The Great Sage then tightened his belt of tiger sinew, hitched up his tigerskin kilt, took his gold-banded cudgel in his hands, and headed straight for the mountain in search of the cave. As he rounded a sheer wall he saw a pair of stone doors set among rocks beside the blue-green rock-face. Outside the doors a crowd of little devils were practicing with sword and spear. Indeed, there were,
Auspicious clouds,
Green lichens,
Rows of strange and craggy rocks,
Steep paths winding around.
Apes howled and birds sang in the beauty of nature;
Phoenixes flew and danced in this land of immortals.
The first blooms were open on plum trees facing South;
A thousand bamboos were green in the sun's warmth.
Under the cliff,
Deep in the gorge:
Under the cliff the snow was piled up white;
Deep in the gorge the stream had turned to ice.
Stands of cypress and pine preserved ancient beauty;
Camellia bushes all bloomed with the same red.
Without waiting to have a thorough look the Great Sage made straight for the doors and shouted at the top of his voice, “Little devils, go straight in and tell your master that I'm Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and the disciple of the holy Tang Priest, Tell him to send my master out at once if you lot don't all want to be killed.”
The little devils all hurried in to report, “Your Majesty, there's a monk at the gate with a hairy face and a crooked mouth. He's called the Great Sage Equaling Heaven Sun Wukong and he's asking for his master back.”
The demon was delighted to hear this. “Just the person I wanted to come,” he said. “Ever since leaving my palace and coming down to the mortal world I've had no chance to try out my martial skills. Now that he's here I'll have a worthy foe. Bring me my weapons, little ones,” he ordered. All the big and little devils in the cave braced themselves and carried out as quickly as they could a twelve-foot-long steel spear that they handed to the old demon, who gave them their instructions: “Little ones, you must keep in neat formation. Those who advance will be rewarded, and anyone who retreats will be executed.”
Having been given their orders the little devils charged out through the doors behind the old demon, who shouted, “Who is Sun Wukong?” Monkey stepped across from beside the entrance to see how ugly and murderous the demon king looked:
A single jagged horn,
A pair of bright eyes.
The thick skin protruded above his head,
Black flesh shone by his ears.
When he stretched his tongue he could lick his snout;
His mouth when opened wide showed yellow teeth.
His hair was indigo-blue,
His muscles hard as steel.
He was like a rhinoceros, but could not see through water,
Resembled a buffalo but could not plough.
Not useful like the ox who lows at the moon,
He could easily scare the sky and shake the earth.
His purple hands were knotted with muscle,
As he stood erect with his spear of steel.
One only had to consider his hideous looks
To see why he deserved to be called Rhinoceros King.
“Your grandpa Monkey is here,” said the Great Sage Monkey, stepping forward. “Give me back my master and neither of us will be hurt. But if there's so much as half a 'no' from you I'll kill you, and there'll be nowhere to bury your remains.”
“I'll get you, you impudent devil of an ape,” the demon roared back. “What powers do you have that give you the nerve to talk like that?”
“Evidently you've not seen them yet,” Monkey replied.
“Your master stole my clothes,” said the demon, “and now I've caught him and am going to cook and eat him. What sort of tough guy do you think you are, daring to come here to ask for him back?”
“My master is a loyal, upright and good monk: he couldn't possibly have stolen any of your devilish goods,” Monkey replied.
“I made a magic villa by the mountain path,” the demon said, “and your master crept inside. He was so carried away by his greed that he stole three quilted brocade waistcoats. I caught him red-handed. If you really have any powers I'll give you a fight. Hold out against me for three rounds and I'll spare your master's life; fail and you go to the underworld with him.”
“Shut up, damned beast,” Monkey replied. “A fight would suit me fine. Come here and try a taste of my cudgel.” The monster was not at all afraid to fight, and he thrust his spear at Monkey's head, It was a superb battle. Just watch:
The gold-banded cudgel was raised,
The long-handled spear parried.
The gold-banded cudgel was raised,
Flashing like a golden snake of lightning.
The long-handled spear parried,
Glistening like a dragon emerging from the sea.
Outside the doors the little devils beat their drums,
Drawn up in battle order to add to his might,
While the Great Sage showed his skill,
Displaying his abilities freely all around.
On one side a spear and spirits braced,
Against it a cudgel and martial prowess.
Indeed it was hero set against hero,
A pair of well-matched foes.
The demon king breathed out coiling purple mists
While the gleam of the Great Sage's eyes formed coloured clouds
Only because the Tang Priest was in trouble
Did both of them fight so bitterly without quarter.
After thirty inconclusive rounds the demon king could see that Sun Wukong was a complete master of the cudgel who could advance or retreat without leaving any openings. “What a splendid ape,” he kept saying with admiration, “what a splendid ape. This was the skill that made havoc in Heaven.”
Monkey too was impressed by the demon king's neat spearwork as he parried to left and right with great skill. “What a splendid spirit,” he said, “what a splendid spirit. He really is a demon who would know how to steal elixir pills.” The two of them then fought another ten or twenty rounds.
The demon king touched the ground with the tip of his spear and ordered his little devils forward. All those wretched fiends surrounded the Great Sage with their cutlasses, staves, swords and spears. Monkey was completely unafraid.
“I'm glad you've come along,” he shouted, “glad you've come along. Just what I wanted.” With his gold-banded cudgel he blocked and parried them in front and behind and to both sides, but the devils would not give ground. Losing his patience, Monkey threw his cudgel into the air, shouted, “Change!” and turned it into over a thousand cudgels that came raining down from the sky like flying snakes, terrifying the devils out of their wits and sending them scurrying back to their cave for their lives with their hands over their heads.
“Behave yourself, ape,” said the demon with a mocking laugh, “and watch this trick.” He immediately pulled out from his sleeve a gleaming white ring that he threw up into the air with a shout of “Get them!” It came whirling down, catching all the gold-banded cudgels inside it, and forcing Monkey to somersault away for his life as he was now disarmed. While the demon king returned to his cave in triumph Brother Monkey was at his wit's end. Indeed:
The Way grew by one foot but the demon grew by ten.
Blind and confused, they failed to see that the house was fake.
Alas there was no place to be found for the dharma body:
In action and in thoughts they had made a great mistake.
If you don't know how all this ended, listen to the explanation in the next installment.
