“Summon all the demons in our cave,” the third demon chief continued. “Choose one thousand from the ten thousand of them, then a hundred from the thousand, then sixteen and thirty from the hundred.”
“Why do you want sixteen and thirty?” the senior demon asked.
“The thirty must be good cooks,” the third demon chief replied. “Give them the best rice and flour, bamboo shoots, tea, gill fungus, button mushrooms, beancurd and wheat gluten. Send them to put up a shelter seven to ten miles along the way and lay on a meal for the Tang Priest.”
“And what do you want the sixteen for?” the senior demon asked.
“Eight to carry the chair and eight to shout and clear the way,” the third demon replied. “We brothers will accompany them for a stage of their journey. About 150 miles West of here is my city, and I've plenty of troops there to greet them. When they get to the city we'll do such and such and so on… The Tang Priest and his disciples won't be able to see what's happening to them. Whether we catch the Tang Priest or not depends completely on those sixteen demons.”
The senior demon was beside himself with delight on hearing this. It was as if he had recovered from a drunken stupor or woken up from a dream. “Excellent, excellent,” he said, whereupon he mustered the demons, chose thirty to whom he gave the food and another sixteen to carry a rattan chair. As they set out the senior demon gave the following instructions to the rest of the demons: “None of you are to go out on the mountain. Sun the Novice is a very cautious ape, and if he sees any of you around he'll be suspicious and see through our plan.”
The senior demon then led his underlings to a place beside the main road, where he called aloud, “Lord Tang, today's not an unlucky one, so please come across the mountain straight away.”
“Who is that calling me, Wukong?” Sanzang asked when he heard this.
“It's the demons I beat,” Monkey replied. “They're bringing a chair to carry you.”
Putting his hands together in front of his chest Sanzang looked up to the sky and said, “Splendid, splendid! But for my worthy disciple's great abilities I could not proceed on my journey.” He then walked forward to greet the demons with the words, “I am most grateful for the consideration you gentlemen are showing. When my disciples and I return to Chang'an we will praise your admirable achievements.”
“Please get into the carrying-chair, my lord,” the demons said, kowtowing. Having mortal eyes and body Sanzang did not realize that this was a trick. The Great Sage Sun, a golden immortal of the Supreme Monad with a loyal nature, thought that because he had captured and released the demons they were now won over. He never imagined that they had other plots in mind, so he did not investigate closely but went along with his master's ideas. He told Pig to tie the luggage on the horse and keep close to the master with Friar Sand while he cleared the way with his iron cudgel, watching out to see if all was well. While eight devils carried the chair and eight shouted in turn to clear the way the three demon chiefs steadied the poles of the chair. The master was delighted to sit upright in it and go up the high mountain by the main track, little realizing that
Great grief would return in the midst of rejoicing;
“Extremes,” says the classic, “create their negation.”
Fated they were to meet with disaster,
A star of ill-omen to mark desolation.
The band of demons worked with one mind to escort them and serve them diligently at all times. After ten miles there was a vegetarian meal and after fifteen more miles another one. They were invited to rest before it grew late, and everything along their way was neat and tidy. Each day they had three most satisfactory and delightful meals and spent a comfortable night where they were able to sleep well.
When they had traveled about 150 miles West they found themselves near a walled city. Raising his iron cudgel the Great Sage, who was only a third of a mile ahead of the carrying-chair, was so alarmed by the sight of the city that he fell over and was unable to rise to his feet. Do you know why someone of his great courage was so frightened by what he saw? It was because he saw a very evil atmosphere hanging over the town.
Crowds of evil demons and monsters,
Wolf spirits at all four gates.
Striped tigers are the commanders;
White-faced tiger-cats are senior officers.
Antlered stags carry documents around;
Cunning foxes walk along the streets.
Thousand-foot pythons slither round the walls;
Twenty-mile serpents occupy the roads.
At the base of high towers gray wolves shout commands;
Leopards speak in human voices by pavilions.
Standard-bearers and drummers-all are monsters;
Mountain spirits patrol and stand sentry;
Crafty hares open shops to trade;
Wild boars carry their loads to do business.
What used to be the capital of a heavenly dynasty
Has now become a city of wolves and tigers.
Just as he was being overcome by terror the Great Sage heard a wind from behind him and turned quickly to see the third demon chief raising a heaven-square halberd with a patterned handle to strike at his head. Springing to his feet, the Great Sage struck back at the monster's face with his gold-banded cudgel. Both of them were snorting with rage and fury as they ground their teeth and fought a wordless struggle. Monkey then saw the senior demon chief giving out orders as he lifted his steel saber to hack at Pig. Pig was in such a rush that he had to let the horse go as he swung his rake around to hit wildly back. Meanwhile the second demon chief was thrusting with his spear at Friar Sand, who parried with his demon-quelling staff.
The three demon chiefs and the three monks were now all fighting in single combat, ready to throw away their lives. The sixteen junior devils obeyed their orders, each giving play to his talents as they grabbed hold of the white horse and the luggage and crowded round Sanzang, lifting up his chair and carrying him straight to the city.
“Your Senior Majesty, please decide what to do now we've captured the Tang Priest,” they shouted. All the demons of every rank on the city walls came rushing down to throw the city gates wide open. Every battalion was ordered to furl its flag, silence its drums, and on no account shout war-cries or strike gongs.
“His Senior Majesty has given orders that the Tang Priest is not to be frightened. He can't endure being scared. If he is, his flesh will turn sour and be inedible.” The demons were all delighted to welcome Sanzang, bowing and carrying him into the throne hall of the palace, where he was invited to sit in the place of honour. They offered him tea and food as they bustled around him in attendance. The venerable elder felt dizzy and confused as he looked about and saw no familiar faces.
If you don't know whether he was to escape with his life listen to the explanation in the next installment.
Chapter 77
The Demon Host Mistreats the Fundamental Nature
The One Body Pays His Respects to the Buddha
We will tell now not of the sufferings of the venerable Tang Elder but of the three demon chiefs in strenuous combat with the Great Sage and his two brother disciples in the low hills to the East outside the city. It was indeed a good hard battle, like an iron brush against a copper pan:
Six types of body, six types of weapon,
Six physical forms, six feelings.
The six evils arise from the six sense organs and the six desires;
The six gates to nirvana and the six ways of rebirth are struggling for victory.
In the thirty-six divine palaces spring comes of itself;
The six times six forms do not want to be named.