Two angry contenders fighting for mastery.
The millennial monster of the Black River,
And a former immortal from the Hall of Miraculous Mist.
One was greedy for Sanzang's flesh,
The other longed to save the Tang Priest's life.
As they fought beneath the waters
There was no way they both could succeed.
Frightened shrimps and fishes shook their heads and hid;
Crabs and turtles withdrew into their shells.
Then with a roll of drums the water palace demons
Joined in the fight and yelled before the gates.
The splendid monk, the true Friar Sand,
Stood all alone and let them see his might.
As they plunged through the waves no victor emerged;
Flail and staff were evenly matched.
All this was because the Tang Priest wanted
To visit the Buddha and fetch the scriptures.
When they had fought thirty rounds without result Friar Sand thought, “This monster is as good a fighter as I am. I'm not going to be able to beat him. I'll have to lure him out for Monkey to kill.” Friar Sand then pretended to drop his guard and took to his heels trailing his staff behind him.
But instead of chasing him the evil monster said, “Off you go then. I won't fight you any more. I'm going to write invitations for my guests.”
Friar Sand emerged from the waves snorting with fury. “Brother,” he said when he saw Monkey, “that monster's outrageous.”
“You were down a long time,” said Monkey. “Is there an evil spirit? Did you find the master?”
“There's a pavilion down there,” said Friar Sand, “with 'Palace of the God of the Black River in the Hengyang Valley' written over it. I hid there and listened to him talking. He told his underlings to wash the metal steamer ready to cook the master and Brother Pig and sent them to invite his uncle for a birthday feast. It made me so angry that I started beating at his doors. The monster came out with his flail of pieces of bamboo-shaped steel and fought me for ages. We must have gone thirty rounds without either of us coming out on top. I pretended to be beaten to lure him out here so that you could help me, but he was too clever to come after me. He went back in to write invitations, so I came out.”
“What sort of evil being is he?” Monkey asked.
“He looks a bit like a big soft-shelled turtle,” said Friar Sand. “If he's not one of those he's an alligator.”
“I wonder who his uncle is,” said Monkey.
Before the words were out of his mouth an old man emerged from a bend in the river, knelt at a great distance from them, and said, “The God of the Black River kowtows to the Great Sage.”
“Weren't you the evil spirit who rowed the boat?” said Monkey. “Trying to fool us again, are you?”
The old man wept and kowtowed as he replied, “I'm no monster, Great Sage. I'm the real god of this river. The evil spirit came here from the Western Ocean on a flood tide during the fifth month last year. He fought me, and as I'm so old I was no match for him, so he seized my Palace of the God of the Black River in the Hengyang Valley, and killed many of my watery tribe. I had to go to the sea to bring a case against him. But the Dragon King of the Western Sea is his uncle, so of course he threw my case out and told me to turn my palace over to the monster. I tried submitting a protest to Heaven, but I was too humble a river god to obtain an audience with the Jade Emperor. Now that you are here, Great Sage, I've come to pay my respects and submit to you. I beg you to avenge me.”
“From what you say the Dragon King of the Western Sea is in the wrong too,” said Brother Monkey. “Now that the monster has captured my master and my fellow-disciple, announced that he's going to steam them and invited his uncle, I've got to capture him. It's a good thing you came to tell me. Very well then, river god, you keep an eye on things with Friar Sand here while I go to the sea to arrest that dragon and make him capture the monster.”
“I'm very grateful, Great Sage,” said the river god.
Monkey went by somersault cloud straight to the Western Ocean, where he landed, made water-repelling magic with his hands, and parted the waves. He saw a black fish spirit who was carrying a golden invitation box shoot upstream like an arrow. Monkey met him head-on and smashed his skull open with a single blow of his iron cudgel, sending the poor spirit's brains flying and splitting his cheeks apart, and with a loud noise it emerged from the water. Monkey opened the box and found in it an invitation that read:
Your Excellency Second Uncle Ao,
Your nephew Tuo Jie bows in greeting and is deeply grateful for your kind regards. Today I have captured two priests from the East who are great rarities. Not daring to consume them myself, and remembering that your birthday is imminent, I have arranged a simple banquet to wish you eternal life. I beg that you honour me with your illustrious presence.
“That fellow has given me all the evidence I need for my case,” chuckled Monkey, tucking the invitation in his sleeve and carrying on his way. By then a yaksha patrolling the sea had noticed Monkey and rushed straight back to the crystal palace to report to the dragon king, “Lord Monkey, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, is here.”
The dragon king Ao Shun led his watery tribe from the palace to welcome Monkey: “Great Sage, won't you come into my humble palace for a while and take a cup of tea?”
“I've never had a single cup of your tea,” said Monkey, “but you've drunk my wine before now.”
To this the dragon king replied with a smile, “Great Sage, you have always been a faithful follower of the Buddha and have never touched meat or alcohol. You've never invited me to drinks.”
“You may never have been over for drinks, but you're already in trouble for being a boozer,” said Monkey.
“How am I in trouble?” asked Ao Shun with horror. Monkey produced the invitation and handed it to the dragon king.
At the sight of this the dragon king was scared out of his wits. He fell to his knees in panic, kowtowed and said, “Forgive me, Great Sage. That awful boy is my younger sister's ninth son. My brother-in-law, her husband, sent the wrong amount of wind and cut down on the rain. A heavenly edict was sent to the human prime minister Wei Zheng, who beheaded him in a dream. I brought my sister here because she had nowhere else to live and bring the boy up. Two years ago a disease killed her, and as the boy was then homeless I sent him to nourish his nature and cultivate the truth in the Black River. I never imagined he'd commit such terrible sins, and now I'll send people to arrest him.”
“How many fine sons did your sister have?” asked Monkey. “Are they all monsters?”
“Nine,” the dragon king replied. “The other eight have turned out well. The eldest is the Little Yellow Dragon, and he lives in the Huai River. The second is the Little Black Dragon who lives in the River Ji. The third is the Blue-backed Dragon who occupies the Yangtse. The Red-whiskered Dragon is the fourth son, and he holds the Yellow River. The fifth is the Vain-effort Dragon who looks after the bell for the Lord Buddha. Guardian Dragon is the sixth, and he sits guarding the roof of the Heavenly Palace. Respectful Dragon is the seventh; he holds up the winged column at the Jade Emperor's court. The eighth is Clam Dragon who lives with my eldest brother on Mount Tai. The youngest, Alligator Dragon, has had no particular duties since he is still young. He was only sent to the Black River to nourish his nature last year. He hasn't yet won himself any fame or been transferred and given a job elsewhere. I never expected that he would disobey me by offending you, Great Sage.”
When Monkey heard this he laughed and said, “How many husbands has your sister had?”
“Only one,” Ao Shun replied, “the Dragon King of the Jing River. After his execution she lived here as a widow until she died of an illness the year before last.”