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My dear child, another day has passed, and once again it’s bedtime.
Last night I told you the story of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. This monkey lived a long time ago in Flower Fruit Mountain in the country of Aolai. I told you the story of how he was born, how he became the king of the monkeys, how he learned to be immortal, and how he fought a great monster who wanted to hurt the other monkeys. Tonight I will tell you about his travels to heaven, and the many problems he had there. Sometimes this monkey caused big problems for himself and others!
I hope you haven’t forgotten that I told you that the Monkey King had a big fight with a monster. The fight was very long and very difficult. After the fight, the Monkey King knew that he must prepare for war, so he began to teach the other monkeys how to fight.
The monkeys learned how to fight, but one day Sun Wukong thought, “If people want to fight us, we also need good weapons. How can we get them?” Four old monkeys heard this. They came forward and said, “O great King, two hundred miles east of Aolai, across the ocean, is another country. This country has a king with many weapons. If you buy weapons from that king, we will no longer be afraid.”
“Good idea,” said the Monkey King, “I will go there.”
A few years earlier, The Monkey King had learned how to do a cloud somersault to travel very far in a short time. Now he did the cloud somersault and quickly crossed two hundred miles of ocean. He arrived in a large city and saw an armory with a great many weapons. He wanted the weapons, but he had no money so he could not buy them. But this was no problem for the Monkey King! He blew out a big wind. The wind made all the people go inside their homes, and all the stores closed their doors.
When all the people were in their homes, Sun Wukong was alone. He opened the armory doors. He saw many weapons, too many for him to take. No problem! He pulled out some hairs from his head, chewed them, and spat them out. The hairs changed into hundreds of small monkeys. Each monkey picked up some weapons. Then Sun Wukong made another big wind, and all the small monkeys and weapons flew on the wind back to Flower Fruit Mountain.
“My children,” said Sun Wukong, “come and get your weapons!” Now all the monkeys had weapons and they were ready for war. Sun Wukong picked up a weapon for himself, but he did not like it. “This is too small for me,” he said.
The four old monkeys came forward again and told him, “O great King, below this mountain and under the ocean is the Dragon Palace. The great Dragon King lives there. Ask him to give you a good weapon.”
Sun Wukong liked this idea, so he jumped into the water and swam down to the Dragon Palace to find the Dragon King. The Dragon King came out of his palace to meet him. “High Immortal,” said the Dragon King, “welcome to my home. Please come in!”
The Dragon King and the Monkey King drank tea together. Afterwards, the Dragon King asked why Sun Wukong came to the Dragon Palace. “For many years I have studied the Way,” said Sun Wukong, “and now I am immortal. I have taught my children how to fight and they all have good weapons. But I still do not have a weapon that I like. I have heard that my neighbor who lives under the ocean can help me.”
The Dragon King sat and thought a bit. He was a little bit afraid of Sun Wukong, so he offered him several weapons. Some of the weapons were so big that ten men could not lift them. But Sun Wukong said, “all these weapons are too small. Do you have anything else? I can pay you.”
Now the Dragon King was really afraid! “I’m sorry,” he said, “those are the biggest weapons I have.” The Monkey King became angry. But at that moment, the Dragon King’s mother heard this conversation. She said to the Dragon King, “Dear son, here under the ocean there is a huge rod. For the last few days it has been glowing with a beautiful light. Let’s just give it to the Monkey King. Maybe he will take it and go home!”
The Dragon King told Sun Wukong, “Here under the ocean we have a great rod. You can have it. However, it is too big and we cannot move it. Perhaps you can move it.”
“Where is it?” said Sun Wukong. “Take me there.”
So the Dragon King and Sun Wukong went together to see the great rod. It was twenty feet long and as wide as a big tree. Each end of the rod was wrapped in gold, and in the center was written, “Golden Hoop Rod.” Sun Wukong said, “This rod is too long and too thick. Change!” Just as he said it, the rod became smaller and only as wide as a rice bowl. Sun Wukong picked it up. Now he liked it. He looked at the rod and said softly, “Still too big. Change!” Now the rod became very, very small. Sun Wukong picked it up and put it inside his ear.
“Thank you, my neighbor,” he said to the Dragon King. “I like this rod! Now I just need one more thing. Do you have any good clothes for me?”
“Sorry,” the Dragon King replied, “I don’t have any clothes for you.”
Sun Wukong looked at him and said coldly, “Do you want me to hit you with my golden rod?”
“Wait! Do not raise your hand,” cried the Dragon King, “I will find some good clothes for you.” The Dragon King called his three brothers, and together they found some good clothes for Sun Wukong, including a beautiful red gold hat and yellow gold armor. They gave these to Sun Wukong. He was happy. He took the clothes and went home. But the Dragon King and his brothers were all very angry, and they sent a letter to the Jade Emperor in Heaven.
When Sun Wukong returned home he sat on his throne and put the golden rod on the ground. All the monkeys tried to pick it up but they could not move it. Sun Wukong laughed and told them the story of how he got the golden rod. The little monkeys laughed and danced, and they all ate food and drank wine until they fell asleep.
Now this is interesting! While Sun Wukong was asleep, he had a dream. In the dream, two men came up to him. They had a piece of paper with the words "Sun Wukong" on it. Not saying a word, the two men took Sun Wukong and dragged him down the road. As they were dragging him, Sun Wukong looked up and saw a sign above him with large letters, “Entering the Land of the Dead.”
“What is this?” he cried, “The Land of the Dead is the home of Yama, the King of the Underworld. I am immortal. What am I doing here?” But the two men did not listen to him. Sun Wukong grew angry. He took his golden rod out of his ear and changed it to be as wide as a rice bowl, and he hit the two men hard with it. They let him go, and he ran into the City of the Underworld.
There he saw the ten Kings of the Underworld. The kings saw him but they did not know him, so they said, “Tell us your name!”
“I am Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from Flower Fruit Mountain,” he replied, “You sent two men to drag me down the road. This has made me very angry. Tell me your names right now or I will hit you with my golden rod.”
The kings were afraid, and they quickly told him their names. Sun Wukong said, “People call you great kings so you should be intelligent. However, I know that you sent those two men to take me. That was very stupid!”
“High Immortal,” they replied, “please do not be angry. Perhaps our men took the wrong person. You know that many people have the same name.”
“I don’t believe you,” said Sun Wukong, “Show me the Books of Life and Death. I want to see for myself if my name is there.”
So the kings brought out the books called the Books of Life and Death. These books had the names of all living beings in them – men, monkeys, and animals. Sun Wukong looked in all the books but he could not find his own name. This was because he looked like a man but was not a man, but he was not a monkey either. He was special. Finally he saw a very small book with just one page. He opened it and read this: “Heaven-born stone monkey. Age: three hundred and forty two years. Dies of old age.”
Sun Wukong said, “I don’t know my age. But it’s not a problem. I don’t want my name to be in the Books of Life and Death. Bring me a brush and some ink.” He used the brush and ink to cross out his own name. But he was not finished. He opened the ledger of monkey names and used the brush and ink to cross out the names of all the monkeys. “Now my name and my friends’ names are not in the Books of Life and Death,” he said, “and we will live forever.” This made the ten Kings of the Underworld very angry, and they also sent a letter to the Jade Emperor in Heaven.
Just after that, Sun Wukong woke up and saw that it was all a dream. He told the four old monkeys about the dream, and how he had removed their names from the Books of Life and Death. When the four old monkeys learned that their names were not in the book, were very happy because they knew they would live forever.
The Monkey King was happy, and so were the other monkeys and all his friends. In Heaven, though, the Jade Emperor was not happy. He had just received two letters. The first letter was from the Dragon King, it told about Sun Wukong’s visit to the Dragon Palace and what he did there. The second letter was from the Ten Kings of the Underworld, it told about Sun Wukong’s visit to the Underworld and what he did there.
After reading the two letters the Jade Emperor was very angry. He shouted, “Who is this lawless monkey? Where was he born? How did he learn so much, and how did he become so powerful?” Two of his ministers came forward and said, “O Emperor, this monkey is the little stone monkey born of Heaven and Earth that you saw three hundred years ago. At that time he was not strong. We do not know how he learned so much and became so powerful.”
“Well, now he is too powerful and too dangerous. Go and arrest him,” said the Jade Emperor.
One of the two ministers, the Gold Star of Venus, stepped forward and said, “O Jade Emperor, you know that all creatures can become immortal if they study. This monkey was born of Heaven and Earth, so of course he could also become immortal. Please do not arrest him. He should come and live to Heaven. Let’s invite him here and give him a job.”
The Jade Emperor saw that this was good advice. So he told Gold Star to go meet with Sun Wukong and invite him to Heaven. Gold Star went down to Flower Fruit Mountain and said to Sun Wukong, “I am the Gold Star of Venus. The Jade Emperor wants you to come to Heaven and receive a job.” Sun Wukong was happy to hear this, and he used his cloud somersault to go up to Heaven.
Sun Wukong traveled very fast and Gold Star could not stay with him, so he arrived at Heaven while Gold Star was still traveling. Nobody in Heaven knew him. When they saw him, they said, “You cannot come in.” They stood in front of him, holding their weapons. Sun Wukong thought, “Gold Star did not tell me the truth. He invited me to Heaven. But these people do not want me here.”
Just then, Gold Star arrived. “Don’t worry, my friend,” he said to Sun Wukong, “this is your first time here, of course the people in this place do not know you. That is why they will not let you come in! Now I am here and everything is ok. Later, when you live here and work here, who will stop you from coming and going?”
Then Gold Star said loudly to the people, “Move aside. This person was called by the Jade Emperor himself. Let him come in!” Everyone stepped aside, and Gold Star and Sun Wukong entered the palace. The palace was very beautiful. The palace had thirty three stories, and inside were many valuable jewels. From far away they heard music. In the center of the palace the Jade Emperor was sitting on his throne.
Sun Wukong and Gold Star bowed in front of the Emperor. Gold Star said, “O Emperor, you asked me to bring the immortal monster to you.”
“And who is this immortal?” asked the Emperor.
Before Gold Star could speak, Sun Wukong jumped up and said to the Emperor, “None other than this old monkey!”
The ministers all grew angry, but the Emperor said, “This immortal just recently became human. We will forgive him for saying these words.”
Then the Emperor asked his ministers what jobs in Heaven were available for Sun Wukong. The ministers said that there were many jobs in Heaven, but almost all of the jobs were already taken. There was only one job: taking care of the Emperor’s horses in the stables. Sun Wukong liked horses, so he thought this would be a good job. Right away he went to the stables and started working.
He enjoyed the job, and the horses grew fat and happy. He worked for a couple of weeks. One day he was relaxing with his friends, eating and drinking. He lifted a cup of wine and asked them, “What rank is my job?”
“Your job does not have a rank,” they replied.
“If it does not have a rank, it must be the highest job in Heaven!” said Sun Wukong.
“No,” they laughed, “Your job has no rank because it is the lowest job in Heaven. You must make the horses fat and happy. Be careful, though, if the horses become thin or sick you will be in big trouble!”
“What?” he cried. “In Flower Fruit Mountain I am a great king. You say that here I am just a servant, feeding horses and working a low rank job? This is not for me.” He jumped up and took the golden rod out of his ear. Quickly it grew to the width of a rice bowl. He fought his way out of the stables and through the Gate of Heaven, then did a cloud somersault and returned to Flower Fruit Mountain.
The four old monkeys met him and said, “Great King, you have been in Heaven for ten years. We missed you! Did you enjoy your visit?”
“Ten years? It has only been two weeks,” he replied.
“Great King, do you know, a year on Earth is only one day in Heaven. May we ask you what job you had during your time in Heaven?”
“Don’t ask me that!” he said. “They gave me a very low rank job, working in the stables. When I found out what rank job it was, I quit and returned back here.”
“We are happy that you have returned to us,” they replied. “You can stay here in Flower Fruit Mountain and be our king.” Then they said to the other monkeys, “Quick, bring wine for the King!”
Now, as they were all sitting and drinking wine, two demons arrived. They were very friendly and they brought gifts for the Monkey King, but they loved to cause trouble. The Monkey King gave them wine, and they all drank wine and talked together for a long time. When the demons heard that Sun Wukong had been to Heaven, they asked what job he had in Heaven. Sun Wukong told them about the stable job. “Oh no,” said the demons, “that is not a good job for you. You are a great King, not a stable boy. You should be called Great Sage Equal to Heaven.” Sun Wukong loved this name so much, he told the monkeys to make a large flag saying “The Great Sage Equal to Heaven.”
But while Sun Wukong was chatting with the demons, there was trouble in Heaven. Two weeks earlier the Jade Emperor had been angry because of what the Monkey King had done on Earth. Now he was even more angry because the Monkey King had quit his job and left Heaven. He told one of his generals to find Sun Wukong, arrest him, and bring him back to Heaven. The general left Heaven and traveled quickly to Flower Fruit Mountain. He stood in front of the cave and called to Sun Wukong, “I have come to arrest you and bring you to Heaven. Come out quickly, or I must come in and kill you!”
Sun Wukong came out, but he did not want to go to Heaven. He was ready to fight. He wore his red gold hat and yellow gold armor, and in his hand he held the golden rod. His eyes glowed like fire, and his voice was like thunder. He said, “Who are you and why are you so stupid to come here like this? Tell me your name now.”
“Lawless monkey,” said the general, “you don’t need to know my name. I have been sent by the Emperor to arrest you and take you back to Heaven. Put down your rod and come with me. If you say even half a ‘no’ you will be immediately killed.”
“You stupid general,” said Sun Wukong, “I could kill you right now, but I won’t, because I want you to take my words back to the Emperor. Ask the Emperor why he gave me that low rank job taking care of his horses. Do you see this flag? It says ‘Great Sage Equal to Heaven.’ That is me! If the Emperor gives me this name, I will put down my rod and there will be no trouble. If he does not give me this name, I will fight my way to Heaven and cause so much trouble that the Emperor will not even be able to sit on his throne!”
The general just laughed. He said, “Lawless monkey, you want to be a Great Sage Equal to Heaven? Taste my axe first.” Then the general and the Monkey King began to fight. They fought for a long time, the monkey using his golden rod and the general using his axe. Finally, Sun Wukong hit the general’s head hard with his rod. The general ran away back to Heaven.
The Emperor sent a different general to Flower Fruit Mountain to fight the Monkey King. Again they fought, and again the Monkey King won the fight. The second general also ran away back to Heaven. He said to the Emperor, “Your servant is so sorry! He went down to Earth to bring the lawless monkey back to Heaven. But he could not do it!”
The Emperor wanted to send more generals to fight the Monkey King, but one of his ministers said, “Fighting this monkey is too difficult! Perhaps we should not fight him. Perhaps we should let him be the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. Give him the job that he wants, but do not give him any money, and do not give him anything to do. Maybe he will be happy and stop causing trouble!” The Emperor agreed and asked Gold Star to go down again to Flower Fruit Mountain to talk with Sun Wukong. This time Gold Star was not welcomed as a friend. This time everyone on Flower Fruit Mountain picked up weapons and began to fight him. “Wait,” he shouted, “do not fight! I am here to talk with the Great Sage.”
Sun Wukong saw him and said, “Please come in, my friend. Please forgive me for not meeting you when you first arrived.”
Gold Star said, “Let me explain. When you first came to Heaven, the Emperor gave you a low rank job because he did not know of your powers. Now we see that you are the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. So the Emperor wants you to return to Heaven. He will give you a new job that only you can perform.”
Sun Wukong laughed, “Thank you, my friend. I am sorry that I caused you such problems in Heaven! Tell me, what is this new job?”
“Great Sage Equal to Heaven,” Gold Star replied.
“Really? There is a job in Heaven called ‘Great Sage Equal to Heaven’?”
“Yes. Trust me. If there is a problem, you can talk to me.”
Sun Wukong heard this and was very pleased. So they traveled together back to Heaven and stood before the Jade Emperor on his throne. The Emperor said, “Let the Monkey King come forward.” Sun Wukong came forward. “Let all men hear this. I now say to everyone that you are the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. This job is of the highest rank. Just don’t cause any more trouble!” Sun Wukong was very happy and thanked the Emperor.
Then the Emperor gave Sun Wukong two bottles of wine, ten bunches of flowers, and a new house in Heaven next to the Garden of Immortal Peaches. This was a big mistake, because Sun Wukong loved to eat peaches! But that is a story for another time. Right now, everyone was happy. Sun Wukong sat down in his new house, and with his friends together he drank both bottles of wine.
Life was good. He was in Heaven, he was immortal, he had a good job, he had friends, and he had lots of wine to drink. What problems could he have?
Well, my child, you will learn that in the great wheel of life, things come and go. A person has many things for a while, and later those same things will go away. Suffering does not come from those things going away, it comes from holding too tightly to them. This is life. Maybe the Monkey King will learn this and get off the wheel of life. Maybe not. We don’t know.
But for now, it’s time for you to sleep.
Good night. I love you!