The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1 Read online

  “If you have wine today, get drunk today;

  Mind not the troubles in front of your door!”

  Scarcely had he uttered this proverb when another group of imps came leaping and said, “Those nine savage gods are trying to provoke battle with foul words and nasty language.” “Don’t listen to them,” said the Great Sage, laughing.

  “Let us seek today’s pleasure in poetry and wine,

  And cease asking when we may achieve glory or fame.”

  Hardly had he finished speaking when still another flock of imps arrived to report, “Father, those nine savage gods have broken down the door, and are about to fight their way in!”

  “These reckless, witless gods!” said the Great Sage angrily. “They really have no manners! I was not about to quarrel with them. Why are they abusing me to my face?” He gave the order for the One-Horn Demon King to lead the monster kings of seventy-two caves to battle, adding that old Monkey and the four mighty commanders would follow in the rear. The Demon King swiftly led his troops of ogres to go out to fight, but they were ambushed by the Nine Luminaries and pinned down right at the head of the sheet iron bridge.

  At the height of the melee, the Great Sage arrived. “Make way!” he yelled, whipping out his iron rod. One wave of it and it was as thick as a rice bowl and about twelve feet long. The Great Sage plunged into battle, and none of the Nine Luminaries dared oppose him. In a moment, they were all beaten back. When they regrouped themselves again in battle formation, the Nine Luminaries stood still and said, “You senseless BanHorsePlague! You are guilty of the ten evils.20 You first stole peaches and then wine, utterly disrupting the Grand Festival of Immortal Peaches. You also robbed Laozi of his immortal elixir, and then you had the gall to plunder the imperial winery for your personal enjoyment. Don’t you realize that you have piled up sin upon sin?” “Indeed,” said the Great Sage, “these several incidents did occur! But what do you intend to do now?” The Nine Luminaries said, “We received the golden decree of the Jade Emperor to lead our troops here to subdue you. Submit at once, and spare these creatures from being slaughtered. If not, we shall level this mountain and overturn this cave!” “How great is your magical power, silly gods,” retorted the Great Sage angrily, “that you dare to mouth such foolhardy words? Don’t go away! Have a taste of old Monkey’s rod!” The Nine Luminaries mounted a joint attack, but the Handsome Monkey King was not in the least intimidated. He wielded his golden-hooped rod, parrying left and right, and fought the Nine Luminaries until they were thoroughly exhausted. Every one of them turned around and fled, his weapons trailing behind him. Running into the tent at the center of their army, they said to the Pagoda Bearer Devarāja, “That Monkey King is indeed an intrepid warrior! We cannot withstand him, and have returned defeated.”

  Devarāja Li then ordered the Four Great Devarājas and the Twenty-Eight Constellations to go out together to do battle. Without displaying the slightest panic, the Great Sage also ordered the One-Horn Demon King, the monster kings of seventy-two caves, and the four mighty commanders to range themselves in battle formation in front of the cave. Look at this all-out battle! It was truly terrifying with

  The cold, soughing wind,

  The dark, dreadful fog.

  On one side, the colorful banners fluttered;

  On the other, lances and halberds glimmered.

  There were row upon row of shining helmets,

  And coat upon coat of gleaming armor.

  Row upon row of helmets shining in the sunlight

  Resembled silver bells whose chimes echoed in the sky;

  Coat upon coat of gleaming armor rising clifflike in layers

  Seemed like glaciers crushing the earth.

  The giant scimitars

  Flew and flashed like lightning;

  The mulberry-white spears,

  Could pierce even mist and cloud!

  The crosslike halberds

  And tiger-eye lashes

  Were arranged like thick rows of hemp;

  The green swords of bronze

  And four-sided shovels

  Crowded together like trees in a dense forest.

  Curved bows, crossbows, and stout arrows with eagle plumes,

  Short staffs and snakelike lances—all could kill or maim.

  That compliant rod, which the Great Sage owned,

  Kept tossing and turning in this battle with gods.

  They fought till the air was rid of birds flying by;

  Wolves and tigers were driven from within the mount;

  The planet was darkened by hurtling rocks and stones,

  And the cosmos bedimmed by flying dust and dirt.

  The clamor and clangor disturbed Heaven and Earth;

  The scrap and scuffle alarmed both demons and gods.

  Beginning with the battle formation at dawn, they fought until the sun sank down behind the western hills. The One-Horn Demon King and the monster kings of seventy-two caves were all taken captive by the forces of Heaven. Those who escaped were the four mighty commanders and the troop of monkeys, who hid themselves deep inside the Water-Curtain Cave. With his single rod, the Great Sage withstood in midair the Four Great Devarājas, Li the Pagoda Bearer, and Prince Naṭa, and battled with them for a long time. When he saw that evening was approaching, the Great Sage plucked a handful of hairs, threw them into his mouth, and chewed them to pieces. He spat them out, crying, “Change!” They changed at once into many thousands of Great Sages, each employing a golden-hooped rod! They beat back Prince Naṭa and defeated the Five Devarājas.

  In triumph the Great Sage collected back his hairs and hurried back to his cave. Soon, at the head of the sheet iron bridge, he was met by the four mighty commanders leading the rest of the monkeys. As they kowtowed to receive him they cried three times, sobbing aloud, and then they laughed three times, hee-heeing and ho-hoing. The Great Sage said, “Why do you all laugh and cry when you see me?” “When we fought with the Deva Kings this morning,” said the four mighty commanders, “the monster kings of seventy-two caves and the One-Horn Demon King were all taken captive by the gods. We were the only ones who managed to escape alive, and that is why we cried. Now we see that the Great Sage has returned unharmed and triumphant, and so we laugh as well.”

  “Victory and defeat,” said the Great Sage, “are the common experiences of a soldier. The ancient proverb says,

  You may kill ten thousand of your enemies,

  But you will lose three thousand of your allies!

  Moreover, those chieftains who have been captured are tigers and leopards, wolves and insects, badgers and foxes, and the like. Not a single member of our own kind has been hurt. Why then should we be disconsolate? Although our adversaries have been beaten back by my magic of body division, they are still encamped at the foot of our mountain. Let us be most vigilant, therefore, in our defense. Have a good meal, rest well, and conserve your energy. When morning comes, watch me perform a great magic and capture some of these generals from Heaven, so that our comrades may be avenged.” The four mighty commanders drank a few bowls of coconut wine with the host of monkeys and went to sleep peacefully. We shall speak no more of them.

  When those Four Devarājas retired their troops and stopped their fighting, each one of the Heavenly commanders came to report his accomplishment. There were those who had captured lions and elephants and those who had apprehended wolves, crawling creatures, and foxes. Not a single monkey monster, however, had been seized. The camp was then secured, a great tent was pitched, and those commanders with meritorious services were rewarded. The soldiers in charge of the cosmic nets were ordered to carry bells and were given passwords. They encircled the Flower-Fruit Mountain to await the great battle of the next day, and each soldier everywhere diligently kept his watch. So this is the situation:

  The fiendish monkey riots through Heaven and Earth,

  But the net spreads open, ready night and day.

  We do not know what took place after the next morning; let�
�s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.

  SIX

  Guanyin, attending the banquet, inquires into the cause;

  The Little Sage, exerting his power, subdues the Great Sage.

  For the moment we shall not tell you about the siege of the gods or the Great Sage at rest. We speak instead of the Great Compassionate Deliverer, the Efficacious Bodhisattva Guanyin from the Potalaka Mountain of the South Sea.1 Invited by the Lady Queen Mother to attend the Grand Festival of Immortal Peaches, she arrived at the treasure chamber of the Jasper Pool with her senior disciple, Hui’an. There they found the whole place desolate and the banquet tables in utter disarray. Although several members of the Heavenly pantheon were present, none was seated. Instead, they were all engaged in vigorous exchanges and discussions. After the Bodhisattva had greeted the various deities, they told her what had occurred. “Since there will be no festival,” said the Bodhisattva, “nor any raising of cups, all of you might as well come with this humble cleric to see the Jade Emperor.” The gods followed her gladly, and they went to the entrance to the Hall of Perfect Light. There the Bodhisattva was met by the Four Celestial Masters and the Immortal of Naked Feet, who recounted how the celestial soldiers, ordered by an enraged Jade Emperor to capture the monster, had not yet returned. The Bodhisattva said, “I would like to have an audience with the Jade Emperor. May I trouble one of you to announce my arrival?” The Heavenly Preceptor Qiu Hongji went at once into the Treasure Hall of Divine Mists and, having made his report, invited Guanyin to enter. Laozi then took the upper seat with the Emperor, while the Lady Queen Mother was in attendance behind the throne.

  The Bodhisattva led the crowd inside. After paying homage to the Jade Emperor, they also saluted Laozi and the Queen Mother. When each of them was seated, she asked, “How is the Grand Festival of Immortal Peaches?” “Every year when the festival has been given,” said the Jade Emperor, “we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. This year it has been completely ruined by a baneful monkey, leaving us with nothing but an invitation to disappointment.” “Where did this baneful monkey come from?” asked the Bodhisattva. “He was born of a stone egg on top of the Flower-Fruit Mountain of the Aolai Country of the East Pūrvavideha Continent,” said the Jade Emperor. “At the moment of his birth, two beams of golden light flashed immediately from his eyes, reaching as far as the Palace of the Polestar. We did not think much of that, but he later became a monster, subduing the Dragon and taming the Tiger as well as eradicating his name from the Register of Death. When the Dragon Kings and the Kings of the Underworld brought the matter to our attention, we wanted to capture him. The Star of Long Life, however, observed that all the beings of the three regions that possessed the nine apertures could attain immortality. We therefore decided to educate and nurture the talented monkey and summoned him to the Region Above. He was appointed to the post of Bimawen at the imperial stables, but, taking offense at the lowliness of his position, he left Heaven in rebellion. We then sent Devarāja Li and Prince Naṭa to ask for his submission by proclaiming a decree of pacification. He was brought again to the Region Above and was appointed the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven—a rank without compensation. Since he had nothing to do but to wander east and west, we feared that he might cause further trouble. So he was asked to look after the Garden of Immortal Peaches. But he broke the law and ate all the large peaches from the oldest trees. By then, the banquet was about to be given. As a person without salary he was, of course, not invited; nonetheless, he plotted to deceive the Immortal of Naked Feet and managed to sneak into the banquet by assuming the Immortal’s appearance. He finished off all the divine wine and food, after which he also stole Laozi’s elixir and took away a considerable quantity of imperial wine for the enjoyment of his mountain monkeys. Our mind has been sorely vexed by this, and we therefore sent a hundred thousand celestial soldiers with cosmic nets to capture him. We haven’t yet received today’s report on how the battle is faring.”

  When the Bodhisattva heard this, she said to Disciple Hui’an, “You must leave Heaven at once, go down to the Flower-Fruit Mountain, and inquire into the military situation. If the enemy is engaged, you can lend your assistance; in any event, you must bring back a factual report.” The Disciple Hui’an straightened out his attire and mounted the cloud to leave the palace, an iron rod in his hand. When he arrived at the mountain, he found layers of cosmic net drawn tightly and sentries at every gate holding bells and shouting passwords. The encirclement of the mountain was indeed watertight! Hui’an stood still and called out, “Heavenly sentinels, may I trouble you to announce my arrival? I am Prince Mokṣa, second son of Devarāja Li, and I am also Hui’an, senior disciple of Guanyin of South Sea. I have come to inquire about the military situation.”

  The divine soldiers of the Five Mountains at once reported this beyond the gate. The constellations Aquarius, Pleiades, Hydra, and Scorpio then conveyed the message to the central tent. Devarāja Li issued a directorial flag, which ordered the cosmic nets to be opened and entrance permitted for the visitor. Day was just dawning in the east as Hui’an followed the flag inside and prostrated himself before the Four Great Devarājas and Devarāja Li.

  After he had finished his greetings, Devarāja Li said, “My child, where have you come from?” “Your untutored son,” said Hui’an, “accompanied the Bodhisattva to attend the Festival of Immortal Peaches. Seeing that the festival was desolate and the Jasper Pool laid waste, the Bodhisattva led the various deities and your untutored son to have an audience with the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor spoke at length about Father and King’s expedition to the Region Below to subdue the baneful monkey. Since no report has returned for a whole day and neither victory nor defeat has been ascertained, the Bodhisattva ordered your untutored son to come here to find out how things stand.” “We came here yesterday to set up the encampment,” said Devarāja Li, “and the Nine Luminaries were sent to provoke battle. But this fellow made a grand display of his magical powers, and the Nine Luminaries all returned defeated. After that, I led the troops personally to confront him, and the fellow also brought his forces into formation. Our hundred thousand celestial soldiers fought with him until evening, when he retreated from the battle by using the magic of body division. When we recalled the troops and made our investigation, we found that we had captured some wolves, crawling creatures, tigers, leopards, and the like. But we did not even catch half a monkey monster! And today we have not yet gone into battle.”

  As he was saying all this, someone came from the gate of the camp to report, “That Great Sage, leading his band of monkey monsters, is shouting for battle outside.” The Four Devarājas, Devarāja Li, and the prince at once made plans to bring out the troops, when Mokṣa said, “Father King, your untutored son was told by the Bodhisattva to come down here to acquire information. She also told me to give you assistance should there be actual combat. Though I am not very talented, I volunteer to go out now and see what kind of a Great Sage this is!” “Child,” said the Devarāja, “since you have studied with the Bodhisattva for several years, you must, I suppose, have some powers! But do be careful!”

  Dear prince! Grasping the iron rod with both hands, he tightened up his embroidered garment and leaped out of the gate. “Who is the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven?” he cried. Holding high his compliant rod, the Great Sage answered, “None other than old Monkey here! Who are you that you dare question me?” “I am Mokṣa, the second prince of Devarāja Li,” said Mokssa. “At present I am also the disciple of Bodhisattva Guanyin, a defender of the faith before her treasure throne. And my religious name is Hui’an.” “Why have you left your religious training at South Sea and come here to see me?” said the Great Sage. “I was sent by my master to inquire about the military situation,” said Mokṣa. “Seeing what a nuisance you have made of yourself, I have come specifically to capture you.” “You dare to talk so big?” said the Great Sage. “But don’t run away! Have a taste of old Monkey’s rod!” Mokṣa was not at all fright
ened and met his opponent squarely with his own iron rod. The two of them stood before the gate of the camp at mid-mountain, and what a magnificent battle they fought!

  Though one rod is pitted against another, the iron’s quite different;

  Though this weapon couples with the other, the persons are not the same.

  This one’s called the Great Sage, a wayward primordial god;

  The other is Guanyin’s disciple, a true hero and proud.

  The all-iron rod has been pounded a thousand times,

  Made by Six Gods of Darkness and Six Gods of Light.

  The compliant rod sets the depth of Heaven’s river,

  A thing divine ruling the oceans with magic might.

  The two of them in meeting have found their match;

  Back and forth they battle in endless rounds.

  From this one the rod of stealthy hands,

  Savage and fierce,

  Around the waist stabs and jabs swiftly as the wind;

  From the other the rod, doubling as a spear

  Driving and relentless,

  Lets up not a moment its parrying left and right.

  On this side the banners flare and flutter;

  On the other the war drums roll and rattle.

  Ten thousand celestial fighters circle round and round.

  The monkey monsters of a whole cave stand in rows and rows.

  Weird fog and dark cloud spread throughout the earth.

  The fume and smoke of battle reach even Heaven’s Home.

  Yesterday’s battle was something to behold.

  Still more violent is the contest today.

  Envy the truly able Monkey King:

  Mokṣa’s beaten—he is fleeing for life!

  Our Great Sage battled Hui’an for fifty or sixty rounds until the prince’s arms and shoulders were sore and numb and he could fight no longer. After one final, futile swing of his weapon, he fled in defeat. The Great Sage then gathered together his monkey troops and stationed them securely outside the entrance of the cave. At the camp of the Devarāja, the celestial soldiers could be seen receiving the prince and making way for him to enter the gate. Panting and puffing, he ran in and gasped out to the Four Devarājas, Pagoda Bearer Li, and Naṭa, “That Great Sage! What an ace! Great indeed is his magical power! Your son cannot overcome him and has returned defeated.” Shocked by the sight, Devarāja Li at once wrote a memorial to the Throne to request further assistance. The demon king Mahābāli and Prince Mokṣa were sent to Heaven to present the document.