Their angry shouts shook mountains and rivers;
Their mighty roars caused terror down in hell.
Each of the heroes displayed his prowess,
Staking his life on his magical powers.
We will say no more of how Pig set a mighty wind blowing as he fought the evil spirit, who ordered his junior devils to keep Pig surrounded. Instead the story tells how Brother Monkey suddenly gave a bitter laugh behind the Tang Priest's back.
“Why are you laughing like that, elder brother?” Friar Sand asked.
“Pig really is an idiot,” Monkey replied. “As soon as he heard that they feed monks there he fell for my trick. He's been away a long time now. If he'd beaten the evil spirit with a single blow of his rake you'd have seen him coming back in triumph by now, loudly insisting on his great victory. But if the demon's been too much for him and captured him my luck's out. Goodness only knows how often he'll have cursed the Protector of the Horses behind my back. Say nothing while I go to take a look around, Wujing.”
With that the splendid Great Sage, who did not want the venerable elder to know what was happening, quietly pulled a hair out of the back of his head, blew on it with magic breath, said “Change!” and turned it into his own double to stay with the master together with Friar Sand. Then his real self disappeared as he leapt up into the air to look around. He saw the idiot lashing out wildly with his rake at the devils who were surrounding him and gradually getting the better of him.
This was more than Monkey could bear. Bringing his cloud down to land, he shouted at the top of his voice, “Take it easy, Pig. Monkey's here.” Recognizing that it was Monkey's voice gave the idiot a chance to be more ferocious than ever as he hit wildly forward with his rake. The evil spirit was no match for him.
“You weren't up to much before, monk,” he said, “so how come you're so fierce now?”
“You'd better stop bullying me now, my lad,” Pig replied. “I've got one of my people here now.” A moment later he was swinging wildly again with the rake. The evil spirit, unable to stave off the blows, led his devils away in defeat. As soon as Monkey saw that the devils had been beaten he drew no closer but went straight back on his cloud, shook the hair and put it back on his body. With his mortal, fleshly eyes the Tang Priest noticed nothing of this.
Before long a triumphant Pig returned too, so exhausted that his nose was dripping with snot as he foamed at the mouth and was panting loudly. “Master!” he called.
When the Tang Priest saw him he exclaimed in astonishment, “Pig, you went to fetch some grass for the horse. Why have you come back in so terrible a state? Were there watchmen on the mountain who wouldn't let you cut any?”
The idiot flung his rake down, beat his chest and stamped his feet as he replied, “Don't ask me about it, Master. If I had to tell you I'd die of shame.”
“What would you be so ashamed of?” Sanzang asked.
“Elder brother tricked me,” Pig replied. “He told me that it wasn't an evil spirit behind that wind and mist. He said there was nothing sinister about it, but that it was from a village where the people were so pious that they were steaming white rice and breadrolls made with white flour to feed monks with. I believed him. As I was so hungry I thought I'd go ahead to beg for some. Fetching grass for the horse was only an excuse. I never expected to be surrounded by a crowd of evil spirits. They gave me a hard fight, and if Monkey hadn't helped me out with his mourner's staff I'd have had no hope of escaping and getting back here.”
'The idiot's talking nonsense,” said Monkey, who was standing beside them, with a smile. “If you've taken to robbery you're trying to get a whole gaolful of people into trouble. I've been looking after the master here. I've never left his side.”
“It is true,” Sanzang said, “Wukong has never left my side.”
The idiot then sprang up shouting, “You don't understand, Master. He's got a double.”
“Is there really a monster there, Wukong?” Sanzang asked. Monkey could keep his deception up no longer.
“There are a few little devils,” Monkey replied with a bow and a smile, “but they won't dare give us any trouble. Come here, Pig. I'm going to look after you. We're going to escort the master along this steep mountain path as if we were an army on the march.”
“How?” Pig asked.
“You'll be the commander of the vanguard,” Monkey replied, “going in front and clearing the way. If the evil spirit doesn't show up again that will be that; but if he does, you fight him. When you beat the evil spirit that'll be something to your credit.”
Reckoning that the evil spirit's powers were much the same as his own, Pig said, “Very well then. I'm ready to die at his hands. I'll take the lead.”
“Idiot,” said Monkey, “if you start by saying such unlucky things you'll never get anywhere.”
“As you know, brother,” Pig replied,
“When a gentleman goes to a banquet
He gets either drunk or well filled;
When a hero goes into a battle
He gets either wounded or killed.
By saying something unlucky first I'll make myself stronger later.” This delighted Monkey, who saddled the horse and invited the master to ride while Friar Sand carried the luggage as they all followed Pig into the mountains.
The evil spirit meanwhile led a few of his underlings who had survived the rout straight back to his cave, where he sat brooding in silence high up above a rocky precipice. Many of the junior devils who looked after things in his household came up to him and asked, “Why are you so miserable today, Your Majesty? You're usually in-such high spirits when you come back.”
“Little ones,” said the demon king, “usually when I go out to patrol the mountains I can be sure of bringing home a few people or animals I've caught to feed you with. Today my luck was out: I've met my match.”
“Who?” the junior devils asked.
“A monk,” the demon king replied, “a disciple of the Tang Priest from the East who's going to fetch the scriptures. He's called Zhu Bajie. He went for me so hard with his rake that he beat me. I had to run away. I'm thoroughly fed up. For ages now I've heard it said that the Tang Priest is an arhat who has cultivated his conduct for ten successive lifetimes. Anyone who eats a piece of his flesh will live for ever. To my surprise he's come to my mountain today, and it would have been an ideal time to catch him, cook him and eat him. I never realized he'd have a disciple like that one.”
Before he had finished saying this a junior devil slipped forward from the ranks. First he gave three sobs in front of the demon king, then three laughs.
“Why sob then laugh?” shouted the demon king.
The junior devil fell to his knees as he replied, “Because Your Majesty just said that you wanted to eat the Tang Priest. His flesh isn't worth eating.”
“But everyone says that a piece of his flesh will make you live as long as the heavens,” said the demon king. “How can you say that it's not worth eating?”
“If he were so good to eat,” the junior devil replied, “he'd never have got this far. Other demons would have eaten him up. And he's got three disciples with him.”
“Do you know who?” the demon king asked.
“The senior disciple is Sun the Novice,” said the junior devil, “and the third disciple is Friar Sand. The one you met must have been his second disciple Zhu Bajie.”
“How does Friar Sand compare with Zhu Bajie?” asked the demon king.
“He's much the same,” the junior devil said,
“What about Sun the Novice?” the demon king asked, at which the junior devil thrust out his tongue in horror and replied, “I daren't tell you. That Monkey has tremendous magic powers and can do all sorts of transformations. Five hundred years ago he made terrible havoc in heaven. None of the heavenly warriors dared give him any trouble, from the Twenty-eight Constellations, the Star Lords of the Nine Bright Shiners, the Gods of the Twelve Branches, the Five Officers and the Four Ministers, the East and West Dippers and the Gods of the North and the South, to the Five Peaks and the Four Rivers. How can you have the nerve to want to eat the Tang Priest?”