Taking Pig's hand, Monkey mounted a cloud and left the cave. When they had crossed the Eastern Sea he stooped at the Western shore and said, “You carry on at your own speed while I take a bath in the sea.”
“We're in a terrible hurry,” said Pig. “You can't take a bath now?”
“You wouldn't understand,” Monkey replied. “While I was at home I developed rather a devil-stink, and I'm afraid that with his passion for cleanliness the master would object.” Only then did Pig realize that Monkey really was being sincere and single-minded.
After Monkey's dip they were back on their clouds and heading West again. When they saw the gleam of the golden pagoda Pig pointed at it and said, “That's where the Yellow-robed Monster lives. Friar Sand is still there.”
“You wait for me up here,” said Monkey, “while I take a look around the entrance before fighting the evil spirit.”
“No need,” said Pig, “as he's not at home.”
“I know,” said Monkey. The splendid Monkey King landed his gleaming cloud and looked around outside the entrance. All he could see was two children, one of about ten and the other of eight or nine, hitting a feather-stuffed ball with curved sticks. Without bothering to find-out whose children they were, Monkey rushed up at them as they played, grabbed them by the tufts of hair that grew on the top of their heads, and flew off with them. The sobs and curses of the terrified boys alarmed the junior devils of the Moon Waters Cave, who rushed in to tell the princess that someone, they did not know who, had carried her sons off. These boys, you see, were the children of the princess and the ogre.
The princess ran out of the cave to see Monkey holding her sons on the top of a cliff and about to hurl them over.
“Hey, you, I've never done you any harm,” she screamed desperately, “so why are you kidnapping my sons? Their father won't let you get away with it if anything happens to them, and he's a killer.”
“Don't you know who I am?” said Monkey. “I'm Monkey, the senior disciple of the Tang Priest. If you release my brother Friar Sand from your cave, I'll give you your sons back. You'll be getting a good bargain-two for one.” The princess hurried back into the cave, told the junior demons who were on the door to get out of her way, and untied Friar Sand with her own hands.
“Don't let me go, lady,” said Friar Sand, “or I'll be letting you in for trouble with that monster when he comes back and asks about me.”
“Venerable sir,” the princess replied, “what you said about the letter saved my life, so I was going to let you go anyhow, and now your elder brother Monkey has come here and told me to release you.”
At the word “Monkey” Friar Sand felt as though the oil of enlightenment had been poured on his head and the sweet dew had enriched his heart. His face was all happiness and his chest filled with spring. He looked more like someone who had found a piece of gold or jade than someone who had just been told that a friend had arrived. He brushed his clothes down with his hands, went out, bowed to Monkey and said, “Brother, you've dropped right out of the blue. I beg you to save my life!”
“Did you say one word to help me, Brother Sand, when the master said the Band-tightening Spell?” asked Monkey with a grin. “Talk, talk, talk. If you want to rescue your master you should be heading West instead of squatting here.”
“Please don't bring that up,” said Friar Sand. “A gentleman doesn't bear a grudge. We've been beaten, and we've lost the right to talk about courage. Please rescue me.”
“Come up here,” Monkey replied, and Friar Sand sprang up on the cliff with a bound.
When Pig saw from up in the air that Friar Sand had come out of the cave, he brought his cloud down and said, “Forgive me, forgive me, Brother Sand.”
“Where have you come from?” asked Friar Sand on seeing him.
“After I was beaten yesterday,” said Pig, “I went back to the capital last night and met the white horse, who told me that the master was in trouble. The monster has magicked him into a tiger. The horse and I talked it over and we decided to ask our eldest brother back.”
“Stop chattering, idiot,” said Monkey. “Each of you take one of these children to the city. Use them to provoke the monster into coming back here to fight me.”
“How are we to do that?” asked Friar Sand.
“You two ride your clouds, stop above the palace,” said Monkey, “harden your hearts, and drop the children on the palace steps. When you're asked, say they're the sons of the Yellow-robed Monster, and that you two brought them there. The ogre is bound to come back when he hears that, which will save me the trouble of going into town to fight him. If we fought in the city, the fogs and dust storms we stirred up would alarm the court, the officials and the common people.”
“Whatever you do, brother,” said Pig with a laugh, “you try to trick us.”
“How am I tricking you?” asked Monkey.
“These two kids have already been scared out of their wits,” Pig replied. “They've cried themselves hoarse, and they're going to be killed at any moment. Do you think the monster will let us get away after we've smashed them to mince? He'll want our necks. You're still crooked, aren't you? He won't even see you, so it's obvious you're tricking us.”
“If he goes for you,” said Monkey, “fight your way back here, where there's plenty of room for me to have it out with him.”
“That's right,” said Friar Sand, “what our eldest brother says is quite right. Let's go.” The pair of them were an awe-inspiring sight as they went off, carrying the two boys.
Monkey then jumped down from the cliff to the ground in front of the pagoda's gates, where the princess said to him, “You faithless monk. You said you'd give me back my children if I released your brother. Now I've let him go, but you still have the boys. What have you come back for?”
“Don't be angry, princess,” said Monkey, forcing a smile. “As you've been here so long, we've taken your sons to meet their grandfather.”
“Don't try any nonsense, monk,” said the princess. “My husband Yellow Robe is no ordinary man. If you've frightened those children, you'd better clam them down.”
“Princess,” said Monkey with a smile, “do you know what the worst crime on earth you can commit is?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“You're a mere woman, so you don't understand anything,” said Monkey.
“I was educated by my parents in the palace ever since I was a child,” she said, “and I remember what the ancient book said: 'There are three thousand crimes, and the greatest is unfilial behavior.'”
“But you're unfilial,” replied Monkey. '“My father begot me, my mother raised me. Alas for my parents. What an effort it was to bring me up.' Filial piety is the basis of all conduct and the root of all goodness, so why did you marry an evil spirit and forget your parents? Surely this is the crime of unfilial behavior.” At this the princess' face went red as she was overcome with shame.
“What you say, sir, is so right,” she said. “Of course I haven't forgotten my parents. But the monster forced me to come here, and he is so strict that I can hardly move a step. Besides, it's a long journey and nobody could deliver a message. I was going to kill myself until I thought that my parents would never discover that I hadn't run away deliberately. So I had nothing for it but to drag out my wretched life. I must be the wickedest person on earth.” As she spoke the tears gushed out like the waters of a spring.
“Don't take on so, princess,” said Monkey. “Pig has told me how you saved my master's life and wrote a letter, which showed you hadn't forgotten your parents. I promise that I'll catch the monster, take you back to see your father, and find you a good husband. Then you can look after your parents for the rest of their lives. What do you say to that?”