“How many scriptures are there?” the emperor asked. “And how did you fetch them?”
“When your clerical subject reached Vulture Peak and saw the Lord Buddha,” Sanzang replied, “he told the arhats Ananda and Kasyapa to take us first to a precious tower where we were given meatless food, then to the library, where we were handed the scriptures. The arhats demanded presents, but as we had not brought any we had none to give. Then they gave us the scriptures. When we had thanked the Buddha for his goodness and were travelling East the scriptures were snatched away by a demonic gale. Luckily my disciples were able to recover them by using magic powers, but they had been blown all over the place. On opening them out to look at them we found that they were all blank, wordless versions. We were so shocked that we went back to report to the Buddha and plead for the real ones. What the Lord Buddha said was, 'When these scriptures were composed, bhiksus and holy monks went down the mountain and recited them to the family of the elder Zhao in the land of Sravasti. This ensured peace and safety for the living and deliverance for the dead members of the family. All that was asked for was three bushels and three pecks of granular gold. I thought that they sold the scriptures too cheap, so I saw to it that Zhao's sons and grandsons would be poor.' When we realized that the two arhats were demanding a present and that the Lord Buddha knew all about it we had no choice but to give them our begging bowl of purple gold. Only then did they hand over the true scriptures with words. There are thirty-five of them, and a number of rolls from each of them was selected to be given us, making a total of rolls. This corresponds to the number of rolls in a single Store.”
At this Taizong was more delighted than ever. “Let the Protocol Office arrange a thanksgiving banquet in the Eastern hall,” he ordered, at which he suddenly saw the three disciples standing at the foot of the steps, looking very strange indeed. “Are your distinguished disciples foreigners?” he asked.
“My senior disciple's surname is Sun,” the venerable elder replied with a bow, “his Buddhist name is Wukong, and I also call him Sun the Novice. He originally came from the Water Curtain Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in the country of Aolai in the Eastern Continent of Divine Body. For making great havoc in the palaces of heaven five hundred years ago he was crashed by the Lord Buddha in a stone cell in the Double Boundary Mountain on the Western frontier. After the Bodhisattva Guanyin persuaded him to mend his ways he accepted conversion, so when I arrived there I delivered him. I am greatly indebted to him for my protection. My second disciple Zhu has the Buddhist name Wuneng, and I also call him Pig. He came from the Cloud Pathway Cave on the Mountain of Blessing, and was a monster in Gao Village in the land of Stubet until he was converted by the Bodhisattva and subdued by Wukong. He has made great efforts, carrying the load all along the way, and been very useful in crossing rivers. My third disciple's surname is Sha and his Buddhist name Wujing. He used to be a monster in the Rowing Sands River. He too was converted by the Bodhisattva and now believes in the Buddhist faith. The horse is not the one that my sovereign gave me.”
“How is that?” Taizong asked. “Its markings are the same.”
“When your subject was going to cross the waters of the Eagle's Sorrow Gorge by Coiled Snake Mountain my original horse was devoured by this one,” Sanzang replied. “Sun the Novice obliged me by having the Bodhisattva asked about the horse's background. It was originally the son of the Dragon King of the Western Sea who had been sent there because of an offence. He too, was saved by the Bodhisattva, who told him to work for me and turned him into a horse with the same markings as the original one. He has been very helpful in climbing mountains, crossing ridges, fording rivers and negotiating difficult country. On the outward journey I rode him, and he carried the scriptures on the way back: I have depended greatly on his efforts.”
Taizong was full of boundless praise on learning this. “How long in fact was your journey to the far West?” he asked.
“I remember the Bodhisattva saying that it was 36,000 miles,” Sanzang replied, “but I kept no record of the distances along the way. All I know is that we experienced fourteen winters and summers. Every day there was a mountain or a ridge. The woods were big and the rivers wide. I also met several kings who inspected and stamped my passport. Disciples,” he ordered, “fetch the passport and hand it to His Majesty.”
When Taizong examined it he saw that it had been issued on the twelfth day of the ninth month of the thirteenth year of Zhen Guan. “You did indeed make a long and protracted journey,” he observed with a touch of a smile. “It is now the twenty-seventh year of Zhen Guan.” On the passport were the seals of the monarchs of Elephantia, Wuji, Tarrycart, the Womanland of Western Liang, Jisai, Purpuria, Leonia, Bhiksuland and Dharmadestructia; as well as the seals of the chief officials of Fengxian, Yuhua and Jinping. When Taizong had read through the passport he put it away.
Soon the officials in personal attendance on the emperor came to invite them to go to the banquet, whereupon Taizong led Sanzang by the hand out of the throne hall, asking, “Do your distinguished disciples know how to behave themselves?”
“My disciples were all demons from mountain villages and from the wilderness,” Sanzang replied, “so they do not understand the etiquette of the sacred court of China. I beg you to forgive them for any offences, Your Majesty.”
“We won't blame them,” Taizong said with a smile, “we won't blame them. They are all invited to come with us to the banquet in the Eastern pavilion.” Thanking him once again, Sanzang called his three disciples, and they all went to the Eastern pavilion to look. This was indeed the great land of China, no ordinary place. Just look;
Coloured silks hung from the gates,
Red carpets were spread on the floor.
Heavy, rare fragrances,
Fresh and exotic foods.
Amber cups,
Glazed dishes,
Set with gold and nephrite;
Plates of yellow gold,
White jade bowls,
Inlaid with patterns.
Tender braised turnips,
Sugar-dredged taros,
Wonderful sweet mushrooms,
Fine fresh seaweed,
Several servings of bamboo shoots with ginger,
A number of rounds of mallows with honey,
Wheat gluten with leaves of the tree of heaven,
Tree fungus and thin strips of beancurd,
Agar and aster,
Noodles with ferns and dried rose-petals,
Peppers stewed with radish,
Melon shredded with mustard.
The dishes of vegetables were fine enough,
But the rare and wonderful fruit was outstanding:
Walnuts and persimmon cakes,
Longans and lichees,
Chestnuts from Xuanzhou and Shandong jujubes,
Gingko fruit from South of the Yangtse and hare-head pears,
Hazelnuts, pine nuts and lotus seeds, all big as grapes,
Torreya nuts and melon seeds the size of water chestnuts,
Olives and wild apples,
Pippins and crabs,
Lotus root and arrowhead,
Crisp plums and red baybfenies.
Nothing was missing,
All was complete.
There were steamed honey pastries and other confections,
Best wines and fragrant tea and things out of the ordinary.
Words could not describe the countless delicacies:
The great land of China was not Western barbary.