low in greeting. Monkey stood in the middle. “How did you arrive first, holy monk?” the king asked.

“It just took a little bend of my waist for me to get here,” Monkey replied.

“Why were you such a long time coming?” After this the Tang Priest and the others all arrived. He led the royal carriage to the building at the back where the princess was still raving and pretending to be crazy.

The ancient monk knelt down, pointed towards her and said, “This is Her Royal Highness the princess who was blown here by a wind the other year.” The king ordered the cell opened. When the iron locks were undone and the door opened the king and queen saw and recognized the princess.

Not caring about the filth, they went up to her and threw their arms round her. “Our poor child,” they said, “how did you come to suffer these torments and have so terrible a time here?” How true it is that the meeting of parents and child is not like that of other people. The three of them sobbed aloud, their arms round each other's heads. When they had cried for a while and told each other what had happened since they were parted, scented hot water was sent for. The princess bathed and changed her clothes before they all climbed into carriages to go back to the capital.

Monkey then put his hands together in greeting to the king and said, “I have something else to put to you, Your Majesty.”

“Say it, whatever it is, holy monk,” the king said, returning his greeting, “and we will do as you ask.”

“This mountain of theirs,” Monkey replied, “is called Mount Hundredfoot. They tell me that centipedes have been turning into spirits here recently and injuring people by night. This is very awkward for travelling merchants. As I see it, only chickens can deal with centipedes, so a thousand extra-large cockerels should be chosen and then scattered across the mountainside to get rid of these venomous insects. The mountain could be renamed and you could make a land grant to these monks to thank them for looking after the princess.”

This suggestion pleased the king greatly, and he accepted it. Officials were then sent back to the city to fetch cocks, while the mountain was renamed Mount Splendor. The Department of Works was instructed to provide the materials for the monastery to be rebuilt, a deed of enfeoffment was written describing the mountain as “Mount Splendor, granted to the Almsgiver's Spread Gold Monastery,” and the ancient monk was given the title National Benefactor Hierarch, a title that was to be handed on to his successors in perpetuity, together with a stipend of thirty-six bushels of grain. The monks all thanked the king for his kindness and saw him off on his way back to the capital. Here the princess returned to the inner palace and was greeted by all the ladies in turn. A banquet was then laid on to cheer the princess up and congratulate her on her deliverance. The queen and her daughter were reunited; king and ministers were together. We will not describe the night's feasting.

Early the next morning the king ordered that painters make portraits of the countenances of the four holy monks to be kept in the Sino-Barbarian Hall. The princess was also invited to come out from the throne hall in her new finery to thank the Tang Priest and the other three for saving her from her suffering. When she had thanked them the Tang Priest took his leave of the king to continue his journey West. The king refused to let them go, but ordered great banquets at which they feasted for five or six days. The idiot really was given a good time, and he enjoyed putting as much food in his stomach as he possibly could. When the king saw how determined they were to visit the Buddha he realized that no matter how hard he tried he would not be able to keep them. He had two hundred ingots of gold and silver brought out, as well as a tray of jewels for each of them as an expression of thanks. Master and disciples refused to accept anything. The king then ordered the royal carriage prepared, invited the master to enter it, and instructed officials to escort them a long way. The queens, consorts, officials and common people all kowtowed endlessly in thanks. As they went along the way their monks all came out to kowtow to them in farewell; none of them could bear to be parted from the travelers. Seeing that the people seeing them off were unwilling to turn back. Monkey had no option but to make a spell with his hands and blow a magic breath in the direction of the trigram of the wind, Xun, so that a dark wind stopped all the escorts from seeing them. Only then did the travelers get away. This was indeed a case of

Washing away the waves of gratitude their natures returned to the end;

Leaving the sea of gold they were aware of true emptiness.

If you do not know what happened on the journey ahead, listen to the explanation in the next chapter.