Vines hung over the winding paths,
And creepers covered the steps of stone.
Apes on the cliffs screeched to welcome the rising moon;
In tall trees birds sang for joy at the clear blue sky.
The groves of bamboo were as cool as if it had rained;
The flowers along the path were embroidered velvet.
At times a cloud of white would blow from a distant peak;
It had no single form as it drifted in the wind.
“Open up, Brother Bull,” Monkey shouted as he went up to the doors. They opened with a creak, and out came a young girl carrying a flower basket in her hand and hoe over her shoulder. Indeed:
Though clad in rags and dressed in no fine array,
Her face was full of spirit, her heart set on the Way.
Monkey went up to her with his hands together in front of his chest and said, “Would you kindly tell the princess that I'm a monk going to the West to fetch the scriptures. I'm here to beg the loan of her plantain fan as we can't get across the Fiery Mountains.”
“What monastery are you from,” the girl asked, “and what is your name? Please tell me so that I can announce you.”
“I'm from the East,” Monkey replied, “and my name is Sun Wukong.”
The girl went back into the cave, knelt to the princess, and said, “Your Highness, there's a monk from the East called Sun Wukong outside who would like to see you to ask for the loan of the plantain fan to cross the Fiery Mountains.” The name Sun Wukong was like a pinch of salt thrown into a flame, or oil poured on a fire. Her face went bright red and evil anger flared up in her heart.
“So that damned monkey's here at last,” she said with hatred. “Girl,” she shouted, “fetch me my armor and my weapons.” She then put on her armor, tied her pair of blue-tipped swords at her waist, fastened it all firmly, and went out. Monkey slipped over to the entrance to see what she looked like and this is what he saw:
A flowered kerchief tied around her head,
A cloud-patterned robe of quilted brocade.
A belt of two tiger sinews round her waist,
Revealing a skirt of embroidered silk.
Her shoes like phoenix beaks were but three inches long;
Her trousers in dragon-beard style were adorned with gold.
Brandishing her swords she gave out angry shouts;
She looked as lethal as the goddess of the moon.
“Where's Sun Wukong?” Raksasi shouted as she came out of her cave.
Monkey stepped forward, bowed, and replied, “Monkey offers his respectful greetings, sister-in-law.”
“I'm no sister-in-law of yours,” she shouted angrily, “and I'll have no greetings from you.”
“Your worthy husband the Bull Demon King was once my sworn brother,” Monkey replied. “There were seven of us altogether. As I learn that you are my brother Bull's good lady, of course I must call you sister-in-law.”
“Damned ape,” said Raksasi, “if you're my husband's sworn brother why did you have to do that terrible thing to our boy?”
“Who is your son?” Monkey asked, as if he did not know.
“He's the Red Boy, the Boy Sage King of the Fire-cloud Cave by Withered Pine Ravine on Mount Hao,” Raksasi replied. “You ruined him, and now you've come to our door to pay with your life. We've been longing to get our revenge on you but didn't know where to find you. You'll get no mercy from me.”
Putting on the broadest of smiles, Monkey replied, “You haven't gone into it thoroughly enough, sister-in-law. You've no reason to be so angry with me Your good son had captured my master and would have steamed or boiled him if the Bodhisattva hadn't taken the boy as his disciple and rescued my master. He's now the page Sudhana on the Bodhisattva's island and he's accepted the pursuit of the true reward from her. He is now beyond life and death and above filth and purity. He will live as long as heaven, earth, the sun and the moon. But far from thanking me for saving his life you're getting angry at me. That's wrong of you.”
“You smooth-tongued ape,” Raksasi snapped back. “My boy may be alive, but when is he ever going to come here? When am I going to see him again?”
“It'll be easy for you to see your son again,” Monkey replied, still smiling. “Just lend me the fan to put the fires out. When I've taken my master across the mountains I'll go to the Bodhisattava's place in the Southern Ocean and ask him to come here to see you and give your fan back. No problem. Then you'll be able to see that he's completely unharmed. If he'd been wounded at all you'd have had every right to be angry with me. But he's as handsome as ever. You ought to be thanking me.”
To this Raksasi's reply was: “Shut up, ape fiend! Stick your head out for me to hack with my sword. If you can stand the pain I'll lend you the plantain fan. If you can't you'll be going straight down to Hell to see King Yama.”
Monkey then clasped his hands together in front of him and replied with a smile, “Enough said, sister-in-law. I'll stretch my bald head out and you can take as many hacks as you like until you're exhausted. But you must lend me the fan.” With no more argument Raksasi swung both of her swords around and brought them down with loud thunks a dozen or more times on Monkey's head. He was not bothered at all. Raksasi was so frightened by this that she turned to run away.
“Where are you going, sister-in-law?” Monkey said. “Hurry up and lend me that fan.”
“My treasure isn't something to be lent out casually,” Raksasi replied.
“Well,” said Monkey, “if you refuse now you'll just have to try a taste of your brother-in-law's cudgel.”
The splendid Monkey King held on to her with one hand while pulling his cudgel out from his ear with the other. With one wave it became as thick as a ricebowl. Raksasi broke free from his grip and raised her swords to strike back at him. Monkey started swinging his cudgel to hit her with and the fight began in front of Mount Turquoise Cloud. All talk of kinship was forgotten and their minds full of hatred alone. It was a fine battle:
The woman had worked hard to make herself a monster;
She loathed the ape and would avenge her son.
Although Monkey was seething with fury,
He would have made concessions for his master's sake.
First he had asked to borrow the plantain fan,
Being patient and gentle, not fierce.
In ignorance Raksasi hacked with her sword,
While Monkey decided to speak of kinship.
Women should never fight with men,
For men are harder and can crush them.
Terrible was the gold-banded cudgel,
Fine were the movements of the blue frost-bladed sword,
With blows to face and head,
As both of them grimly refused to yield.
Blocking to left and right they used their martial skill;
Great was the cunning with which they stood or fell back.
Just when they both were beginning to enjoy themselves
The sun set in the Western sky before they noticed.
Raksasi made ghosts and deities feel small
With many a wave of her true magic fan.
Raksasi and Monkey fought it out till evening. As Monkey's cudgel struck so hard and his technique was so flawless she realized that she would never be able to beat him. She brought out her plantain fan and with a single wave blew Monkey right out of sight. There was no way he could stand his ground. With that she went back to her cave in triumph.
The Great Sage was thrown around in the air, unable to come down to earth or find any refuge. He was like a dead leaf in a whirlwind or a fallen blossom carried along by a torrent.
Only after a whole night's buffeting did he manage to land on a mountain the next morning and hold on hard to a rock by putting both arms round it. He needed a long time to calm himself and take a good look around before he realized that he was on Little Mount Sumeru.
“What a terrible woman,” he said to himself with a deep sigh. “How ever did she get me here? I remember coming here once to ask the Bodhisattva Lingji to subdue the Yellow Wind Monster and rescue my master. The Yellow Wind Ridge is over a thousand miles South of here, so as I've been blown back from the West I must have come thousands and thousands of miles. I'll go down and find out some more from the Bodhisattva Lingji before I go back.”