Before long the Tang Priest was outside the Tower of Five Phoenixes at the outer palace gate. The towering majesty of the halls and the splendor of the tall buildings and terraces beggared description. When he reached the main Southern gate he requested the reporting officer to announce to the court his wish to have his passport inspected.
The eunuch officer at the gate went to the steps of the throne, where he submitted the following memoriaclass="underline" “There is a monk at the palace gate sent by the Great Tang in the East to worship the Buddha and fetch the scriptures at the Thunder Monastery in the Western Heaven. He wishes to submit his passport for approval. I await Your Majesty's command.”
When the king heard this he replied happily, “For a long time we have been too ill to sit on our throne. Today we are in the throne room to issue a notice sending for doctors, and now a distinguished monk has arrived in our country.” He ordered that the monk be summoned to the steps of the throne. Sanzang abased himself in reverence. The king then summoned him into the throne room, invited him to sit down, and ordered the department of foreign relations to arrange a vegetarian meal. Sanzang thanked the king for his kindness and presented his passport.
When he had read it through the king said with great delight, “Master of the Law, how many dynasties have ruled in your land of Great Tang? How many generations of wise ministers have there been? After what illness did the Tang emperor come back to life, so that he sent you on this long and difficult journey to fetch the scriptures?”
On being asked all these questions the venerable elder bowed, put his hands together and said, “In my country,
The Three Emperors ruled,
The Five Rulers established morality.
Yao and Shun took the throne,
Yu and Tang gave the people peace.
Many were the offspring of Chengzhou
Who each established their own states,
Bullying the weak with their own strength,
Dividing the realm and proclaiming themselves rulers.
Eighteen such lords of local states
Divided the territory up to the borders.
Later they became a dozen,
Bringing peace to the cosmic order.
But those who had no chariots of war
Were swallowed up by others.
When the seven great states contended
Six of them had to surrender to Qin.
Heaven gave birth to Liu Bang and Xiang Yu,
Each of whom cherished wicked ideas.
The empire then belonged to Han
According to the stipulations agreed between the two.
Power passed from Han to the Sima clan,
Till Jin in its turn fell into chaos.
Twelve states ruled in North and South,
Among them Song, Qi, Liang and Chen.
Emperors ruled in succession to each other
Till the Great Sui restored the true unity.
Then it indulged in evil and wickedness.
Inflicting misery on the common people.
Our present rulers, the House of Li,
Have given the name of Tang to the state.
Since the High Ancestor passed on the throne
The reigning monarch has been Li Shimin.
The rivers have run clear and the seas been calm
Thanks to his great virtue and his benevolence.
North of the city of Chang'an
Lived a wicked river dragon
Who gave the timely rain in short measure,
For which he deserved to pay with his death.
One night he came in a dream to the emperor,
Asking the monarch to spare his life.
The emperor promised to grant a pardon
And sent for his wise minister early next day.
He kept him there inside the palace,
Filling his time with a long game of chess.
But at high noon the minister
Slept, and in a dream cut off the dragon's head.”
On hearing this the king groaned and asked, “Master of the Law, which country did that wise minister come from?”
“He was our emperor's prime minister Wei Zheng, astrologer, geographer, master of the Yin and Yang, and one of the great founders and stabilizers of our state,” Sanzang explained. “Because he beheaded the Dragon King of the Jing River in his dream, the dragon brought a case in the Underworld against our emperor for having him decapitated after granting a pardon. The emperor became very ill and his condition was critical. Wei Zhang wrote him a letter to take to the Underworld and give to Cui Jue, the judge of Fengdu. Soon after that the emperor died, only to come back to life on the third day. It was thanks to Wei Zheng that Judge Cui was persuaded to alter a document and give His Majesty an extra twenty years of life. He held a great Land and Water Mass and dispatched me on this long journey to visit many lands, worship the Buddha and fetch the Three Stores of Mahayana scriptures that will raise all the sufferers from evil up to Heaven.”
At this the king groaned and sighed again. “Yours is indeed a heavenly dynasty and a great nation,” he said, “with a just ruler and wise ministers. We have long been ill, but not one minister do we have who will save us.” On hearing this the venerable elder stole a glance at the king and saw that his face was sallow and emaciated; his appearance was going to pieces and his spirits were very low. The venerable elder was going to ask him some questions when an official of the department of Foreign relations came to invite the Tang Priest to eat. The king ordered that his food should be set out with Sanzang's in the Hall of Fragrance so that he could eat with the Master of the Law. Thanking the king for his kindness Sanzang took his meal with him.
Meanwhile, back in the Hostel of Meeting, Brother Monkey told Friar Sand to prepare the tea, the grain and the vegetarian dishes. “There's no problem about the tea and the rice,” Friar Sand said, “but the vegetable dishes will be difficult.”
“Why?” Monkey asked.
“There's no oil, salt, soya sauce or vinegar,” Friar Sand replied.
“I've got a few coins here,” Monkey said, “so we can send Pig out to buy them.”
“I wouldn't dare,” said the idiot, who was feeling too lazy to go. “My ugly mug could cause trouble, and then the master would blame me.”
“If you buy the stuff at a fair price and don't try to get it by asking for alms or theft there couldn't possibly by any trouble,” said Brother Monkey.
“Didn't you see the commotion just now?” asked Pig. “I only showed my snout outside the gate and about a dozen of them collapsed with fright. Goodness only knows how many I'd scare to death in a busy shopping street.”
“Well,” said Monkey, “as you know so much about the busy shopping streets did you notice what was being sold in them?”
“No,” said Pig. “The master told me to keep my head down and cause no trouble. Honest, I didn't see anything.”
“I won't need to tell you about the bars, grain merchants, mills, silk shops and grocers,” said Monkey. “But there are marvellous teahouses and noodle shops selling big sesame buns and steamed bread. You can buy terrific soup, rice, spices and vegetables in the restaurants. Then there are all the exotic cakes, yogurts, snacks, rolls, fries, and honey sweets. Any number of goodies. Shall I go out and buy you some?”
This description had the idiot drooling; the saliva gurgled in his throat. “Brother,” he said, jumping to his feet, “I'll let you pay this time. Next time I'm in the money I'll treat you.”
“Friar Sand,” said Monkey, hiding his amusement, “cook the rice while I go out to buy some other ingredients.”
Realizing that Monkey was only fooling the idiot, Friar Sand agreed. “Off you go,” he said. “Buy plenty and have a good feed.” Grabbing a bowl and a dish the idiot went out with Monkey.
“Where are you reverend gentlemen going?” two officials asked him.
“To buy some groceries,” Monkey replied.