“Whose underlings are you?” the demon king said. “How dare you help him?”
“I am the disciple of the Great Sage of Sizhou, the Bodhisattva King Teacher, and I'm here on his orders with four divine generals to capture you,” the prince replied.
“What sort of martial arts do you have,” replied the demon king with a sneer, “that give you the nerve to be so insulting?”
“As you want to know about my martial powers,” the prince replied, “let me tell you:
My people come from the Flowing Sands River,
Where my father used to be king of Sandland.
I was a weak and sickly child,
Born under a bad influence and an unlucky star.
Long had I admired my master's immortal powers,
When in a chance meeting he taught me the secret.
Half a pill of elixir cured my sickness;
I abandoned my throne to cultivate my conduct.
Once I knew bow to live as long as heaven;
My face became youthful and will remain so forever.
I have been to the assemblies under the dragon-flower tree,
And ridden by cloud to the Buddha's hall.
Seizing the fogs and winds I subdued the watery tribe;
I defended the mountain by subduing dragons and tigers.
The dutiful people raised a lofty pagoda
To calm the seas through the glow of its relics.
My paper-white spear can capture all demons;
Evil spirits are caught in the gray sleeve of my coat.
Now peace and joy reign in the city of Bincheng,
And all the world praises Little Zhang's fame.”
When the demon king heard this he replied with a touch of a mocking smile, “Prince, when you abandoned your throne to follow the Bodhisattva King Teacher what sort of arts of immortality did you learn? All you're good for is capturing water monsters in the Huai River. You shouldn't have believed all the nonsense Sun the Novice talked and have come across all those mountains and rivers to offer your life. We'll soon find out whether you're immortal or not.”
When Little Zhang heard this he was very angry and thrust straight for the demon's face with his spear. The four generals all rushed into the attack together and so did the Great Sage Monkey, wielding his iron cudgel. The splendid evil spirit was not afraid in the least as he blocked, parried and struck back with his short and flexible wolf-tooth mace. It was a fine battle:
The little prince with his paper-white spear,
Made stronger by the four generals' swords,
Wukong using his gold-banded cudgel,
With one heart they surrounded the demon king.
Truly his magical powers were great
As without a trace of fear he resisted their attacks.
The wolf-tooth mace was a Buddha weapon
Preserving him from wounds by swords or spear.
Wile howled the wind
Through the turbid swirl of evil vapors.
One used his skill for love of mortal things;
The other's heart was set on the Buddha and the scriptures.
They charged and they raged,
Shrouding sun, moon and stars in cloud,
Each of them evil and vicious in anger.
For long the Three Vehicles could not assert dominance:
Bitter and well-matched was the battle of rival skills.
After the fight had been going on for a long time and was still inconclusive the evil spirit undid his pouch and Monkey once more shouted, “Look out, gentlemen.” The prince and his followers did not realize what he was telling them to look out for, so with a swish the demon king had them caught in his pouch. Only Monkey escaped in time. We will not describe how once more the demon king returned in triumph, sent for ropes, and had them tied up and put into the pit under lock and lid.
When Monkey leapt up into the sky and saw the demon leading his troops back and fastening the gates he brought his auspicious light down to land and stood on the Western slope of the mountain. “Master!” he wept aloud in his misery,
“Since being converted and becoming a monk
I've been grateful to Guanyin for ending my woes.
In escorting you West to seek the great Way
I have helped you towards the Buddha's own temple.
Who would have thought when the going looked easy
That we'd be attacked by so mighty a monster.
None of my tricks or devices succeed;
All the help I have looked for has just been in vain.”
As Monkey was in the very depths of misery a brightly-coloured cloud suddenly landed to the Southwest and the whole mountain peak was lashed with a torrential rainstorm. “Wukong,” a voice called, “do you know who I am?” Monkey hurried forward to look and this is what he saw:
Big ears, a broad jaw and a square face;
Wide shoulders, a deep chest and a fat body.
A jolly voice that was full of fun,
A pair of bright and sparkling eyes.
His clothes hung open; luck was all about him.
His straw sandals were comfortable and his spirits high.
He was the lord of the land of bliss,
The laughing monk Maitreya.
As soon as Monkey saw him he kowtowed immediately and said, “Where are you going, Lord Buddha from the East? I beg you to forgive me for failing to keep out of your way.”
“I'm here because of the demon in the Lesser Thunder Monastery,” the Buddha replied.
“I am very grateful for your great kindness, my lord,” Monkey replied. “May I ask where the demon is from and where he became an evil spirit? What sort of treasure is that pouch of his? Please tell me, my lord.”
“He was a yellow-browed page who used to strike my stone chime,” the Buddha Maitreya replied. “On the third day of the third month this year I left him looking after my palace when I went to an assembly of the Primal One. That was when he stole some of my treasures and became a spirit as an imitation Buddha. That pouch is my future heaven bag, or what's generally called a human seed bag. The wolf-tooth cudgel was originally the stick for striking the chime.”
When Monkey heard this he shouted, “You're a splendid laughing monk, I must say. By letting that boy escape you let him masquerade as a Buddha and ruin things for me. You ought to be charged with slack management of your household.”
“I was careless,” Maitreya replied. “Besides, your master and you disciples have not yet come to the end of the demons you will have to deal with. That is why every kind of spiritual creature has been coming down to earth. It's right that you should suffer. Now I'm here to capture him for you.”
“That evil spirit has very great magic powers,” Monkey replied, “and you haven't got any weapons. How can you possibly subdue him?”
“I'll make a little hut under the mountain,” said Maitreya, “where I grow fruit and melons. You challenge him to battle, lose in the fight that follows, and lure him into my melon patch. All my melons are still unripe, so you're to change into a big ripe melon. When he gets there he's bound to want a melon and I'll give you to him. Once you're in his stomach you can do what you like to him. Then I'll get his pouch and we can put him inside it.”
“It's a very good plan,” Monkey replied, “but how will you know which is the ripe melon I'll have turned into? And why should he be willing to go there after me?”
“I'm the ruler of the world,” laughed Maitreya, “and I have miraculous vision. Of course I'll know which one is you. I'd recognize you whatever you turned into. The only worry is that the demon won't come after you. I'll have to teach you some new magic.”
“But he's bound to catch me in his pouch,” Monkey replied, “not come after me. What magic power could I use?”
“Stretch your hand out,” Maitreya said. Monkey stretched out his left hand. Maitreya moistened the forefinger of his own right hand with some magic saliva, wrote “stop” on it, and told Monkey to make a fist. If he opened that hand again in the demon's face the demon would certainly come after him.