The venerable elder then dismounted and went on foot to the city gate. The sun was setting in the West as they crossed the drawbridge and went in through the triple gates. People in the streets turned away when they saw the monks of the Deep Wisdom Monastery leading a horse and carrying luggage. When they reached the monastery gates the travelers saw a large sign over them reading DEEP WISDOM MONASTERY: FOUNDED BY ROYAL COMMAND.
The monks pushed the gates open and led them through the Hall of the Vajrapanis before opening the doors of the main hall of the monastery. Sanzang covered himself with his cassock and worshipped the Buddha before entering.
“Steward!” the monks called, and an old monk came out who kowtowed to Monkey the moment he saw him.
“My lord, are you really here?” he said.
“Do you know which lord I am, bowing like that?” Monkey asked.
“I can see that you are Lord Sun, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven,” the old monk replied. “We see you in our dreams every night; the Great White Planet is always coming in them to tell us that we will only be saved when you arrive. Now that I have beheld your distinguished countenance I know that it is the same as in our dreams. I am glad you are here so soon, my lord. Had you been a day or two later we would all have become ghosts by then.”
“Please get up,” said Monkey. “Things will be sorted out tomorrow.” The monks then laid on a vegetarian meal for the master and his disciples and tidied up the abbot's lodgings for them to stay in. They settled down for the night.
A little before midnight Monkey, who had too much on his mind to go to sleep, heard music outside, got up quietly, dressed, and sprang into the air to look around. To the South he saw lamps and candles burning bright, and when he brought his cloud lower for a close look he saw that in the Temple of the Three Pure Ones the Taoists were performing a star ritual. What he saw was
The high hall of the sanctum,
The true holy shrine.
The high hall of the sanctum
Was as majestic as Penghu's magic isle;
The true holy shrine
Was mysteriously pure like the Huale Temple.
On either side the Taoist priests played pan-pipes
While the celebrant in the center held a tablet of jade.
They explained The Elimination of Disaster
And preached on The Way and its Power.
When the dust-raising dance was over the talismans were issued;
After making divine petition all lay down in respect.
When the water had been blessed and the spirits summoned,
The fluttering flames of the candles rose up to the sky.
When the Pole Star was located and the Dipper paced out,
Clouds of fragrant incense filled the void.
Fresh food was offered on the votive tables,
And a rich repast of meatless food laid out.
In front of the hall hung a pair of yellow brocade vertical scrolls on which were embroidered these words:
May winds and rains come as they should;
We pray for the boundless power of the Heavenly Honoured Ones.
May rivers and seas be pure and peaceful;
We beg for many a year of life for His Majesty.
Monkey saw three old Taoists wearing their religious robes; he took them to be the Great Immortals Tiger Power, Deer Power and Antelope Power. Standing below them to either side were a crowd of seven or eight hundred Taoists holding drums, bells, incense and divine petitions. Monkey was delighted.
“I had meant to go down and fool around with them by myself,” he thought, “but one strand of silk can't make a thread, and one hand can't clap. I think I'll go back and do Friar Sand and Pig a good turn by letting them join in the game with me.”
Monkey then landed his auspicious cloud and went straight into the abbot's lodgings, where he found Pig and Friar Sand sleeping top to toe. Monkey first called Friar Sand, who woke up and said, “Aren't you asleep yet, brother?”
“Get up,” said Monkey. “We're going to have a good feed.”
“Whatever sort of good feed can I have in the middle of the night when my throat's dried out and my eyes are all bleary?” Friar Sand asked.
“There's the Temple of the Three Pure Ones in this city where the Taoist priests are holding a service,” Brother Monkey replied. “The Hall of the Three Pure Ones is full of offerings: steamed buns as big as a bucket, cakes that must weight fifty or sixty pounds apiece, any amount of rice, and fresh fruit too. Let's go and have some.”
The talk of all this good food was enough to wake Pig up. “Won't you take me too, brother?” he asked.
“If you want a feed,” said Monkey, “keep your voice down and don't wake the master. Come with me.”
The two of them dressed, slipped outside, and leapt up by cloud with Monkey. As soon as the idiot saw the lights he wanted to attack, but Monkey held him back and said, “Steady on. We'll go down when they've all gone.”
“But their recitations are only just warming up,” said Pig. “They won't want to go.”
“I'll do some magic that will send them packing,” said Monkey.
The splendid Great Sage said the words and made the hand movements of a spell, drew in a breath from the quarter of the wind, and blew a gale so terrible that as it tore into the Hall of the Three Pure Ones it knocked down all the vases, candlesticks, and offerings on the walls and put out all the lamps. The Taoists all shook with terror.
“You had better go, disciples,” said the Great Immortal Tiger Power. “This divine wind has blown out all the lamps and the incense, so you should all go back to bed. Get up early tomorrow morning and recite some more scriptures to make the numbers up.” The Taoists then did indeed all withdraw.
Monkey then led Pig and Friar Sand to land their clouds, and they charged straight into the Hall of the Three Pure Ones. The idiot grabbed some food, not caring whether it was cooked or raw, and was just about to eat it when Monkey raised his iron cudgel to hit him. Pig pulled back his hand and said, “You're going to hit me before I've even tasted anything.”
“Don't act so low,” said Monkey. “You must pay your respects and sit down before eating.”
“You're shameless,” said Pig. “You steal food and expect me to pay my respects too. What would I have had to do if we'd been properly invited?”
“Do you know who the three Bodhisattvas sitting up there are?” Monkey asked. “Can't you recognize the Three Pure Ones themselves?” asked Pig. “How could you possibly think they are Bodhisattvas?”
“What about those Three Pure Ones?” Monkey asked. “Oh well,” said Pig, “the one in the middle is the Original Celestial Pure One, the one on the left is the Precious Pure One, and the one on the right is the Supreme Lord Lao Zi.”
“We've got to make ourselves look like them before we can eat in safety,” said Monkey. The delicious smells of the offerings were making the idiot desperate with hunger, so he climbed on the pedestal of the statue and knocked Lord Lao Zi off it with one shove of his snout.
“You've sat here for long enough, old man,” he said. “It's my turn now.”
Pig turned himself into the Supreme Lord Lao Zi, Monkey turned himself into the Original Celestial Pure One, and Friar Sand into the Precious Pure One. When the statues had all been pushed over and the three of them were sitting up there Pig grabbed a big steamed bun.
“Not so fast,” said Monkey.
“But brother,” protested Pig, “we've already made ourselves look like them. What are we waiting for?”
“Brother,” said Monkey, “eating is much less important than not giving ourselves away. If one of the Taoists got up early to hit the bell or sweep the floor and tripped over a piece of one of the statues we've knocked over the news would be out. You'd better hide them.”
“But where?” asked Pig. “I'm a stranger here and I don't know my way around.”