At this the two old men bowed and replied, “And if you were going to fetch the scriptures why did you come here instead of taking the main route?”
“We were on the main route,” replied Monkey, “but a river was in our way and we weren't able to cross it. We came to your distinguished residence to ask for a night's shelter because we heard the drums and cymbals.”
“What did you see by the side of the river?” one of the old men asked.
“Nothing but a stone tablet on which was written 'River of Heaven' above and ' 250 miles across; few travelers have ever been here' underneath,” Monkey replied.
“Less than half a mile along the bank from the stone tablet is the Temple of the Great King of Miraculous Response,” the old man said. “Did you not see it?”
“No,” Monkey replied. “Would you old gentlemen tell me why he's called 'Miraculous Response?'”
The two old men burst into tears as they replied, “My lord, as for the Great King,
Because he responded a temple we built;
His miracles greatly the common folk helped.
He sends timely rain to the farms all about;
His clouds give their moisture to keep us from drought.”
“But if he sends timely rain and clouds he's being kind to you,” said Brother Monkey, “so why are you so upset and miserable?” At this the old man stamped on the ground, beat his chest and wailed, “Master,
Great is our gratitude, greater our anger:
Although he is kind he is also a danger.
He is not one of the gods true and right-
To eat boys and girls is his evil delight.”
“He likes eating boys and girls?” Brother Monkey exclaimed.
“Yes,” replied the old man.
“I suppose it's your family's turn now,” said Monkey.
“Yes, this year it is our turn,” the old man said. “There are a hundred households living here. This place is called Chen Village, and it is in Yuanhui County of the Kingdom of Tarrycart. There is a sacrifice to the Great King every year at which a boy, a girl, pigs, sheep, oxen and wine have to be offered. If he gets his meal he gives us wind and rain at the right time; but if there is no sacrifice he sends disaster.”
“How many sons are there in your household?” Monkey asked.
The old man beat his breast and said, “Alas, alas, we die of shame when you speak of sons. This is my brother, Chen Qing, who is fifty-seven. I am Chen Cheng and am sixty-two. We have both found great difficulty in having children. As I had no son my friends and relations persuaded me to take a concubine when I was nearly fifty. I had no option but to find one and we had a daughter. She is just seven this year, and we call her Pan of Gold.”
“That's a very grand name,” said Pig. “But why Pan of Gold?”
“Because we were childless we built bridges, repaired roads, contributed to putting up monasteries and pagodas, gave donations and fed monks. We kept an account of all this, and what with three ounces spent here and five spent there it added up to thirty pounds of gold by the time the girl was born. Thirty pounds is a pan of gold, and hence the name.”
“What about sons?” Monkey asked.
“My brother has a son who was also by a concubine. He is six this year, and we call him Chen Guan-given.”
“Why did you call him that?” Monkey asked. “In our family we worship Lord Guan Yu, and we called him Guan-given as it was from the statue of Lord Guan that we begged and obtained this son. My brother and I are 120 between us if you add our ages together, and these are our only two offspring. We never imagined that it would fall to us to provide the sacrificial offerings this year, and this is a duty we cannot escape. It is because as fathers we cannot bear to part from our children that we held this service to bring about rebirth, this maigre-feast to prepare for death.”
This brought the tears pouring down Sanzang's cheeks as he replied, “This is what the ancients mean when they said,
Long before the ripe ones the green plums always fall;
The harshness of heaven hits the childless worst of all.”
Monkey smiled at this and said, “Let me ask some more questions. Tell me, sir, how much property does your family have?”
“Quite a lot,” the younger old man replied. “About seven hundred acres of paddy fields, a thousand acres of dry fields, eighty or ninety fields of hay, two or three hundred water-buffalo and oxen, twenty or thirty donkeys and horses, and goodness only knows how many pigs, sheep, chickens and geese. We have more old grain piled up at home than we can eat, and more clothes than we can wear. That is the extent of our family's property.”
“It's a pity you're so stingy with all your wealth,” said Monkey.
“How can you accuse us of being stingy?” the old man asked.
“If you're so rich,” said Monkey, “why give your own children to be sacrificed? You could buy a boy for fifty ounces and a girl for a hundred. With all the other expenses together it shouldn't cost you more than two hundred ounces of silver to keep your own children. Wouldn't that be better?”
To this the younger old man replied through his tears, “My lord, you don't realize that the Great King is miraculously responsive, and that he often calls on this household.”
“If he comes here have you seen what he looks like and how tall he is?” asked Brother Monkey.
“We don't see him,” the younger old man replied, “we just know that the Great King is coming when we smell a fragrant wind. Then we burn huge amounts of incense and all of us, young and old alike, prostrate ourselves in the direction of the wind. He knows every trifling detail about our household-even about our spoons and the bowls we use-and remembers all our dates of birth. He will only accept our own son and daughter. Never mind two or three hundred ounces of silver: we could not buy identical-looking children of exactly the same age for tens of thousands of ounces.”
“So it's like that,” said Monkey. “Very well then, bring your son out for me to take a look at him.” Chen Qing hurried to the inner part of the house, brought Guan-given back with him into the hall, and set the boy down in front of the lamp. Not realizing the mortal danger he was in the little boy leapt about, filled his sleeves with fruit, ate and played around. Monkey looked at him, said a spell silently, shook himself, and made himself look just like Guan-given. Then the two boys started to jump and dance in front of the lamp, giving the two old men such a shock that they fell to their knees.
“That was a terrible thing for him to do, venerable sirs,” said Sanzang.
“But the gentleman was talking to us a moment ago,” said the old man. “How can he have turned into the exact likeness of my son? When you call them they respond and move together. This shock has shortened our lives. Please return to your normal appearance!” Monkey rubbed his face and was himself once more. “What powers you have, my lord,” said the old man, still on his knees.
“Was I like your son?” Monkey asked.
“Yes, just like him,” the old man replied. “Same face, same voice, same clothes, same height.”
“You didn't look carefully enough,” said Monkey. “Get some scales and weigh me to see if I'm the same weight as him.”
“Yes, yes, the same weight,” the old man said.
“Would I do for the sacrifice like that?” asked Monkey.
“Perfect,” said the old man, “just perfect. You would be accepted.”
“I shall take the child's place and keep him alive for your family to have descendants to burn incense to you,” said Monkey. “I shall be offered to the Great King instead.” At this Chen Qing kowtowed as he knelt there, saying, “My lord, if in your mercy you were to take his place I will give His Reverence the Tang Priest a thousand ounces of silver towards the cost of his journey to the Western Heaven.”