“They're thick, and dumb too,” said Pig.
“I fixed them by magic,” said Monkey with a laugh.
“Even if you fixed them,” said Pig, “you didn't fix their mouths, so why aren't they making a sound?”
“Please dismount and sit down, Master,” said Brother Monkey. “As the saying goes, 'People only get arrested by mistake; they never get released by mistake.' Knock all the robbers over, brother, and tie them up. Then we'll force them to make statements. Find out if they're beginners or old hands.”
“Haven't got any rope,” said Friar Sand. Monkey then pulled out some of his hairs, blew on them with magic breath and turned them into thirty lengths of rope. They all set to, knocked the robbers over, and tied their hands and feet together. Then Monkey said the words that ended the spell, whereupon the bandits gradually revived.
Monkey invited the Tang Priest to take the seat of honour while he and the other two shouted, holding their weapons, “Hairy bandits! How many of you are there altogether, and how many years have you been in this line of business? How many things have you stolen? Have you murdered anyone? Is this your first offence? Or your second? Or your third?”
“Spare our lives, your lordships,” pleaded the robbers.
“Stop shouting,” said Monkey, “and come clean.”
“We aren't hardened robbers, your lordships,” they said. “We're all from good families. Because we're a bad lot we squandered all the wealth we'd inherited in drinking, gambling, whoring and living it up. We've never worked, and now we've got no money either. We found out that Mr. Kou's family was one of the richest in the prefecture of Brazentower, so last night we got together to rob it under cover of darkness and rain. We stole some gold, silver, clothing and jewelry, and were just dividing it up in a mountain hollow to the North of the track when we noticed you gentlemen coming. Some of us recognized you as the monks Mr. Kou saw off, so we were sure that you must have some goods on you. Then we saw how heavy your luggage was and how fast the white horse was going. It was our disgraceful greed that made us try to hold you up. Never did we imagine that you would have such divine powers and be able to tie us up. We beg you to be merciful to us. Take back what we stole and spare our lives.”
Sanzang was violently shocked to hear that their booty had been stolen from the Kou household. He stood up at once and said, “Mr. Kou was a very good man, Wukong, so how did he bring such a disaster on himself?”
“It was all because the coloured hangings and fancy parasols, and the huge numbers of drummers and musicians when we were seen off attracted too much attention,” replied Monkey with a smile. “That's why this gang of desperadoes attacked his house. Luckily they ran into us, and we've taken back all the gold, silver, clothing and jewelry.”
“We put Mr. Kou out for a whole fortnight,” said Sanzang, “so we owe him a huge debt of gratitude that we have not yet been able to repay. Would it not be a good deed to return this property to his house?” Monkey agreed, and he went to the mountain hollow with Pig and Friar Sand to fetch the booty, which they packed up and loaded on the horse. He told Pig to carry the load of gold and silver while friar Sand carried their own luggage. Monkey was just on the point of killing all the bandits with his cudgel when he had the worrying thought that the Tang Priest might get angry with him for committing murder. So he could only shake himself and take back all the hairs. Now that their hands and feet had been untied the thieves all got up then fled for their lives into the undergrowth. The Tang Priest then turned back the way he had come to return the booty to Mr. Kou. In making this journey he was like a moth flying into a flame and coming to disaster. There is a poem about it that goes:
Kindness to others is rarely with kindness rewarded;
Kindness will often to hate and hostility lead.
Plunge in the water to rescue the drowning? You'll suffer.
Think before acting and spare yourself grief you don't need.
Sanzang and his disciples were just heading back with the gold, silver, clothing and jewelry when the crowd of men armed with spears and swords arrived. “Disciples,” said Sanzang with alarm, “look at all those armed men coming here. What is happening?”
“It's a disaster,” said Pig, “a disaster. They're the robbers we set free. They've found weapons and ganged up with some more people. Now they've come back and they're going to kill us.”
“They don't look like bandits, brother,” said Friar Sand. “Big brother, take a closer look.”
“The master's in bad trouble again,” Monkey whispered to Friar Sand. “These must be soldiers here to capture the bandits.” Before he had finished saying this the soldiers were upon the master and his disciples, surrounding them.
“You're a fine bunch of monks,” they said, “robbing a house then swaggering around here like this.” They then rushed them, dragged the Tang Priest off his horse and tied him up. Next they tied up Brother Monkey and the others, and carried them off hanging from poles, two men to each of them. Driving the horse along and seizing the baggage, they went back to the prefectural city. This is what could be seen:
The Tang Priest,
Shivering and shaking,
Weeping and lost for words.
Zhu Bajie,
Muttering and grumbling,
Full of complaints.
Friar Sand,
Talking away,
While secretly feeling uncertain.
Sun the Novice,
Chuckling merrily,
Ready to use his powers.
Hustled and carried along by the soldiers, they were soon back in the city, where the soldiers escorted them straight to the prefect's court.
“Your Honour,” they reported, “the constables have captured the robbers and brought them back.” The prefect, sitting in his place in the court, rewarded the constables, inspected the booty and sent for the Kou family to collect it. Then he had Sanzang and the others brought into court.
“You monks maintain that you come from a place far away to the East and are going to worship the Buddha in the Western Heaven,” he said, interrogating them. “But really you're housebreakers who used dirty tricks so that you could get to know your way around.”
“Your Honour,” Sanzang replied, “we are not robbers. I would not dare to deceive you. We carry a passport with us as proof. It was because we were so grateful to Mr. Kou's family for feeding us for a fortnight that when we ran into the robbers along our way we recovered the booty they had stolen from the Kou house. We were taking it back to the Kou house to pay our debt of gratitude when to our astonishment we were arrested as robbers by the constables. We really are not robbers, and I beg Your Honour to investigate closely.”
“You only made up that fancy talk about paying a debt of gratitude because you were arrested by the soldiers,” the prefect replied. “If you really met other robbers why didn't you show your gratitude by capturing them and turning them in? Why are only the four of you here? Look at the wanted notice Kou Liang submitted. He accuses you by name. How dare you still dispute it!” When Sanzang heard this he felt like a storm-tossed boat on the ocean, and all his souls flew away.
“Wukong,” he said, “why don't you come forward and argue in our defense?”
“The booty proves it,” said Monkey. “Arguing would do no good.”
“That's right,” the prefect said. “The booty is all here as proof. Do you still dare to deny it? Fetch the head-clamp,” he instructed his underlings, “and put it round the head of the bald robber. Then beat him again.”
Monkey was now very anxious. “Even though my master is fated to suffer this,” he thought to himself, “I mustn't let it be too tough for him.” Seeing the yamen runners tightening the cord to fix the head-clamp in place he opened his mouth to speak.