“Great Sage,” replied the demon, kowtowing ceaselessly, “this humble alligator had never heard of your mighty name. But now I have been arrested by my cousin for my disobedience to him and for my flagrant offences against right. I am endlessly grateful to you, Great Sage, for sparing my life. Your master is still tied up in the water palace. If you would take off the chain and untie my hands I will return to the river and bring him back to you.”
“Great Sage,” said Prince Mo'ang who was standing beside them, “he is a vicious and deceitful beast. If you were to release him he might have evil ideas.”
“I know where his place is,” said Friar Sand. “I'll find the master.”
He and the river god then leapt into the river and went straight to the doors of the water palace, which were wide open and not guarded by a single soldier. Inside the pavilion they saw the Tang Priest and Pig tied up stark naked. Friar Sand quickly untied the master while the river god released Pig. Next they each carried one up to the surface of the water and then to the bank.
Seeing the evil spirit roped and in chains there Pig raised his rake to strike him and said abusively, “Evil beast, take this from me.”
Monkey held him back, saying, “Spare his life, brother, out of consideration for Ao Shun and his son.”
Mo'ang then bowed and said, “Great Sage, I must not stay here any longer. As I have rescued your master I shall now take this wretch to see my father. You have spared him the death penalty, but my father will not let him off other kinds of punishment. When he has been sentenced he will be sent back to apologize to you again.”
“Very well then,” said Monkey, “take him away. Give my respects to your father and tell him that I'll be back to thank him in person another time.” The prince then plunged into the water with his prisoner and took his ocean troops straight back to be Western Sea.
The God of the Black River then thanked Brother Monkey for the recovery of his water palace. “Disciple,” said the Tang Priest, “we're still on the Eastern bank. How are we going to get across this river?”
“Don't worry about that, my lord,” said the river god. “Please mount your horse and I will lead you across the river.” The master then rode his horse while Pig led it, Friar Sand carried the luggage, and Monkey supported Sanzang. The river god did water-stopping magic to hold the waters back. In an instant a broad road opened up where the waters had withdrawn; master and disciples crossed to the West bank, climbed it, thanked the river god, and continued on their way. Indeed:
To visit the West the priest they did save;
When the river was crossed there was never a wave.
If you don't know how they visited the Buddha and obtained the scriptures, listen to the explanation in the next installment.
Chapter 44
Evil in the Heart's Centre Crosses
the Backbone Pass
There is a poem that goes:
They travel West escaping dangers to seek the scriptures;
Nor can they stop at all the famous mountains.
They press on night and day, starting crows and hares;
The seasons turn amid falling blossom and bird-song.
In the dust under one's eyes are three thousand worlds;
Four hundred prefectures rest on the head of a staff.
Sleeping in dew and dining on wind they climb the purple slope;
Never knowing when they will be able to start back.
The story tells how after the dragon prince had subdued the demon and the God of the Black River had divided the waters, master and disciples crossed the Black River and took the main trail West. They faced wind and snow, and traveled under the moon and the stars. After they had been going for a long time it was early spring again.
The sun returns;
All comes back to life.
The sun returns;
Beauty fills the sky like an opened scroll.
All comes hack to life,
As flowers cover the earth with embroidered cushions.
A few snowflakes of plum blossom remain,
While the wheat spreads like a sea of cloud.
In the gentle thaw the mountain spring now flows,
The new shoots grow and cover the burnt-out stubble.
Tai Hao governs the East,
The Wood God rules the dawn.
Above the fragrance and the warming breeze
The clouds disperse and the sun shines anew.
Willows spread their green beside the path,
Enriching rain brings spring to all that lives.
Master and disciples were ambling along enjoying the view when all of a sudden they heard a mighty shout like a war-cry from a thousand throats. Sanzang was terrified. He reined in his horse, unable to take another step forward. “Wukong,” he said, looking back at him, “where is that noise from?”
“It sounded like an earthquake or a landslide,” said Pig.
“Or thunder,” said Friar Sand.
“Or people shouting and horses neighing,” said Sanzang.
“You're all wrong,” laughed Monkey. “Just wait a moment while I go and take a look.”
Splendid Monkey. With one bound he was on a cloud and up in the air looking all around. In the distance he could make out a walled city, and when he went close he could see that it had a haze of auspicious light over it with no sign of any evil emanations. “It's a good place,” he sighed to himself, “but why was there that terrible noise? I can't see war banners or spears there, and there's no sound of cannon. So why was there a noise like shouting and neighing?”
Just as he was debating all this with himself he noticed a big crowd of Buddhist monks on a sandbank outside the city gates, pulling a cart. The noise that had startle Sanzang was them all shouting. “King Powerful Bodhisattva.”
When he slowly lowered his cloud for a better look he saw that the cart was loaded with kiln bricks, tiles, wood and adobe bricks. Above the sandbank was a high ridge, along the top of which ran a narrow track between two great gates. Below the gates the paths all went straight down the steep sides of the ridge: the cart could not possibly be pulled up there. Although the weather was so mild and pleasant the monks were all dressed in rags and looked thoroughly poverty-stricken.
“I suppose they must be building a monastery,” thought Monkey, “and are having to do the work themselves because it's harvest-time here and they can't hire any labor.” He was still not sure when he saw two young Taoist priests come swaggering out through the city gates. Just see how they were dressed:
Star crowns on their heads,
Brocade and embroidered clothes.
The star crowns on their heads shine bright,
The brocade and embroidered clothes float like sunset clouds.
On their feet are cloud-treading shoes,
Round their waists are silken belts.
Handsome and clever faces, round as the moon;
Bodies as elegant as the immortals in Heaven.
The approach of the Taoists made the Buddhist monks all shake with fear as they redoubled their efforts and pulled harder than ever at the cart.
“Ah!” thought Monkey as he realized what was up. “The monks must be scared of the Taoists. Why else would they be pulling so hard? I've heard people tell of a place on the way to the West where they believe in Taoism and persecute Buddhist monks. This must be it. I was going to report back to the master, but he'll be angry with me if I don't discover what it's all about. He'll say that a clever chap like me ought to be able to find out the truth. I'll go down and ask what's happening so I can tell the master.”