Old trees and find bamboo.
Crows and magpies sing as they fly,
Cranes call and gibbons scream.
Below the beetling scar
David's deer go in twos;
In front of the sheer rock-face
Are pairs of badgers and foxes.
Dragons from afar emerge briefly from the waters
Of the twisting, winding stream that runs deep under the ground.
This ridge runs right to the edge of Yuhua,
A place of beauty for a thousand ages.
Just as he was surveying the scene Monkey heard voices on the other side of the mountain, turned quickly round to look, and saw a couple of wolf-headed ogres climbing towards the Northwest and talking loudly as they went.
“They must be monsters patrolling the mountain,” Monkey guessed. “I'm going to listen to what they have to say.”
Making magic with his hands and saying the words of a spell Monkey shook himself, turned into a butterfly, spread his wings and fluttered after them. It was a very lifelike transformation:
A pair of powdery wings,
Two silver antennae.
In the wind it files very fast;
In the sun it's a leisurely dancer.
It crosses rivers and walls in a flash.
Enjoys stealing fragrance and playing with catkins.
This delicate creature loves the taste of fresh flowers
It shows its beauty and elegance as it pleases.
He flew to a spot right above the evil spirits' heads, where he floated and listened to what they had to say. “Brother,” one of them shouted suddenly, “our chief keeps on striking it lucky. The other month he caught himself a real beauty to live with him in the cave, and he was as pleased as anything about that. Then last night he got the three weapons, which really are priceless treasures. Tomorrow there's going to be a Rake Banquet to celebrate, so we're all going to benefit.”
“We've been quite lucky too,” the other replied, “being given these twenty ounces of silver to buy pigs and sleep. When we get to Qianfang Market we can have a few jugs of wine to start with, and then fiddle the accounts to make ourselves two or three ounces of silver to buy ourselves padded jackets for the winter. It's great, isn't it?” As they laughed and talked the two monsters hurried along the main path at a great speed.
When Monkey heard about the banquet to celebrate the rake he was quietly delighted. He would have liked to kill the devils, but it was not their fault and, besides, he had no weapon. So he flew round till he was in front of them, turned back into himself and stood at a junction along the path. As the devils gradually came closer he blew a mouthful of magic saliva at them, recited the words Om Humkara and made a fixing spell that held the two wolf-headed spirits where they were. Their eyes were fixed in a stare, they could not open their mouths, and they stood upright, both legs rigid. Monkey then knocked them over, undid their clothes and searched them, finding the twenty ounces of silver in a purse carried by one of them in the belt of his kilt. Each of them was also carrying a white lacquered pass. One of these read “Wily Freak” and the other read “Freaky Wile.”
Having taken their silver and undone their passes the splendid Great Sage went straight back to the city, where he told the princes, the Tang Priest, the officials high and low and the smiths what had happened.
“I reckon my treasure's the one that shone the brightest,” said Pig with a grin. “That's why they're buying pigs and sheep for a slap-up meal to celebrate. But how are we going to get it back?”
“We'll all three of us go,” said Monkey. “This silver was for buying pigs and sheep. We'll give it to the smiths: His Royal Highness can provide us with some animals. Pig, you turn yourself into Wily Freak, I'll turn into Freaky Wile, and Friar Sand can be a trader selling pigs and sheep. We'll go into Tigermouth Cave, and when it suits us we'll grab our weapons, kill all the monsters, come back here to pack up and be on our way again.”
“Terrific,” said Friar Sand. “No time to lose. Let's go.” The senior prince agreed with the plan and told his steward to buy seven or eight pigs and four or five sheep.
The three of them left their master and gave a great display of their magic powers once outside the city.
“Brother,” said Pig, “I've never seen that Wily Freak, so how can I possibly turn myself into his double?”
“I did fixing magic on him to keep him over there somewhere,” Monkey said, “and he won't come round till tomorrow. I can remember what he looks like, so you stand still while I tell you how to change. Yes, like this…no, a bit more like that…That's it. That's him.”
While the idiot said an incantation Brother Monkey blew on him with magic breath, turned him into Wily Freak's double and gave him a white pass to tuck in at his waist. Monkey then turned himself into Freaky Wile with a pass at his waist too, and Friar Sand made himself look like a travelling dealer in pigs and sheep. Then they drove the pigs and sheep together along the path West towards the mountain. Before long they were in a mountain gully, where they met another junior devil. He had the most horrible face. Just look:
A pair of round and bulging eyes
Shining like lanterns;
A head of red and bristly hair,
Blazing like fire.
A red nose,
A twisted mouth,
Sharp and pointy fangs;
Protruding ears,
A brow that seemed hacked into shape,
And a green and bloated face.
He was wearing a pale yellow tunic
And sandals made of sedge.
He looked most imposing, like some evil god,
As he hurried along like a vicious demon.
This devil was carrying a coloured lacquer invitation box under his left arm as he greeted Monkey and the other two with a call of “Freaky Wile, good to see you both. Did you buy us some pigs and sheep?”
“Can't you see we're driving them along?” Monkey replied.
“Who's this gentleman?” the devil asked, looking at Friar Sand.
“He's the dealer in pigs and sheep,” Monkey replied. “We still owe him a couple of ounces of silver, so we're taking him home with us to fetch it. Where are you going?”
“To Bamboo Mountain to invite His Senior Majesty to the feast tomorrow morning,” the devil said.
Taking his cue from the devil's tone of voice, Monkey then asked, “How many guests will there be altogether?”
“His Senior Majesty will take the place of honour,” the devil replied, “and with our own king, chiefs and the rest of them there'll be over forty.”
As they were talking Pig called, “Get a move on! The pigs and sheep are going everywhere.”
“You go and invite them while I get a look at that invitation,” Monkey said, and as the devil regarded him as one of their own kind he opened the box, took out the invitation and handed it to Monkey. This is what Monkey read when he unfolded it:
A banquet is being given tomorrow morning to celebrate the capture of the rake, and if you will condescend to cross the mountain, honoured ancestor, Primal Sage of Ninefold Numinosity, I will be deeply grateful.
With a hundred kowtows,
Your grandson,
Tawny Lion
When Monkey had read it he handed it back to the devil, who returned it to its case and carried on towards the Southeast.
“Brother,” Friar Sand asked, “what did it say on the invitation?”
“It was an invitation to the Rake Banquet,” Monkey replied. “It was signed, 'with a hundred kowtows, your grandson Tawny Lion,' and the invitation was being sent to the Primal Sage of Ninefold Numinosity.'”
“Tawny Lion must be a golden-haired lion who's become a spirit,” said Friar Sand with a smile, “but I wonder who the Primal Sage of Ninefold Numinosity is.”
Pig's reaction was to laugh and say, “He's mine.”
“Why should he necessarily be yours?” Monkey asked.