EIGHTY-TWO

The fair girl seeks the yang;

Primal spirit guards the Way.

We were telling you about Eight Rules, who, having bounded down the mountain, discovered a narrow path, which he followed for some five or six miles. Suddenly he caught sight of two female fiends bailing water from a well. How did he know so readily, you ask, that they were female fiends? Because he saw that each of them had a chignon on her head about fifteen inches tall and adorned with tiny bamboo strips. It was a most unfashionable style! Our Idiot walked up to them and cried, “Monstrous fiends!”

Infuriated by what they heard, the fiends said to each other, “This monk is such a rogue! We don’t know him, nor have we ever tittle-tattled with him. How can he address us as monstrous fiends just like that?” Greatly annoyed, the fiends picked up the poles they had brought along for carrying water and brought them down on Eight Rules’s head.

Since Idiot had no weapons to ward off the blows, they succeeded in whacking him quite a few times. Holding his head, he ran back up the mountain, crying, “O Elder Brother, let’s go back! Those fiends are fierce!”

“How fierce?” asked Pilgrim. Eight Rules replied, “In the mountain valley there were two female monster-spirits bailing water from a well. I called them once and they beat me several times with poles.”

“What did you call them?” asked Pilgrim. “I called them monstrous fiends,” answered Eight Rules.

“That,” said Pilgrim, chuckling, “was too small a beating!”

“Thanks for looking after me!” said Eight Rules. “My head’s swollen, and you claim that it’s too small a beating!” Pilgrim said, “Haven’t you heard of the proverb?

Gentility gets through the world;

Obduracy takes you nowhere.

They are monsters of this region, but we are monks who came from afar. Even if you possessed arms all over your body, you would still have to be more tactful. You walk up to them and immediately call them monstrous fiends! Would they overlook you and want to hit me instead? ‘A human person must put propriety and music first.’”

“I’m even more ignorant of that!” said Eight Rules.

Pilgrim said, “When you were devouring humans in the mountain during your youth, did you have any knowledge of two kinds of wood?” “No, what are they?” asked Eight Rules. “One is poplar, and the other’s rosewood,” said Pilgrim. “Poplar is quite pliant by nature, and it is used by craftsmen for carving holy images or making Tathāgatas. The wood is dressed in gold and painted; it is decorated with jade and other ornaments. Tens of thousands of people burn incense before it in their worship, and it enjoys countless blessings. Rosewood, on the other hand, is hardy and tough by nature. Oil factories, therefore, harvest it to make caskets: they bind the planks with iron rings, and then they hammer them with mallets. The wood’s toughness, you see, is what causes it to suffer like that.”

“O Elder Brother!” said Eight Rules. “If you had told me a story like that a bit sooner, I would have been spared their beating.”

“You must go back and question them further,” said Pilgrim. “But they’ll recognize me,” protested Eight Rules. “You may go in transformation,” Pilgrim answered. Eight Rules asked, “Even if I go in transformation, Elder Brother, how should I question them?”

Pilgrim replied, “After you have transformed yourself, walk up to them and give them a proper greeting. See how old they are. If they’re about the same age as we are, address them as Ladies. If they are somewhat older, then call them Mesdames.”

“What poppycock!” said Eight Rules, chuckling. “This place is so far from home. Why bother to be so intimate?” “It’s not a matter of intimacy,” said Pilgrim, “but of getting information from them. If they had indeed abducted Master, we could move against them immediately. If not, we certainly don’t want to be delayed from going elsewhere to finish our business, do we?” “You’re right,” said Eight Rules, “I’ll go back.”

Dear Idiot! Stuffing the rake inside the sash around his waist, he walked down to the mountain valley, where with one shake of his body he changed into a dark, stoutish priest. He swaggered up to the fiends and bowed deeply, saying, “Mesdames, this humble cleric salutes you.”

Delighted, the two of them said to each other, “Now this priest is quite nice! He knows how to bow, and he knows how to greet people properly.” “Elder,” asked one of them, “Where did you come from?”

“Where did I come from,” said Eight Rules.

“Where are you going to?” she asked again.

“Where am I going to,” he replied again.

“What is your name?” she asked a third time.

“What is my name,” he replied a third time.

Laughing, the fiend said, “This priest is nice all right, but he doesn’t seem to know anything, not even his own history, except to repeat what people say.”

“Mesdames,” asked Eight Rules, “why are you bailing water?” The fiend said, “You may not know this, priest, but last night the mistress of our house abducted a Tang Monk into our cave whom she wanted to entertain. Since the water in our cave is not clean enough, she sent the two of us here to fetch fine water that is a product of yin-yang copulation.¹ She is also having a vegetarian banquet prepared for the Tang Monk, for she wants to marry him this evening.”

When he heard this, our Idiot turned quickly to race up the mountain, crying, “Sha Monk, bring out the luggage quickly and let’s divide it up!” “Second Elder Brother,” asked Sha Monk, “why do you want to divide it up again?” “After we’ve divided it up,” replied Eight Rules, “you may return to the River of Flowing Sand to devour humans, and I’ll go back to the Gao Village to see my in-laws. Big Brother can go to Mount Flower-Fruit to call himself a sage, while the white horse can return to the ocean to become a dragon. Master, you see, has already married the monster-spirit in the cave. We should all scatter to pursue our own livelihood.”

Pilgrim said, “This Idiot is babbling again!” “Only your son’s babbling!” replied Eight Rules. “Just now, those two monster-spirits bailing water told me that they were preparing a vegetarian banquet for the Tang Monk. After he has been fed, they will be married.”

“That monster-spirit may have Master imprisoned in the cave,” said Pilgrim, “but he must be waiting with bulging eyes for us to go rescue him. And you are speaking in this manner!” “How are we going to rescue him?” asked Eight Rules. Pilgrim said, “The two of you can lead the horse and pole the luggage while we follow those two female fiends. We’ll let them lead us up to their door, and then we’ll begin the attack together.”

Our Idiot had little choice but to comply. From a great distance Pilgrim trained his eyes on those two fiends, who walked deep into the mountain for some twenty miles and then vanished from sight. “Master must have been seized by daytime ghosts!” exclaimed a startled Eight Rules.

“What fine perception!” said Pilgrim. “How could you tell their true forms so readily?” Eight Rules said, “Those fiends were carrying their water as they walked along, and then they suddenly disappeared. Aren’t they daytime ghosts?”

“I think they have crawled inside a cave instead,” said Pilgrim. “Let me take a look.”

Dear Great Sage! He opened wide his fiery eyes and diamond pupils to scan the entire mountain, but he saw no movement whatsoever. Below a sheer cliff, however, there was a small terrace with elegant openwork carvings decorated with floral patterns of five colors and a towered gate with triple eaves and white banners. When he walked up to the terrace with Eight Rules and Sha Monk to look, he saw these large words inscribed on the gate: Mount Void-Entrapping, Bottomless Cave.

“Brothers,” said Pilgrim, “that monster-spirit has erected this edifice here, but I wonder where she has put the door.” “It can’t be very far,” said Sha Monk. “Let’s make a careful search.” As they turned to look around, they discovered a huge boulder, the surface area of which had to be over ten square miles, beneath the towered gate at the foot of the mountain. In the center of this boulder there was an opening to a cave, roughly the size of a large earthen vat, which had been crawled over so frequently that the surface of the entrance had grown shiny and smooth.

“O Elder Brother!” said Eight Rules. “This is the entrance through which the monster-spirit goes in and out.”

When he looked at it, Pilgrim said, “How strange! Both of you know that old Monkey has captured quite a few monster-spirits since he became a guardian of the Tang Monk. But I have never seen a cave-dwelling quite like this. Eight Rules, you go down first and see how deep it is. Then I can go in and try to rescue Master.”

Shaking his head, Eight Rules said, “This is hard! Very hard! Old Hog is quite ponderous. If I trip and fall in, I wonder if I can reach bottom after two or three years!” “Is it that deep?” asked Pilgrim. “Just look!” said Eight Rules.

The Great Sage prostrated himself at the rim of the cave opening and peered downward. Egads! It was deep! All around it had to be more than three hundred miles. “Brothers,” he said, turning around, “it’s very deep indeed!”

“You may as well go back!” said Eight Rules. “You can’t rescue Master!”

“How can you talk like that!” replied Pilgrim. “You must not be lazy, nor should you be slothful. Let’s put the luggage down and tether the horse to the pillar of the towered gate. Use your rake and Sha Monk can use his staff to bar the entrance. I’ll go in to investigate. If Master is indeed inside, I’ll use my iron rod to attack the monster-spirit and chase her out. When she reaches the entrance up here, you two can cut off her escape route. That’s cooperation from within and without. Only after we have slaughtered the spirits in this way can we hope to rescue Master.” The two of them obeyed. With a bound, Pilgrim leaped into the cave, as

Ten thousand colored clouds rose beneath his feet;

Auspicious air, in layers, veiled his side.

In a little while, he reached the depths of the cave, which, however, he found to be bright and clear. Like the outside world, this place had sunlight, the rustle of wind, flowers, fruits, and trees. Delighted, Pilgrim said to himself, “What a marvelous place! It makes me think of the Water-Curtain Cave, which Heaven bestowed on old Monkey when he came into the world. But this place is also a cave-Heaven, a blessed region!”²

As he looked about, he saw also a double-eaved towered gate surrounded by pines and bamboos. Inside the gate there were many buildings, and he thought to himself again, “This has to be the residence of the monster-spirit. Let me go in and do a little detection. But wait! If I enter like this, she’d recognize me. I’ll go in transformation.” Making the magic sign and shaking himself, he changed at once into a fly and flew silently up to the towered gate to spy on the monster-spirit. There he could see that the fiend was sitting in the center of a thatched pavilion. She appeared vastly different from the way she looked at the time when she was rescued in the pine forest or when Pilgrim fought with her in the monastery. Her makeup was lovelier than ever:

Her tresses piled high in a crow-nest bun,

She wore a flow’ry jacket of green wool.

A pair of tiny feet like lily hooks;

Her ten fingers looked like spring’s tender shoots.

Her round, powdered face was a silver disc;

Smooth like a cherry were her lips of rouge.

Solemn and proper seemed her beauteous form,

More delightful than Chang’e’s of the moon.

This day she caught the scripture-seeking monk,

With whom at once she would share her bed.

Pilgrim did not make any noise so that he could hear what she had to say.

After a little while, she parted her cherry lips and called out in a most amiable manner: “Little ones, prepare the vegetarian feast quickly! After Brother Tang Monk has been fed, he and I will be married.”

“So, she means business!” said Pilgrim, smiling to himself. “I thought that Eight Rules was talking nonsense, just for fun. I’ll fly in there and search around for Master. I wonder how stable his mind is at this time. If he has been moved by this fiend, I’ll leave him here.” He spread his wings at once and flew in; there beyond the east corridor, in a room shuttered with red, translucent paper on top and opaque ones at the bottom, the Tang Monk was seated.

Crashing headfirst right through the papered trellis, Pilgrim darted onto the bald head of the Tang Monk and cried, “Master!” Tripitaka recognized his voice immediately and said, “Disciple, save me!”

“I can’t do that, Master!” replied Pilgrim. “That monster-spirit is preparing a banquet for you, after which she plans to marry you. If she bears you a boy or a girl, that will be your priestly posterity. Why are you so sad?”

On hearing this, the elder spoke through clenched teeth: “Disciple, after I left Chang’an, I took you in at the Mountain of the Two Frontiers. Since we began our journey westward, when did I ever use meat? On which day did I ever harbor a perverse thought? Now I am caught by this monster-spirit who wants me as her mate. If I lose my true yang, let me fall upon the Wheel of Transmigration and be banished to the rear of the Mountain of Darkness! Let me never find release!”

“Don’t swear!” said Pilgrim, chuckling. “If you truly desire to seek scriptures in the Western Heaven, old Monkey will take you there.” “But I have quite forgotten the way we came in,” said Tripitaka.

Pilgrim said, “Don’t tell me that you have quite forgotten the way! This cave of hers is not a place where you can walk in and out casually. It’s a cave you crawl in from above; after I rescue you, we must crawl back out from below. If we’re lucky, we’ll find the mouth of the cave and get out. If we’re unlucky, we may not find the entrance and we may suffocate.”

“If it’s so difficult, what are we going to do?” asked Tripitaka, his eyes brimming with tears.

“That’s nothing! That’s nothing!” said Pilgrim. “The monster-spirit wants to drink with you, and you have no choice but to comply. But when you pour for her, do it rather quickly so that there will be bubbles. I’ll change into a mole cricket and fly into the wine bubbles. When she swallows me inside her stomach, I’ll squeeze through her heart and tear her guts apart. After I kill the monster-spirit like that, you’ll be able to get out.”

“Disciple,” said Tripitaka, “what you tell me is rather inhuman.” “If all you want to practice is virtue,” said Pilgrim, “your life will be finished. A monster spirit is the very cause of harm for humans. How can you pity her?” “All right! All right!” said Tripitaka. “But you must stay close to me.” Truly

That Great Sage Sun firmly guarded Tripitaka Tang;

The scripture monk relied solely on Handsome Monkey King.

Hardly had the master and disciple finished their discussion than the monster-spirit, having completed her preparations, walked near the east corridor and opened the locked door. “Elder,” she called out, but the Tang Monk dared not reply. She called him again, but he still did not dare reply.

Why is it that he dared not reply, you ask? Because he thought of the proverb:

The mouth parts, and energy disperses;

The tongue moves, and strife comes to birth.

Then he reflected further on the fact that if he absolutely refused to open his mouth, she might grow violent and instantly end his life. Truly it was that

Caught between two ills, his mind asked his mouth;

Patient, thinking hard, his mouth asked his mind.

As he pondered his dilemma, she called out to him once more, “Elder!” The Tang Monk had little choice but to answer her, saying, “Lady, I’m here.” When the elder gave a reply like that, he felt as if his flesh had been drawn down to Hell by the weight of a thousand pounds!

Now, everyone has been saying that the Tang Monk was a priest wholly sincere in his determination to go worship Buddha and seek scriptures in the Western Heaven. How could he answer a monster like that? Well, you who ask such a question must not realize that this was a moment of the gravest danger, a time of life and death. He did this because he simply had no alternative. Though he gave such a reply on the outside, he was not in any way swayed by lust within.

When the monster-spirit heard such a reply from the elder, however, she pushed open the door and raised up the Tang Monk with her hands. She then held his hand and put her arm around his back, nuzzling him with her head and whispering into his ear. Look at her! She put on a thousand kinds of coy looks and romantic airs, hardly realizing that Tripitaka was filled up to his neck with annoyance! Smiling secretly to himself, Pilgrim said, “I wonder if Master will be swayed by such seductive behavior of hers!” Truly

The true monk meets beauty, for he’s demon-chased.

This lissome fiend is most worthily praised!

Like willow leaves part her faintly drawn brows;

Her pink cheeks match peach-blossoms on the boughs.

Two tiny feet her embroidered shoes half show;

Chignons, on both sides, rise like nests of crow.

When she, all smiles, takes up the master’s hand,

The cassock’s perfumed by sweet orchid-gland.³

The monster-spirit led Tripitaka near the thatched pavilion and said, “Elder, I’ve prepared a cup of wine which I’d like to drink with you.”

“Lady,” replied the Tang Monk, “this humble cleric keeps a special diet.”

“I know that,” said the monster-spirit. “Since the water in our cave is unclean, I have sent specially for the pure water from the summit, a product of the copulation of yin and yang. I have also ordered a vegetarian banquet for your enjoyment.” The Tang Monk stepped inside the pavilion with her to look around. Indeed he saw

Beneath the door

Drapes of colorful silk,

And filling the court

Incense from golden beasts.

Laid out there were black enameled tables

And black lacquered bamboo trays.

On the black enameled tables

Were many fine dainties;

The bamboo trays

Had rare vegetarian goods.

Crabapples, olives, lotus meat, and grapes;

Muskberries, hazelnuts, lychees, and lungans;

Chestnuts, water chestnuts, dates, and persimmons;

Walnuts, almonds, kumquats, and oranges;

The fruits of one whole mountain,

And vegetables most in season.

Bean curds, wheat glutens, wood ears,

Fresh bamboo shoots, butt on mushrooms,

Flat mushrooms, mountain herbs,

Yellow Sperms, white and yellow-flowered

Vegetables sauteed in clear oil;

Flat and round string beans

Mixed in mellow sauces;

Cucumbers, calabashes,

Gingko nuts, and rape-turnips.

Skinned eggplants made like partridges,

And winter melons carved like fangdan.⁴

Taros cooked till soft and sugar-coated,

And white turnips boiled with vinegar.

Hot peppers and gingers, best of every kind;

The salty and plain well balanced one will find.

Revealing her slender, jadelike fingers and holding high a shiny gold cup, she filled it with fine wine and handed it to the Tang Monk, saying, “Brother Elder, you wonderful man, please drink this cup of love!”

Terribly embarrassed, Tripitaka took the wine, sprayed a few drops of it toward the air with his fingers, and said this silent prayer: “Those various guardian devas, the Guardians of Five Quarters, the Four Sentinels, hear me. This disciple, Chen Xuanzang, since leaving the Land of the East, has been indebted to the Bodhisattva Guanshiyin for sending you deities to give me secret protection so that I may bow at Thunderclap and seek scriptures from the Buddha. Now I’m caught on the way by a monster-spirit who wants to force me to marry her. She’s handing me this cup of wine to drink. If this wine is indeed fit to drink by someone keeping a vegetarian diet, your disciple will make an effort to drink it, in hopes that he will still be able to see Buddha and achieve his merit. If it is unfit to drink, if the wine indeed causes this disciple to transgress his commandment, may he fall into eternal perdition!”

The Great Sage Sun, however, had taken on a delicate transformation, and at that critical moment he was whispering into his master’s ear. His words, of course, could be heard only by Tripitaka and no one else. Since he knew that his master was rather fond of dietary wine made of grapes, he told him now to drink it. Having no choice but to follow his disciple’s prompting, the master drank it and hurriedly poured another cup to present to the fiend. Indeed, he poured it so quickly that there were some bubbles. Pilgrim changed at once into a tiny mole cricket and flew right into the bubbles.

The monster-spirit, however, took the cup in her hand and, instead of drinking immediately, bowed a couple of times to the Tang Monk. Only after she had bashfully said a few words of love to him did she raise the cup. By now the bubbles had already dissipated and the insect was fully visible. Not able to recognize that it was a transformation of Pilgrim, the monster-spirit thought that it was a mere insect and immediately scooped it up with her little finger and tried to throw it away. When Pilgrim saw that things were not turning out as he had hoped, he knew that it would be difficult to get inside her stomach. At once he changed into a hungry old hawk. Truly he has

Jade claws, golden eyes, and iron quills;

A brave, fierce form for battling the clouds.

The sly fox, the wily hare on seeing him

Will swiftly flee to farthest land.

Hungry, he hunts birds in the wind;

Sated, he soars to Heaven’s gate.

His old fists, most deadly, are hard as steel;

E’en the sky he finds too low in flight.⁵

He darted up and stretched out his jadelike claws; with a loud crash he overturned the banquet tables and smashed to pieces all those fruits and vegetables, all those saucers and cups. Then he flew out of the place, abandoning the Tang Monk.

The heart and bladder of the monster-spirit almost burst with fear, and the bones and flesh of the Tang Monk too turned numb. Trembling all over, the monster-spirit embraced him and said, “Brother Elder, where did this creature come from?”

“Your poor monk has no idea,” replied Tripitaka.

“I have taken great pains,” said the fiend, “to prepare this vegetarian banquet for your enjoyment. But I wonder where this wretched hairy beast came from to smash up all my utensils?”

“Mistress,” said the various little fiends, “smashing the utensils is not half as bad as spilling all those dietary foods on the ground. How can they be used now that they are defiled?” Tripitaka, of course, knew that this was the power of Pilgrim, but he dared not reveal it.

That monster-spirit said, “Little ones, I know. It must be that Heaven and Earth are displeased by my seizure of the Tang Monk and they send down this creature. Take away the broken utensils and prepare some other wine and food. It doesn’t matter whether they are dietary or not. I’ll ask Heaven to be the marriage go-between and Earth to be the witness. Then the Tang Monk and I will be married.” Thereupon they sent the elder back to the room in the east corridor, and we shall leave him there for the moment.

We tell you now about Pilgrim, who flew up out of the place and changed into his true form as he reached the entrance of the cave. “Open up,” he cried. Eight Rules laughed and said, “Sha Monk, Elder Brother’s here.” The two of them lowered their weapons for Pilgrim to jump out.

Eight Rules walked forward to tug at him, saying, “Is there a monster-spirit? Is our master there?” “Yes! Yes! Yes!” replied Pilgrim.

“Master must be suffering in there,” said Eight Rules. “Is he tied up or is he trussed up? Do they want to steam him or boil him?”

“Nothing of that sort,” said Pilgrim. “She only wants to prepare a vegetarian banquet so that she can do that thing with him.”

“Lucky you! Lucky you!” said Eight Rules. “You must have drunk some wedding wine!” “O Idiot!” said Pilgrim. “Master’s life is in danger! What wedding wine have I drunk?” “Why did you come back then?” asked Eight Rules.

Pilgrim gave a thorough account of how he found the Tang Monk and how he went into transformation. Then he said, “Brothers, no more of these foolish thoughts. Master is here. When old Monkey goes back this time, he will certainly rescue him.”

At once he entered the cave again and changed into a fly to alight on the towered gate. There he heard the fiend panting hard and giving the following instruction: “Little ones, just bring me some food for the offering. I don’t care whether it’s vegetarian or not. I’ll entreat Heaven and Earth to be my go-between and witness, for I am determined to marry that priest.” On hearing this, Pilgrim smiled and said to himself, “This monster-spirit is completely shameless! She has a priest locked up at home in broad daylight for fun and games! But let’s not rush things. Let old Monkey go inside to have a look first.”

With a buzz he flew to the east corridor, where he saw his master sitting in the room with clear teardrops rolling down his cheeks. Pilgrim crawled in there and landed on his bald head, crying, “Master!” Recognizing his voice, the elder jumped up all at once and said spitefully through clenched teeth, “Wretched ape! Any other person who has the gall to do something, at least the gall is wrapped inside the person’s body. But in your case, it’s your gall that has you wrapped inside! How much could those utensils that you smashed by flaunting your magic transformation be worth? But if you provoke the monster-spirit and arouse her lechery, she won’t bother about dietary laws and will insist on copulating with me. What am I to do then?”

“Master,” said Pilgrim softly, trying to placate him, “please don’t be offended. I have a plan to rescue you.”

“How will you rescue me?” asked the Tang Monk.

“When I flew up just now,” replied Pilgrim, “I noticed that she has a garden in the rear. Trick her to go play with you in the garden. I’ll rescue you then.”

“How will you rescue me in the garden?” asked the Tang Monk once more.

Pilgrim said, “When you get to the garden with her, you should stop walking once you reach the peach trees. Let me fly up to one of the branches and change into a red peach. You pretend that you want to eat a fruit and pluck off the red one that I change into. Undoubtedly she will want to pluck one off also. Insist on giving yours to her. The moment she takes a bite, I’ll enter her stomach. Then I’ll punch through her belly and tear her guts apart. When she’s dead, you’ll be free.”

“If you have the ability,” said Tripitaka, “all you need is to fight with her. Why must you want to get inside her belly?”

“Master, you’re just not too sensible!” said Pilgrim. “If this cave of hers were easy to get into and out of, then I could fight with her. But it is not; in fact, the crooked paths here are exceedingly hard to negotiate. If I move against her, the whole nest of them, old and young, may have me bogged down. What shall I do then? I have to use this underhanded method to mop things up!”

Nodding his head in belief, Tripitaka said only, “You must stay close to me.” “I know! I know!” said Pilgrim. “I’m on your head!”

After master and disciple had formulated their plan, Tripitaka got up and, supporting himself on the shutters, called out: “Lady! Lady!” When the monster-spirit heard him, she ran near to him and said, giggling, “Dear⁶ Wonderful Man, what do you want?”

“Lady,” said Tripitaka, “Since I left Chang’an to journey westward, there was not a day when I did not have to climb a mountain or ford a river. When I stayed at the Sea-Pacifying Monastery the other day, I caught a bad cold. Only today has my condition improved somewhat, for I have been perspiring. I am grateful to you for bringing me to your immortal residence, but having sat here all day I feel sickly again. Is there a place where you can take me for some relaxation?”

Highly pleased, the fiend said, “If dear Wonderful Man shows this kind of interest, I’ll be delighted to take you strolling in the garden.” She then cried out: “Little ones, bring me the key to open the garden. Sweep out the path.”

Pushing open the shutters, this monster-spirit led the Tang Monk out by the hand. Look at those many little fiends of hers, all with oiled hair and powdered faces, all sinuous and lissome! They surged around the Tang Monk and headed straight for the garden. Marvelous monk!

He found no ease in this troop of satin and silk;

He played deaf and dumb in such brocaded grove.

He only could face Buddha, who had an iron mind and heart;

No mortal fond of wine and sex would succeed in scripture-fetching.

When they reached the entrance of the garden, the monster-spirit whispered lovingly to him, saying, “Dear Wonderful Man, enjoy yourself here. You may truly relax and unwind.” Walking hand in hand with her into the garden, the Tang Monk raised his head to look around. It was indeed a lovely place. What he saw were

Paths twisting and turning,

Profusely coated with specks of green moss;

Handsome silk-gauze windows,

Each faintly enclosed by embroidered screens.

When a gentle breeze rises,

Western silk and eastern damask spread out fluttering;

When a fine rain recedes,

Ice-flesh and jade-substance appear seductive.

The sun warms fresh apricots,

Red like the skirts that immortals hang out to dry;

The moon illumes the plantain,

Green like feathered fans whirled by a goddess.

By the painted walls on four sides

Orioles sing amid ten thousand willows;

Around the leisure cottage

Butterflies swirl through the yard’s cherry-apples.

Look further at the fragrance-holding alcove,

The green-moth alcove,

The wine-dispelling alcove,

And the romance alcove,

One on top of the other where

The rolled-up red curtains

Are drawn by hooks like shrimp-whiskers.

Look also at the grief-relieving kiosk,

The purity-draped kiosk,

The brow-painting kiosk,

And the four rains kiosk,

Each a noble edifice

With floriate plaques

Inscribed with seal scripts.

Look at the crane-bathing pool,

The goblet-washing pool,

The moon-pleasing pool,

And the tassel-cleansing pool,

Where golden scales glisten among green lilies and reeds;

There are, too, the ink-flower arbor,

The strange-chest arbor,

The proper-weal arbor,

And the cloud-adoring arbor,

Where mellow wine floats within jade flasks and cups.

Beyond and before the pools and kiosks

There are rocks from Lake Tai,

Purple-blooming rocks,

Parrot-falling rocks,

And rocks of Sichuan rivers,

Around which the green tiger-whisker rush are planted.

East and west of the alcoves and arbors,

There are false wooden hills,

Kingfisher-screen hills,

Wind-whistling hills,

Jade-agaric hills,

On each grow thickets of phoenix-tail bamboos.

The tumi⁷ props

And the cinnamon rose props

Near the stand of swing,

They all seem like brocade curtains and silk drapes.

The pine-and-cypress kiosk,

The magnolia kiosk,

Facing the rose bush kiosk,

Both resemble a green city’s embroidered veils.

The shaoyao⁸ rails,

The peony groves,

Their flowers vie for denseness in purple and red;

The yehe⁹ terrace,

The white jasmine fence,

Both bring forth grace and glamor year after year.

The magnolia adorned with drops of dew

Should be sketched or drawn;

The hibiscus blazing red toward the sky

Should be hymned or sung.

Speaking of scenery,

Let’s not boast of Langyuan or Penglai;

To compare such beauty

One need not count Yao’s yellow or Wei’s purple.¹⁰

In late spring when one fences with grass,

This garden lacks only divine blooms of jade.

The elder, walking hand in hand with the fiend to enjoy the garden, could hardly look at all the rare flowers and exotic plants. After going past many arbors and kiosks and entering gradually, as it were, the lovely scenery, he saw all at once that they had arrived in front of the peach orchard. Pilgrim gave his master’s head a pinch and the elder knew immediately what he meant.

Flying up to one of the branches, Pilgrim with one shake of his body changed into a peach, a lovely red one. The elder said to the monster-spirit, “Lady, you have here

Fragrant blooms in the yard,

Ripened fruits on the boughs—

Fragrant blooms in the yard that bees vie to sip;

Ripened fruits on the boughs that birds fight to pluck.

But why is it that on this particular peach tree the peaches are both red and green?”

With a giggle the monster-spirit said, “When Heaven is lacking in yin and yang, the sun and the moon will not shine; when the Earth is lacking in yin and yang, male and female cannot be distinguished. The same principle applies to the fruits of this peach tree. Those on the sunny side are ripened first by the warmth, and that’s why they are red; those on the shady side will grow but without the benefit of the sun, and that’s why they are still green. This is the principle of yin and yang.”

“I thank my lady for the instruction,” said Tripitaka, “for this humble cleric indeed had no idea this was so.” He immediately reached forward and plucked a red peach, and the monster-spirit too went and plucked a green one. Bowing, Tripitaka presented the red peach to the fiend, saying, “Lady, you are fond of colors, so please take this red peach. Give me the green one to eat.”

The monster-spirit indeed exchanged it with him, saying in secret delight to herself, “Dear monk! A true man¹¹ indeed! We aren’t husband and wife even for one day, and he’s already so affectionate!” Her delight, in fact, caused her to behave more cordially than ever to the Tang Monk. When he took the green peach and began eating it at once, the monster-spirit was only too pleased to keep him company. Opening her cherry lips to reveal her silvery teeth, she was about to take a bite. But Pilgrim Sun had always been impetuous. Before she could sink her teeth into the fruit, he immediately rolled inside her mouth and somersaulted through her throat down to her stomach. Terribly frightened, the monster-spirit said to Tripitaka, “O Elder, this fruit is really something! How could it roll down there before I even bit it?”

“Lady,” said Tripitaka, “a newly ripened fruit is most edible. That’s why it goes quickly.” “But I haven’t even spat out the pit,” said the monster-spirit, “and it has gone down already.” “When you’re in such an excellent mood, Lady,” replied Tripitaka, “you have a good appetite. That’s why it goes down even before you manage to spit out the pit.”

In her stomach, Pilgrim changed back to his true form and cried, “Master, don’t banter with her. Old Monkey has already scored!”

“Disciple, do try not to be too harsh,” replied Tripitaka. Hearing that, the monster-spirit said, “Whom are you talking to?”

“To my disciple, Sun Wukong,” replied Tripitaka.

“Where is Sun Wukong?” asked the monster-spirit.

“In your stomach, of course!” replied Tripitaka. “Isn’t he the red peach you just ate?”

Horrified, the monster-spirit said, “Finished! Finished! If this ape-head has crawled inside my belly, I’m as good as dead! Pilgrim Sun, what do you plan to do after using all your schemes and plots to get inside my belly?” “Not much!” replied Pilgrim spitefully inside her. “I’ll just devour

Your six loaves of liver and lung,¹²

Your triple-haired and seven-holed heart.

All five viscera I’ll clean out,

One rattling spirit you’ll become!”

On hearing this, the monster-spirit was scared out of her wits. Trembling all over, she embraced the Tang Monk to say, “O Elder! I thought we were

Fated to be by one scarlet thread¹³ bound,

Two hearts as one like fish in water found.

Who knows birds of love will thus be parted,

That spouses will sever brokenhearted?

Our affair fails for Blue Bridge tide¹⁴ is high;

Our meeting’s vain as temple incense¹⁵ dies.

Drawn to each other we must now disperse.

Which year will I once more with you converse?”

Inside her belly Pilgrim heard her speaking in this manner, and he was afraid that the compassionate elder might be deceived again. At once he began to wave his fists and stamp his feet, to assume boxing postures and do gymnastic exercises with his four limbs, nearly punching through her leather bag in the process. Unable to endure the pain, the monster-spirit dropped to the ground and dared not speak for a long time.

When Pilgrim found that she was silent, he thought that she might be dead and decided to ease up somewhat. Catching her breath, she cried, “Little ones, where are you?” When those little fiends, you see, entered the garden, they all knew how to behave. Instead of congregating in one place, they scattered to play—plucking flowers or fencing with grasses—so as to allow the monster-spirit to flirt freely with the Tang Monk. When they suddenly heard the summons, they ran to the spot and found the monster-spirit fallen to the ground, pale and groaning, hardly able even to crawl. Hurriedly they tried to raise her as they crowded around, all asking, “Mistress, what’s wrong? Are you having a heart attack?”

“No! No!” replied the monster-spirit. “Don’t ask, but I have someone in my stomach! Just get this monk out, quickly, so that my life may be preserved.” Those little fiends indeed went forward and tried to pull the elder out.

“Don’t any of you dare raise your hand!” yelled Pilgrim inside her belly. “If you want to, you yourself must present my master to the outside world. When we get there, I’ll spare you.”

The monster-spirit, of course, had no other motivation than pity for her own life. Struggling to her feet, she swiftly placed the Tang Monk on her back and strode toward the outside. Running after her, the little fiends asked, “Mistress, where are you going?” The monster-spirit said, “Let’s get this fellow outside!

If we the moon above the five lakes retain,

There’s always a spot to drop the hook again!

Let me find someone else instead.”

Dear monster-spirit! She mounted the cloudy luminosity and immediately reached the entrance of the cave, where a loud clangor of arms could be heard. “Disciple,” said Tripitaka, “I can hear the sound of weapons outside.”

Pilgrim said, “It has to be Eight Rules wielding his muckrake. Call him.” Tripitaka at once called out: “Eight Rules!”

Eight Rules heard him and said, “Sha Monk, Master has come out!” The two of them removed the rake and the staff, and the monster-spirit carried the Tang Monk outside. Aha! Truly it is that

Mind Monkey, responding within, subdues a fiend;

Wood and Earth guarding the door receive a sage monk.

We do not know whether the monster-spirit will preserve her life; let’s listen to the explanation in the next chapter.