“Heavens,” he shouted, “my knuckles have turned to pus.” But the demons still did not shake it. Then he shouted, “Mother, my waist has gone now.”
At this the Senior Demon King said, “If he's turned to pus as far as the waist he's finished. Take the label off and let's have a look.”
When the Great Sage heard this he plucked out another hair, told it to change, and turned it into half of his own body, which he left in the bottom of the gourd. He turned himself into a tiny insect that perched near the mouth of the gourd. As soon as the Junior Demon King took the paper cover off he flew out, did a roll, and turned into Ocean Dragon, the little devil who had gone with the invitation to the old lady. In this guise he stood beside the path while the Senior King removed the stopper from the gourd, craned his neck, and saw the half body still moving. Not realizing that it was a fake he called out in panic, “Shut it again, brother, shut it. He hasn't rotted down yet.” The Junior King put the cover back on. The Great Sage was discreetly delighted that they did not realize where he actually was.
The Senior Demon King took the gourd, filled a cup to the brim with liquor, and offered it with both hands to the Junior King, saying, “Please accept this drink from me.”
“Elder brother,” replied the Junior King, “I've drunk a great deal. I can't accept another.”
To this the Senior King said, “Your capture of the Tang Priest, Pig and Friar Sand was nothing special; but I insist on offering you some drinks to congratulate you on your achievement in tying up Sun the Novice and putting the Novice Sun into your gourd.” As his elder brother was showing him so much honour and respect the Junior King would have to accept the cup. But he was still holding the magic gourd, and it would have been rude to accept the cup in one hand. So he passed the gourd to Ocean Dragon to allow himself to receive the cup with both hands, unaware that Ocean Dragon was Monkey in disguise. Just watch Monkey respectfully holding the gourd as he stands in attendance. When the Junior King had drunk the liquor he wanted to return the courtesy.
“No need,” said the Senior King, “I'll drink one with you.” They were both being very modest. Monkey held the gourd and fixed his gaze on the two of them as they lost count of how many drinks they were giving each other. He slipped the gourd up his sleeve, pulled out a hair, and turned it into an exact facsimile of the gourd that he offered to the kings. After giving each other so many drinks the two kings did not check its authenticity but simply took their treasure, went to their places, sat down, and carried on drinking. The Great Sage got away. He was very pleased at having captured the treasures.
“In spite of these demon kings' magic powers, the gourd is now mine,” he thought.
If you don't know what he had to do to save his master and destroy the demons, listen to the explanation in the next installment.
Chapter 35
The Power of Heterodoxy Oppresses the True Nature
The Mind-Ape Wins the Treasures and Beats the Demons
Lucid the true nature; the Way explains itself;
With one turn one jumps out of the net.
To learn transformations is very hard indeed;
To become immortal is no common deed.
Pure yields to foul and foul to pure as fate's wheel turns:
Break through the kalpas and travel freely.
Wander at will through countless billion years,
A spot of sacred light ever shining in the void.
This poem is an apt but indirect description of how wonderful the Great Sage's powers were. Now that he had won the demons' treasure and had it tucked into his sleeve he thought with delight, “The damned demon went to such a lot of trouble to capture me, but it was, as they say, like trying to fish the moon out of water. But for me to try to capture you would be like melting ice on a fire.”
Concealing the gourd about him he slipped outside, reverted to his own form, and shouted at the top of his voice, “Open up, you devils.”
“Who do you think you are, shouting like that?” asked the devils who were there.
“Tell your damned demon kings at once that Novice the Sun is here,” he replied.
The demons rushed in to report, “Your Majesties, there's a Novice the Sun or something at the doors.” The Senior King was shocked.
“This is terrible, brother,” he said. “We've stirred up a whole nest of them. Sun the Novice is tied up with the Dazzling Golden Cord, and the Novice Sun is inside the gourd, so how can there be a Novice the Sun as well? They must all be brothers and all have come.”
“Don't worry, brother,” the Junior King replied. “I can put a thousand people into my gourd, and at present I've only got the Novice Sun inside. No need to be afraid of Novice the Sun or whoever. I'm going out to take a look and put him inside too.”
“Do be careful,” said the Senior Demon King.
Watch as the Junior King goes out through the doors with his gourd, as heroic and impressive as the previous time.
“Where are you from?” he shouted at the top of his voice, “and how dare you rant and roar here?”
“Don't you know who I am?” Monkey said.
“My home is on the Mount of Flowers and Fruit;
Long have we lived in Water Curtain Cave.
For making havoc in the Heavenly Palace
For ages did I rest from war and strife.
Since my delivery from woe,
I've left the Way and now I serve a monk.
As a believer I go to Thunder Shrine
To seek the Scriptures and come back to Truth.
Now that I've met with you damned fiends,
All of my magic powers I've had to use.
Give back to us the priest who's come from Tang,
To travel West and visit the Lord Buddha.
The rival sides have fought for long enough:
Let all of us now live in peace together.
Don't make old Monkey lose his fiery temper,
For if he does he'll surely wipe you out”
“Come here,” said the demon. “I won't hit you. I'll just call your name. Will you answer?”
“If you call my name,” said Monkey, “I'll reply. But will you answer if I call your name?”
“If I call you,” said the demon, “I have a miraculous gourd that people can be packed into. But if you call me, what have you got?”
“I've got a gourd too,” Monkey replied.
“If you have, then show me,” said the demon.
Monkey then produced the gourd from his sleeve and said, “Look, damned demon.” He flourished it then put it back in his sleeve in case the demon tried to snatch it.
The sight was a great shock to the demon. “Where did he get his gourd?” he wondered. “Why is it just like mine? Even gourds from the same vine are different sizes and shapes. But that one is identical.” He then shouted angrily at Monkey, “Novice the Sun, where did you get your gourd?”
As Monkey really did not know where it was from he answered with another question: “Where did you get yours?”
Not realizing that this was a trick Monkey had learned from experience, the demon told the true story from the beginning: “When Chaos was first divided and heaven separated from earth there was this Lord Lao Zi who took the name of the Goddess Nuwa to smelt a stone to mend the heavens and save the Continent of Jambu. When he put in the missing part of the Heavenly Palace he noticed a magic vine at the foot of Mount Kunlun on which this gold and red gourd was growing. It has been handed down from Lord Lao Zi to the present day.”