Elegantly played the pipe and shawm;
Fast sounded flute and drum.
All the notes of the scale rang out,
Rising then falling again together.
Delightful were they as they danced and sang,
A carpet of flowers, every one of them lovely.
Seeing that his master was not in the least moved by this Monkey silently smacked his lips in admiration and said, “What a fine monk! What a fine monk!
Dwelling amid splendor, his heart forms no attachment;
Walking through magnificence, his mind is not confused.”
A little later the princess came out of the Jay Palace surrounded by the queens and consorts so greet the king with cheers of “Long live the king! Long live the king!” This so alarmed the venerable elder that he trembled, not knowing what to do.
By now Monkey had already noticed a touch of the demonic-though nothing very vicious-that could just be made out in the aura above the princess's head. Monkey crawled quickly to Sanzang's ear and said, “The princess is a fake, Master.”
“If she is a fake,” the venerable elder replied, “then how are we to make her turn back into her real form?”
“I'll give myself a magic body and catch her right here,” said Monkey.
“That would terrify His Majesty,” said Sanzang. “Wait till he and his queens have withdrawn before using your magic.”
Now Monkey had been impatient by nature all his life, so he could not restrain himself. With a great and angry roar he resumed his true from, rushed up and grabbed the princess. “You're a fine, evil beast,” he said abusively. “You've had no end of luxury here, you impostor, but it wasn't enough for you. You're so sex-crazed you had to try to trick my master and destroy his primal masculinity.” This struck the king speechless with fright, and made the queens and consorts fall about. The palace beauties all ran off to hide, fleeing for their lives. It was just like
A roaring wind in spring,
The howling autumn gale.
When the roaring wind in spring blows through the wood
A thousand blossoms are shaken;
When the howling autumn gale hits the park
Ten thousand leaves all swirl and fly.
The tree peony beneath the balustrade is snapped;
Herbaceous peonies beside the balcony fall over.
Hibiscus on the pond's banks are shaken all about.
While chrysanthemums are flung in heaps at the foot of the terrace.
The delicate begonia collapses in the dust;
The fragrant rose is now sleeping in the wilds.
The spring wind smashes caltrop, lotus and pear;
Winter snows weigh down the plum tree's tender blossoms.
The petals of the pomegranate
Are scattered all around the inner courtyard;
The branches of the willow
Are blown sideways within the royal palace.
Fine blooms, and a night of raging wind and rain:
Countless red petals carpet the ground with brocade.
Sanzang hastily put his trembling arms round the king and said, “Don't be afraid, Your Majesty. It is only my wicked disciple using his magical powers to find out whether she is an impostor or not.”
Seeing that things were going badly for her, the evil spirit broke free, tore off her clothes, flung down her jewelry and hair ornaments and ran to the shrine of the local deity in the palace garden. From here she brought out a short club shaped like the head of a trip-hammer, with which she started hitting wildly at Monkey as she turned quickly towards him. Monkey, who had caught up with her at once, struck back at her face with his iron cudgel, Shouting and roaring at each other, the two of them started fighting in the palace gardens. Then each began a great display of magic powers, riding clouds as they battled in mid air. In this fight
Great was the fame of the gold-banded cudgel;
No one had heard of the hammerhead club.
One of them was there to fetch the true scriptures;
The other was lingering for love of rare flowers.
Long had the demon known of the holy Tang Priest,
And she longed to mate with his primal seed-juices.
In a past year she had carried off the real princess,
And taken the form of the king's true daughter.
When she met the Great Sage, who saw her evil aura,
He could tell true from false as he came to save a life.
The murderous club was flung at the head;
The mighty iron cudgel struck back at the face.
Ranting and roaring, they were locked in struggle,
Filling the skies and blotting out the sun.
As the two of them battled in mid air they terrified the common people of the city, and struck fear into all the officials at court. The venerable elder kept saying as he supported the king, “Don't be alarmed, and please tell Her Majesty and all the others not to be afraid. Your princess is an impostor pretending to be her. When my disciple has captured her you will be able to see whether she is good or evil.” Some of the bolder consorts brought clothes and jewelry to show the queen.
“These are what the princess wore. She tore them off and is fighting that monk up in the sky stark naked. She must be an evil spirit.” Only then did the king, queens and consorts come to their senses and look up into the sky.
When the evil spirit and the Great Sage had been fighting for half a day without either emerging as victor Monkey threw his cudgel up and called “Change!” One turned into ten, ten into a hundred, and a hundred into a thousand. Half the sky was filled with writhing serpents and pythons striking wildly at the evil spirit. With a flurry of her hands and feet she turned into a pure wind and fled into the azure sky. Monkey said a spell, took all the iron cudgels back into a single cudgel, and went straight after her magic light.
As he approached the Western Gate of Heaven and saw the dazzling flags and banners Monkey shouted at the top of his voice, “Heavenly gatekeepers, stop that evil spirit and don't let her get away.” The gate was being held by the Heavenly King Lokapala with the four great marshals Pang, Liu, Gou and Bi, who did indeed use their weapons to block the way. As she could not get further she turned straight back and started fighting Monkey with her short club.
As he wheeled his iron cudgel the Great Sage looked carefully at her and saw that one end of her club was thick and one end thin, just like the lead of a trip-hammer used for hulling with a mortar, so he gave a furious roar and shouted, “Beast! What's that implement you're holding? How dare you fight me with it? Surrender at once or I'll smash your skull with a single blow from my cudgel.”
Grinding her teeth, the evil spirit replied, “You don't know about this weapon of mine, so listen while I tell you:
Its immortal root was a piece of mutton-fat jade,
Which took countless years to be worked into shape.
It was already mine when chaos was separated;
When the primal disorder was sorted out I came first.
Its origins cannot be compared with mere mortal things;
Its nature has always belonged to the highest heaven.
Embodying the golden light and the four images
With the auspicious vapors of the Five Elements and the Three Primaries.
Long did it live with me in the Moon Palace,
Staying beside me in the Cassia Hall.
For love of flowers I descended to the mortal world,
Coming to India as a beautiful impostor.
The only reason why I shared the King's pleasures
Was because I wanted my destined marriage with the Tang Priest.
How could you be so cruel as to ruin this fine mating,
Pursuing me and giving rein to your vicious nature?
Great is the fame of this implement of mine,