The three brothers ate their fill, handed the horse and the luggage over to the care of the Chen household, got their weapons ready, and hurried off to find their master and catch the monster. Indeed:
The true nature was harmed by treading on the ice;
How could they be complete without the Cinnabar?
If you do not know how they rescued the Tang Priest listen to the explanation in the next installment.
Chapter 49
Sanzang's Great Misfortune Is to Fall into the River
Guanyin's Fish Basket Saves the Tang Priest
The story tells how the Great Sage Monkey took his leave of the old Chen brothers, went with Pig and Friar Sand to the bank of the river, and told the two of them to decide which of them would go into the water first. “Brother,” said Pig, “you should go first; neither of us two has very special powers.”
“To be frank with you, brother,” replied Monkey. “I wouldn't need any help from either of you in dealing with mountain spirits, but I can't cope in the water. If I go into rivers or seas I have to make hand spells to keep the water away, or else change into something like a fish or a crab. But if I'm making a hand spell I can't get a good swing with my cudgel, use my powers, or kill evil spirits. I asked you two to go in because I've long known that you're both good swimmers.”
“Brother,” said Friar Sand, “I'll go, but I don't know what we'll find at the bottom of the river. I think we should all go. You should turn yourself into something or else let me carry you through the water to find the monster's den. You go first and discover what's been happening. If the master hasn't been hurt and is still there we can do our best to attack the monster. But if the monster has used magic on the master and he's has been drowned or eaten there will be no point in searching too hard; we'd better find something else to do instead.”
“You're right, brother,” said Monkey. “Which of you will carry me?”
“Pig was secretly delighted at this question. “Goodness only knows how many times that ape has put one over on me,” he thought. “As he can't swim I'll carry him and put one over on him this time.”
“Brother,” he said, chuckling, “I'll carry you.” Realizing that Pig was up to something Monkey decided to beat him at his own game and replied, “Very well, you're stronger than Friar Sand.” Pig then took Monkey on his back.
Friar Sand parted a way through the waters of the River of Heaven for the brother-disciples. When they had covered thirty or forty miles on the riverbed the idiot made a grab for Monkey, who pulled out one of his hairs and turned it into a double of himself that he put on Pig's back, while changing his real self into a pig louse that clung firmly to the idiot's ear. Pig suddenly stumbled as he walked along, threw Monkey forward and made him fall. Now as the double was only a hair transformed it floated up and disappeared.
“Brother,” said Friar Sand to Pig, “what are you doing? Why have you fallen over in the mud instead of walking along properly? And even if you have to do that, where have you dropped Monkey?”
“He couldn't stop himself falling,” Pig replied, “and he's vanished. Never mind whether he's alive or dead. We two will go and find the master.”
“No,” said Friar Sand, “we need him. He's no swimmer but he's cleverer than us. If he not coming I won't go with you.” Monkey could restrain himself no longer.
“Pig!” he shouted at the top of his voice from inside the ear. “I'm here.”
When Friar Sand heard this he said with a laugh, “That's done it. You're the one that's had it, you idiot. You had a nerve, trying to put one over on him. What are we going to do now? We can hear him but he's disappeared.”
Pig knelt in the mud and started to kowtow desperately, saying, “I did wrong, brother, I did wrong. When we've rescued the master I'll apologize to you properly on shore. Where did you talk to us from? You scared me to death. Please, please turn back into yourself. I'll carry you, and I promise not to knock you about any more.”
“You've been carrying me all the time,” said Monkey. “I won't play any tricks on you. Now, get going, and fast.” The idiot staggered to his feet still mumbling apologies and pressed on with Friar Sand.
After another thirty or forty miles they looked up to see a tall building on which was written in large letters RESIDENCE OF THE RIVER TURTLE. “This must be where the monster lives,” said Friar Sand. “We two can't go up to the doors and challenge him to battle without finding out how things stand.”
“Wujing,” said Brother Monkey to Friar Sand, “is there water inside and outside the door?”
“No,” said Friar Sand. “In that case you two hide near here while I take a look round,” said Monkey.
The splendid Great Sage climbed out of Pig's ear, shook himself, turned into a female shrimp with long legs, and reached the doors with two or three jumps. When he took a good look around he saw the monster sitting up above the door with all his watery tribe drawn up around him and the female mandarin fish sitting at his side. They were all discussing how to eat the Tang Priest. Monkey looked carefully around but could see the master nowhere. Then he noticed another female shrimp coming over and standing in the portico to the West. Monkey leapt forward and called, “Sister-in-law, where is this Tang Priest that His Majesty and everyone else are talking about eating?”
“His Majesty caught him yesterday when he made all that snow and ice,” the female shrimp replied. “He's now in a stone chest behind the palace. If his disciples don't come here to make trouble we'll have music and feast on him tomorrow.”
When Monkey heard this he kept up his act for a little longer then went straight round to the back of the palace where he found a stone chest just like a stone pig-trough in a sty or a stone coffin. He measured it, found that it was six feet long, lay on it and listened. He could hear Sanzang sobbing inside. Monkey said nothing but put his ear against the lid, listened more carefully, and could make out Sanzang gnashing his teeth and saying amid moans,
“If only my fate had not always been so bad:
Disasters in rivers all my life have I had.
Soon after I was born I was floated on the water,
And now that have I drowned never I will not see Lord Buddha.
Not so long ago the Black River made me weep,
And now the breaking ice has consigned me to the deep.
I wonder if at any time my followers will come
To let me fetch the scriptures and complete my journey home.”
Monkey could not restrain himself from calling to him, “Master, don't be so upset about troubles by water. As the Classic of Water Disaster has it, 'Earth is the mother of the Five Elements, and water is their origin. Without earth there can be no life, and without water there can be no growth.' I'm here.”
“Save me, disciple,” said Sanzang, hearing Monkey's voice.
“Don't worry,” said Monkey, “I promise we'll save you when we've captured the monster.”
“Act fast,” said Sanzang. “If I'm here for another day I'll die of suffocation.”
“No problem,” said Monkey, “no problem. I'm off.” He turned, sprang out through the main doors, turned back into himself, and called for Pig.
“What's happening?” asked the idiot and Friar Sand as they came up to him.
“The monster caught the master with that trick,” Monkey replied. “He's unhurt, but the monster has put him inside a stone chest. You two challenge the monster to battle at once while I get out of the water. Capture him if you can, and if you can't then pretend to be beaten and lure him out of the water for me to kill.”