At this the queen controlled her temper and asked, “Did you go inside Purpuria when you delivered the declaration?”
“I took it straight to the capital and right into the throne hall,” said Monkey. “I saw the king himself and got an answer from him.”
“What did the king say when you saw him?” the queen asked.
“I have already told His Majesty here what he said about war and about the dispositions of their forces,” Monkey replied. “But there was also a private message from the king, who misses you, ma'am. There's something private I have come to report to you, but with all these attendants around this is no place to talk.”
When the queen heard this she dismissed her foxes and deer. Brother Monkey shut the door of the palace, rubbed his face, and turned back into himself. “Don't be afraid of me,” he said to her. “I'm a monk sent by the Great Tang in the East to see the Buddha and fetch the scriptures at the Thunder Monastery in India. My master is Tang Sanzang, the younger brother of the Tang Emperor. I'm Sun Wukong, his senior disciple. When we were in your capital to present our passport for approval I saw a notice calling for doctors that your king and his ministers had posted. Then I used my medical skills to cure the illness he had contracted from missing you. When we were drinking at the banquet he gave to thank me he told me that you had been carried off by the evil spirit. As I can subdue dragons and tigers I was specially invited to capture the demon, rescue you and take you back to your country. I was the one who defeated the vanguard and killed the little devil. When I saw from outside the gates how ferocious the demon king was I turned myself into Gocome's double and came here to bring you a message.”
The queen said nothing when she heard this. Then Monkey produced the bracelets and presented them to her with both hands.
“If you don't believe me, just look; where did these come from?” he asked.
As soon as she saw them the queen burst into tears, came down from where she was sitting, bowed to him in thanks and said, “Reverend sir, if you really can save me and get me back to court I will remember my deep debt of gratitude to you even when I'm old and toothless.”
“Let me ask you something,” said Monkey. “What treasure does he use to produce that fire, smoke and sand?”
“It's no treasure,” the queen said, “just three golden bells. As soon as he shakes the first one three thousand feet of burning flames shoot out. When he shakes the second one a three-thousand-foot column of smoke gushes out to kipper people. And when he shakes it the third time a blinding three-thousand-foot sandstorm blows up. The fire and smoke are nothing much, but the sand is lethal. If it gets up your nostrils it can kill you.”
“It's terrible,” Monkey said, “terrible. I've experienced it and I had to sneeze a couple of times. I wonder where he keeps the bells.”
“He never puts them down,” the queen replied. “He keeps them at his waist whether he's going somewhere, staying at home, sitting down or sleeping. They are always with him.”
“If you still care for Purpuria and want to see your king again you must forget about your distress and grief for the moment,” said Monkey. “Make yourself look attractive and happy. Talk to him like a loving wife and get him to give you the bells to look after. When I've stolen them and defeated the monster I'll take you back to be reunited with your royal husband so that you can live in peace together.”
The queen did as Monkey said while he turned himself back into the demon king's trusted lieutenant, opened the doors again and called the serving women back in. “Go to the pavilion at the front, Gocome,” the queen said, “and ask His Majesty to come here as I've something to say to him.”
The splendid Monkey assented and went to the Flaying Pavilion, where he said to the evil spirit, “Your Majesty, Her Majesty would like to see you.”
“All she usually does is curse me, so why is she sending for me now?” the demon king happily asked. “When she asked me about the king of Purpuria I told her, 'He doesn't want you any more: he's got a new queen now.' When she heard that Her Majesty stopped missing him. That's why she sent me out with this invitation.”
“You're very able,” the demon king said, “and when we've destroyed Purpuria I'll make you my high chancellor in personal attendance.”
Monkey thanked the demon king for his kindness and hurried to the door of the living quarters at the back, where the queen greeted him with happy smiles and her hands on his arms. The king stepped back with an awkward noise.
“Don't,” he said, “don't. I'm very grateful for this sign of your affection, ma'am, but I don't dare stand next to you in case it hurts my hand.”
“Sit down, Your Majesty,” the queen said. “I have something to say to you.”
“There's no objection to you speaking,” the demon king replied. “I'm very much obliged to Your Majesty for condescending to love me,” she said. “For three years now you have not shared my pillow although we were fated from our earlier lives to be married. I never expected that Your Majesty would treat me as a stranger instead of your wife. I remember that when I was queen of Purpuria the king gave all the valuable tribute from foreign countries to the queen to look after when he had seen it. But you have no treasures here. The servants wear marten hides and feed on blood. I have seen no fine silks, brocades, gold or pearls here. All the covers and blankets are of skins and felt. Or perhaps you do have some treasures that you won't let me see or look after because you regard me as a stranger. They say you have three bells. I think they must be treasures. Why do you always keep them with you, even when you're travelling or sitting down? There's no reason why you shouldn't give them to me to look after. I can give them to you when you need them. That would be one way of being a wife to you and it would show that we trust each other in our hearts. The only reason why you don't do this must because you regard me as an outsider.”
At this the demon king burst into loud laughter, then bowed to her and said, “Ma'am, you're justified in your complaint. Here are the treasures, and today I'm giving them to you to look after.” He undid his clothing to bring them out. Monkey watched with unwavering eyes as the monster pulled two or three layers of clothing aside to bring out the three bells that he carried next to his skin.
Putting cotton-wool in to muffle them he wrapped them up in a piece of leopard skin and handed them to the queen with the words, “They're nothing, but please look after them very carefully. Whatever you do don't shake them.”
“I understand,” the queen replied as she accepted them. “I shall keep them on my dressing table and nobody will move them at all.” Then she gave these orders: “My little ones, lay on a banquet. His Majesty and I are going to have a few drinks to celebrate our happy union.” At once the serving women brought in fruit, vegetables and the flesh of water deer, raccoon-dogs, deer and hare and poured out coconut toddy that they offered them. The queen made herself so bewitchingly attractive that she swept the evil spirit off his feet.
Monkey meanwhile went to fetch the bells. Feeling and groping, he found his way to the dressing-table, gently took the three bells, crept out through the doors of the inner quarters and left the cave palace. When he reached the Flaying Pavilion there was nobody about, so he opened the leopard-skin wrapper to have a look. One of the bells was as big as a teacup and the other two the size of fists. With reckless folly he tore the cottonwool apart. There was a loud clang and smoke, fire and sand came gushing out. Desperately Monkey tried to stop them but could do nothing. The pavilion was by now ablaze, sending the evil spirits on the gates all crowding in alarm inside the inner quarters.