The old man summoned up his courage and called her name, and the daughter, recognizing her father's voice, answered feebly, “Dad, I'm in here.” With a roll of his golden pupils Monkey peered into the darkness to take a closer look at her. Do you know what she was like?
Her cloudy hair was tangled and unkempt,
Her face was filthy and unwashed.
Her orchid heart was as pure as ever,
But her beauty lay in ruins.
There was no blood or life in her cherry lips,
And her limbs were crooked and bent.
A sad frown on her forehead,
Her eyebrows pale;
Weak and frightened,
Only daring to whisper.
When she came out and saw her father, she grabbed hold of him, put her hand round his head, and wept. “Don't cry,” Monkey said, “don't cry. Where has the monster gone?”
“I don't know. These days he's been setting out at dawn and only coming back in the middle of the night. There's always so much cloud and mist that I can't tell where he goes. He knows that my father wants to exorcise him, so he's always on the alert. That's why he comes back late and leaves at dawn.”
“Of course he would,” Monkey remarked, adding, “old fellow, take the girl to the front building. You two can have a good long talk; I'm going to wait for the monster here. Don't be surprised if he doesn't turn up; but if he does, I'll wipe him out for you.” The old man happily took his daughter to the front building.
Monkey then used some of his magic powers to turn himself into the likeness of the girl with a shake of his body. Then he sat down in the room to wait for the evil spirit. Before long there was a marvellous wind that sent stones and dust flying:
At first it was a gentle breeze,
That gradually became a tremendous gale.
When it was a gentle breeze, it filled Heaven and Earth;
When it grew, nothing could withstand it.
It stripped off flowers and snapped willows like stalks of hemp,
Uprooting forests as if it were picking vegetables.
It threw rivers and seas into turmoil, to the fury of gods and devils,
Splitting rocks and mountains as Heaven and Earth watched in horror.
The flower-eating deer lost their way,
The fruit-plucking monkeys did not know where they were.
Seven-storied iron pagodas fell on the Buddha's head,
The streamers in the temple fell on the jeweled canopy.
Golden beams and pillars of jade were shaken from their roots,
Tiles flew from the roof like swallows.
As the boatman raised his oar he made a vow,
Quickly sacrificing a pig and a goat as he pushed off.
The guardian god of the city ward abandoned his shrine,
The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas bowed to Heaven.
The yaksha demons' boats were wrecked on the coast,
And half the length of the Great Wall was blown down.
As this gale wind passed, an evil spirit appeared in mid-air. He was certainly ugly with his dark face, stubbly hair, long nose, and big ears. He wore a cotton tunic that was somewhere between black and blue, and round his waist was a patterned cotton cloth. “So that's what he's like,” thought Monkey with a secret smile, and without greeting him or asking him anything he lay down on the bed, breathing heavily and pretending to be ill. Not knowing who this really was, the monster came straight in, put his arms around him and was going to kiss him.
Monkey laughed to himself again as he thought, “So he really wants to screw me.” Then he thrust his hand up under the monster's long nose to throw him off balance. The monster fell off the bed.
As the monster pulled himself up he leaned on the edge of the bed and said, “Darling, why are you so angry with me today? Is it because I'm late?”
“I'm not angry,” Monkey replied, “not angry at all.”
“If you're not angry with me, why did you make me fall over?”
“You should have been more thoughtful and not tried hugging me and kissing me. I'm not feeling very well today. If I'd been my usual self I'd have been waiting for you at the door. Take your clothes off and come to bed.” Not realizing what he was up to, the monster undressed. Monkey jumped out of bed and sat on the pot as the monster went back to bed and groped around without finding the girl.
“Where've you gone, darling?” he asked. “Take your clothes off and come to bed.”
“Go to sleep,” Monkey replied, “I'm taking a shit.” The monster did as he was told. Monkey sighed and said, “What terrible luck.”
“What are you so fed up about?” the monster asked. “What do you mean by 'terrible luck'? I may have eaten some food and drunk some tea since marrying you, but I haven't been idle either. I've swept for your family and dug ditches, I've shifted bricks and tiles, I've built walls for you, I've ploughed and weeded your fields, I've sown your wheat, and I've transplanted your rice. I've made your family's fortune. These days you dress in brocade and have golden pins in your hair. You have fruit and flowers in all four seasons, and vegetables for the pot throughout the year. But despite this you're still not satisfied, groaning and moaning like that and complaining about your 'terrible luck.'”
“I didn't mean that,” Monkey replied. “Today I could hear my parents through the wall. They were smashing up bricks and tiles and pretending to curse and beat me.”
“Why should they want to do that?” the monster asked.
“They said that since we married and you became their resident son-in-law, all respectability has gone by the board. They were complaining about having such an ugly fellow as you around, and about never meeting any brother-in-law or other relations of yours. Besides, with all that wind and cloud whenever you come in or go out, they wonder who on earth you can be and what you are called. You're ruining their reputation, and disgracing the family. That's why they were so angry that they went through the motions of beating and cursing me.”
“I may be a bit of an eyesore,” the monster said, “but if you want me to be a good-looker I can fix that without any difficulty. When I first came I had a word with your father, and he agreed to the marriage of his own free will. Why is he talking like this now?” My home is the Cloud Pathway Cave on the Mount of Blessing. My surname, Zhu, is like my face-piggy-and my correct name is Zhu Ganglie, Iron-Haired pig. You tell them all that if they ask you again.
“He's an honest monster,” thought Monkey with delight. “If he came out with all this without being tortured. Now I know who he is and where he's from, I'm sure I can catch him.”
“He's sent for a priest to come and catch you,” Monkey said aloud.
“Come to bed, come to bed, and forget about him,” the monster said with a laugh. “I can do as many transformations as the Plough, and I have my nine-pronged rake too, so what have I to fear from priests, monks or Taoists? Even if your old man were holy enough to summon the Demon-destroying Patriarch down from the Ninth Heaven, he's an old friend of mine and wouldn't do anything to harm me.”
“My father said that he'd asked that fellow by the name of Sun, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who made such trouble up in the Heavenly Palace some five hundred years ago, to come and capture you.”
The monster was somewhat taken aback on hearing this name, and said, “In that case I'm off. We're through.”
“You can't just go like that,” said Monkey.
“You wouldn't know,” the monster replied, “but that Protector of the Horses who made such trouble in the Heavenly Palace is quite a fighter. I might not be able to beat him, and that would spoil my good name.” With these words he pulled on his clothes, opened the door, and was just going out when Monkey grabbed him, gave his own face a rub, and changed back into his real form.