The Bull Demon King took her in his arms and said, “How've I done you wrong, my lovely? Take your time and tell me about it. I'll make it up to you.”
“I was taking a stroll among the flowers outside the cave just now picking orchids,” she said, “When a monk with a face like a thunder god rushed up to me and started bowing. I was so scared I couldn't move. When I calmed down enough to ask him who he was he said he'd been sent by that Princess Iron Fan with an invitation for you. I was so angry I had something to say about that, and he started abusing me and chased me with his cudgel. He'd have just about killed me with it if I hadn't run so fast. So you see, bringing you here was a disaster. It's killing me.” At this the Bull Demon King apologized to her very earnestly. It took a long time and many tender attentions from his before she finally calmed down.
“I tell you the truth, my lovely,” the demon king said forcefully. “The Plantain Cave may be rather out of the way, but it's a place of purity and elegance. That wife of mine has had the highest moral principles since childhood, and she's also an immortal who has attained the Way. She runs her household very strictly. There's not even a page there. She couldn't possibly have sent a monk with a face like a thunder god. I wonder what evil fiend he is. He must have used her name to come and see me. I'm going out to have a look.”
The splendid demon king strode out of the study and into the hall to put on his armor and take his iron cudgel. “Who are you, and why are you behaving so outrageously?” he shouted as he went out through the doors. Monkey, who was watching from one side, saw that he now looked quite different from the way he had five hundred years earlier.
His wrought iron helmet shone like water or silver;
His golden armor was trimmed with silks and brocades.
The toes of his deerskin boots turned up; their soles were white.
The silken belt at his waist included three lion's tails.
His eyes were as bright as mirrors,
His brows as elegant as red rainbows,
His mouth like a bowl of blood,
His teeth a row of copper plates.
At his resounding roar the mountain gods took fright;
Evil ghosts were overawed by his majestic power.
His fame was known throughout the seas for raising chaos;
He was the Strongarm Demon King here in the West.
The Great Sage then tidied his clothes, stepped forward, chanted a deep “re-e-er” of respect, and asked, “Can you still recognize me, eldest brother?”
“Are you Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven?” the Bull Demon King replied, returning his bow.
“Yes, yes,” said Monkey. “It's such a long time since last we met. I only got here to see you because I asked a woman some questions just now. I must congratulate you on how well everything is growing.”
“Cut that out,” the Bull Demon King shouted back. “I heard about you making havoc in Heaven and being crushed under the Five Elements Mountain by the Lord Buddha. Then you were released from your heavenly punishment to protect the Tang Priest on his way to worship the Buddha and fetch the scriptures in the Western Heaven. Why did you have to destroy my son, the Sage Boy Bullcalf? I'm very angry with you. Why are you here looking for me?”
“Please don't misjudge me, brother,” said the Great Sage with another bow. “Your good son captured my master and was going to eat him. I was no match for him. Luckily the Bodhisattva Guanyin rescued my master and converted your boy. He's now the page Sudhana. He's even taller than you. He lives in a temple of great bliss and enjoys eternal ease. There's nothing wrong with any of that, so why be angry with me?”
“Smooth-tongued macaque,” retorted the Bull Demon King. “Even if you can talk your way out of having ruined my son, what do you mean by upsetting my beloved concubine and chasing her up to my doors?”
“I made a polite inquiry of the lady because I could not find you,” Monkey replied. “I never realized she was your second wife, so when she was rude to me I acted rough. Please forgive me.”
“Very well then,” the Bull Demon King said. “I'll let you off this time for the sake of our old friendship.”
“I'm very grateful indeed for your immense kindness,” the Great Sage replied. “But there is one thing I'd like to trouble you with. I hope you'll be able to help me out.”
“You macaque,” the Bull Demon King shouted at him, “you think you can get away with anything! I spare your life, but instead of making yourself scarce you have to keep pestering me. What do you mean by helping out?”
“Let me be honest with you,” the Great Sage replied. “I'm stuck at the Fiery Mountains on my journey escorting the Tang Priest, and we're not getting anywhere. The local people told me that your good lady Raksasi has a plantain fan. I tried to borrow it. I went to visit my sister-in-law, but she refused to lend it me, which is why I've come to see you. I beg you, brother, in the greatness of your heart to come with me to sister-in-law's place and borrow the fan for me so that I can blow out the fires and get my master across the mountains. Then I'll return it right away.”
At this the Bull Demon King's heart blazed with wrath. “You told me you knew how to behave,” he said, noisily gnashing his teeth of steel. “I suppose all this was not just to borrow the fan. I'm certain my wife has refused to lend it you because you've mistreated her. So that's why you came to see me. On top of that you send my beloved concubine fleeing in terror. As the saying goes,
'Don't push around
Your best friend's wife,
Don't try to destroy
The joy of his life.'
You've been pushing my wife around and trying to destroy the concubine who's the joy of my life. It's an outrage. Take this!”
“If you want to hit me, brother, I'm not afraid,” said Monkey. “All I want is the treasure. I beg you to lend it me.”
“If you can last out three rounds with me,” the Bull Demon King said, “I'll make my wife lend it to you. And if you can't I'll kill you and have my revenge.”
“Good idea, brother,” Monkey replied. “I've been so lazy. I haven't been to see you for ages, and I don't know how your fighting powers now compare with the old days. Let's have a match with our cudgels.” The Bull Demon King was in no mood for further argument, and he hit at Monkey's head with his mace. Monkey hit back with his gold-banded cudgel. It was a splendid fight:
The gold-banded cudgel,
The rough iron mace,
Are no longer friends.
One said, “You destroyed my son, you macaque.”
The other, “Don't be angry: he has found the Way.”
“How could you be so stupid as to come to my door?”
“I am here to visit you with a special purpose.”
One wanted the fan to protect the Tang Priest;
The other was too mean to lend the plantain leaf.
Friendship was lost in the exchange of words;
In anger neither had any sense of brotherhood.
The Bull Demon King's mace moved like a dragon;
The Great Sage's cudgel sent gods and demons fleeing.
First they fought in front of the mountain,
Then they both rose on auspicious clouds.
They showed their great powers up in mid-air,
Doing wonderful movements in multi-coloured light.
The clash of their cudgels rocked the gates of Heaven;
They were too evenly matched for either to win.
The Great Sage and the Bull Demon King fought over a hundred rounds without either emerging as the victor. Just as they were becoming locked in their struggle a voice called from the peak, “King Bull, my king sends his respects and invites you to honour him with your presence at a banquet.”