“'Dharma' in the name of Your Majesty's country is excellent,” Monkey said, “but the 'destructia' part is nonsense. Now that we've come here you should change the name to 'Dharmarespectia'. This would guarantee
Clear waters and victory for a thousand generations;
Timely winds and rain with universal peace.”
The king thanked them for their gracious kindness, had the royal carriage prepared and escorted the Tang Priest and his three disciples Westwards out of the city.
We will say no more of how monarch and subjects now held to the true faith, but tell how after leaving the king of Dharmarespectia the venerable elder said happily from on his horse, “What excellent magic you used, Wukong. It worked very well.”
“Elder brother,” said Friar Sand, “where did you find so many barbers to shave all those heads in one night?” Monkey then told them all about how he had used his miraculous powers, at which they all laughed so much they could not stop.
Just as they were feeling so cheerful a great mountain came into view, blocking their way. Reining in the horse, the Tang Priest said, “Disciples, see how high that mountain is. You must be very careful.”
“Don't worry,” said Monkey with a grin, “don't worry. I promise you nothing will go wrong.”
“Don't say that,” Sanzang replied. “I can see those jutting peaks, and even from a distance it looks rather sinister. Storm clouds are streaming from it, and I am beginning to feel frightened. My whole body is turning numb and my spirits are disturbed.”
“You have already forgotten the Heart Sutra that the Rook's Nest Hermit taught you,” said Brother Monkey.
“I can still remember it,” Sanzang said.
“Even if you can still remember that,” said Monkey, “there is a quatrain that you've forgotten.”
“What quatrain?” Sanzang asked, to which Monkey replied,
“Do not go far to seek the Buddha on Vulture Peak;
Vulture Peak is in your heart.
Everybody has a Vulture Peak stupa
Under which to cultivate conduct.”
“Of course I know it, disciple,” said Sanzang. “According to that quatrain the thousands of scriptures all come down to cultivating the heart.”
“Goes without saying,” Monkey replied.
“When the heart is purified it can shine alone;
When the heart is preserved all perceptions are pure.
If there is any mistake then laziness follows,
And success will not come in a myriad years.
As long as your will is sincere Thunder Peak is before your eyes.
But if you're as scared, frightened and disturbed as this the Great Way is distant, and Thunder Peak is far, far away. Forget those wild fears and come with me.” When the venerable elder heard this his spirits were revived and his worries disappeared.
The four of them had only gone a few more steps when they reached the mountain. When they raised their eyes this was what they saw:
A fine mountain,
Dappled with many colours.
White clouds drifted around the peak,
And cool were the shadows of the trees in front of the cliff.
The birds rustled in the leaves,
The beasts were ferocious.
Among the woods were a thousand pines,
On the ridge a few bamboos.
Howls came from gray wolves seizing their prey,
And roars from hungry tigers fighting over food.
Long screamed the wild apes searching for fruit;
The David's-deer climbed through blossoms into mists of green.
The wind was blowing,
The waters babbled,
And hidden birds sang in the deserted pass.
Here and there wisteria was climbing
While rare flowers bloomed by the stream amid orchids.
Intricately shaped and strange were the rocks,
And sheer rose the crags.
Foxes and raccoon-dogs ran in packs;
Badgers and apes were playing in groups.
The travelers were worried by so high and steep a mountain:
Why was the ancient track so twisted?
While master and disciples were moving timidly ahead they heard the howling of a wind. “There's a wind,” said Sanzang in fear.
“In the spring there are mild winds,” Monkey replied, “in the summer hot ones, in the autumn golden ones and in the winter North winds. There are winds in all four seasons. What's so frightening about a wind?”
“This wind is blowing very hard,” Sanzang replied. “It is definitely not a wind from heaven.”
“But winds always come from the earth and clouds from mountains,” Monkey replied, “so how could there be a wind from heaven?” Before he had finished speaking a mist arose. That mist really was
Darkness joining up with the sky,
Obscurity making the whole earth dim.
The sun had completely vanished from sight
And no bird sang.
All was as indistinct as primal chaos,
And the air seemed filled with flying dust.
The trees on the mountain could not be seen
Where had the herb-gatherers gone?
“Wukong,” said Sanzang in fright, “why is there this mist when the wind is still blowing?”
“Don't get upset,” Monkey replied. “Get off your horse, Master. I'll go and see whether or not it's sinister while you two keep guard, brothers.”
The splendid Great Sage needed only to bow in order to be in mid-air. Holding his hand to his brow for shade, he opened his fiery eyes wide and looked down to see an evil spirit sitting at the foot of a beetling scar. Just look and see what he was like:
A mighty body full of charm,
A heroic manner of great vigor.
The fangs protruding from his mouth were drills of steel;
His nose hung like a jade hook in the middle.
His golden eyes with pupils round gave animals a fright;
Demons and gods were scared of his bristling silver whiskers.
He sat upright by the cliff in terrible might,
Making the mist and wind as he hatched his plot.
On either side of him some thirty or forty junior demons could be seen, all drawn up in line and blowing out mist and wind for all they were worth. Monkey grinned at this and thought, “So my master is clairvoyant. He said it wasn't a heavenly wind, and it was in fact caused by this evil spirit trying to fool us. Now if I went straight down and hit him with what they call a 'garlicsmasher' that'd kill him sure enough, but it would ruin my reputation.” Monkey had been a true hero all his life and was quite incapable of playing a dirty trick like that.
“I'd better go back and give Pig some attention. I'll ask him to hit the evil spirit first. If Pig's good enough to kill the evil spirit we'll be in luck. If he isn't and the evil spirit captures him I can come back to rescue him and win myself a bit of fame. He's always putting on such an act and being so lazy-he won't make an effort. Still, he is very greedy and partial to a good feed. I think I'll try a trick on him and see how that works.”
At once he brought his cloud down to land in front of Sanzang, who asked, “Are the wind and the mist sinister or not?”
“It's clear now,” Monkey replied. “They've gone.”
“Yes,” said Sanzang, “they have eased off a little.”
“Master,” said Monkey with a smile, “my eyesight is very good usually, but this time I was wrong. I thought there'd probably be a monster behind that wind and mist but there wasn't.”
“What caused them then?” Sanzang asked.