The Great Sage then sprang up in auspicious light to the ninth layer of cloud, and was just about to deliver his blow when a multicolored cloud appeared to the Northwest and a voice shouted loudly, “Don't hit him, Sun Wukong.” Monkey turned round to see that this was the Bodhisattva Manjusri checked his blow at once, and did obeisance.
“Where are you going, Bodhisattva?” he asked.
“I'm here to collect that fiend for you,” Manjusri replied. Monkey thanked him for his trouble. Manjusri produced the demon-revealing mirror from his sleeve to reveal the fiend's true form, then Monkey called Pig and Friar Sand to come to greet the Bodhisattva. When they all looked in the mirror they saw that the monster was quite appallingly ugly:
Eyes like glazed dishes,
A head like a steel cauldron.
His whole body blue as indigo in summer,
His claws as white as autumn frosts.
Two floppy ears,
A tail as long as a broom.
Blue hairs bristling with courage,
Red eyes shining with gold.
Flat teeth like jade flagstones,
Round whiskers sticking out like spears.
When his true image is shown in the mirror
He is Manjusri's Lion King.
“Bodhisattva,” said Monkey, “he's the blue-haired lion from under your throne. Why did he run away here to be an evil spirit, and why didn't you subdue him before?”
“Wukong,” replied the Bodhisattva, “he didn't run away. He was sent here by the Lord Buddha.”
“How could the Lord Buddha possibly have sent this beast here to become a spirit and usurp a throne? I could have done with some of his edicts to help me to put up with the misery of escorting the Tang Priest.”
“There are some things you don't know,” said Manjusri. “That king of Wuji was a benevolent man and used to feast monks. The Lord Buddha sent me here to bring him to the West, where he might become a golden arhat. Because I could not appear to him in my real form I turned into an ordinary monk and asked him for some vegetarian food. When he was unable to answer some questions I asked he took me for an evildoer, had me tied up, and immersed me in the palace moat for three days. Luckily the Six Jias saved me with their golden bodies and took me back to the West, where I reported to the Tathagata Buddha. It was he who ordered that the king be pushed into the well and soaked for three years as punishment for my three-day soaking. 'Every mouthful we eat or drink is predestined.' By coming here you have now won a great merit.”
“You may have repaid your private grudge, like repaying every mouthful, but goodness only knows how many people that monster murdered,” replied Monkey.
“He never killed anyone,” the Bodhisattva replied. “In the three years since his arrival the winds and rains have come at the right time, the state has been strong and the people have known peace. He did nobody any harm.”
“Even if all that is granted,” said Monkey, “he's been sleeping with the queen and the consorts in the harem. Surely this has sullied them and been an affront to morality.”
“He has not sullied them at all,” the Bodhisattva replied. “He's a gelded lion.”
Hearing this Pig went up to the creature and had a feel. “This evil spirit's got a bad reputation he doesn't deserve,” he chuckled, “like a teetotaler with a red nose.”
“In that case,” said Monkey, “take him with you. If you hadn't come, Bodhisattva, I'd never have spared his life.”
The Bodhisattva then said a spell and shouted, “Return to the Truth, beast. What are you waiting for?” Only then did the fiend-king return to his original form, Manjusri placed a lotus-blossom over the monster to tame him, sat on his back, and left Monkey amid golden light. Ah!
Manjusri returned to Wutai Mountain
To hear the scriptures taught beneath the lotus throne.
If you don't know how the Tang Priest and his disciples left the city, listen to the explanation in the next installment.
Chapter 40
The Boy Fools with Transformations, Disturbing the Dhyana Heart
Ape and Horse Return with a Knife; the Mother of Wood Is Empty
The story goes on to tell how the Great Sage Monkey and his two fellow-disciples landed their clouds and went straight into the palace. Here monarch, ministers, queen and prince bowed to them in thanks, a group at a time, and Monkey told everyone the story of how Manjusri had recovered the demon. They all knelt and bowed to the ground repeatedly.
Amid all the congratulations the gatekeeper came to report, “My lord, there are four more monks at the gates.” This news threw Pig into a panic.
“Brother,” he said, “has the fiend used his magic to make a false Manjusri to fool us? Perhaps he's turned into a monk now for another battle of wits with us.”
“Nonsense,” said Monkey, ordering that they be summoned inside.
The civil and military officials passed on the order and the monks were sent in. Monkey saw that they were monks from the Precious Wood Monastery bringing the king's crown, jade belt, yellow ochre robe and no-worry shoes.
“Splendid,” said Monkey with delight, “splendid.” He then asked the lay brothers to step forward, and made the king take off his monastic headcloth and put on his crown, remove his cotton habit and don his robe of yellow ochre, replace his silk belt with the jade belt, and kick off his monastic sandals for his no-worry shoes. Monkey then told the crown prince to fetch the white jade scepter for his father to hold, and invited the king to enter the throne-hall to rule once more.
As the old saying has it, “The court cannot be without a monarch for a single day.” The king refused to sit on the throne, but knelt in the middle of the steps weeping and saying, “Now that you have brought me back to life after I was dead for three years, Master, I can't possibly go on acting as king. Please ask your master to be king. It will be enough for me to take my wives and children to live as a commoner outside the city.” Sanzang absolutely refused to take the throne, his heart being utterly set on worshipping the Buddha and fetching the scriptures.
The king then offered the throne to Monkey, who said with a laugh, “I tell you frankly, gentlemen, if I'd wanted to be a king I could have been the king of every country on earth. But we're all used to being monks now-it's an easy life. If I were a king I'd have to grow my hair and I wouldn't be able to sleep at dusk or when the drum is beaten for the fifth watch. Whenever there was a report from the frontier I'd be worried, and I'd be distressed and helpless at reports of famine and disaster. I'd never get used to it. No, you go back to being a king, and I'll carry on and win merit as a monk.”
No matter how hard the king tried to refuse he finally had to enter the throne-hall, sit facing South on the throne, and call himself king. He issued a general amnesty, sent the monks of the Precious Wood Monastery back with rich presents, and opened up the Eastern hall of the palace to give a banquet for the Tang Priest. He also sent for painters to paint portraits of the Tang patriarch and his three disciples to hang in the throne hall.
Now that they had restored the country to peace the master and his disciples did not want to stay long; they were eager to take their leave of the king and carry on towards the West. The king, his queen and consorts, the crown prince and the ministers presented the country's greatest treasures as well as gold, silver, silk and satin to the patriarch as tokens of their thanks.