CHAPTER 6 

Guanyin Comes to the Feast and Asks the Reason Why; The Little Sage Uses His Might to Subdue the Great Sage

We shall leave for the moment the Heavenly Generals making their encirclement and the soundly sleeping Great Sage. The story goes on to tell how the Compassionate and Merciful Miraculous Savior from Suffering, the Bodhisattva Guanyin of Mount Potaraka in the Southern Sea, having been invited by the Queen Mother to the Peach Banquet, went to the precious pavilions at the Jade Pool with her great disciple Hui’an. She found the place deserted and the banquet ruined. The few immortals present were not sitting at their places but holding confused discussions. When greetings were over the immortals gave the Bodhisattva an account of what had happened.

“If there is to be no banquet and no drinking,” said the Bodhisattva, “you had better all come with me to the Jade Emperor.” The immortals were delighted to follow her, and when they arrived before the Hall of Universal Brightness the Four Heavenly Teachers, the Bare-Foot Immortal and many others were all there to greet the Bodhisattva. They told her that the Jade Emperor had sent heavenly armies to capture a demon, but they had not yet returned.

“I wish to see the Jade Emperor,” said the Bodhisattva, “so may I trouble you to inform him on my behalf?” The Heavenly Teacher Qui Hongji then went to the Hall of Miraculous Mist, and the Bodhisattva was invited in. She found that Lord Lao Zi was there in the place of honour, and that the Queen Mother was behind him.

The Bodhisattva went in at the head of the others, and when she had done obeisance to the Jade Emperor she greeted Lao Zi and the Queen Mother. After they had all sat down she asked what had happened at the Peach Banquet.

“The banquet is held every year, and it is normally a very happy occasion,” the Jade Emperor replied, “but this year that monkey fiend wrecked it, so that your invitation was worth nothing.”

“Where does this monkey fiend come from?” asked the Bodhisattva.

“He was born from a stone egg on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in the land of Aolai in the Eastern Continent of Superior Body,” the Jade Emperor answered. “When he was born golden beams flashed from his eyes that reached to the star palace. At first we paid no attention to him, but later on he became a spirit, subduing dragons and tigers, and erasing his own name from the registers of death. The dragon kings and King Yama of the underworld informed us of this in memorials, and we wanted to capture him, but the Star of Longevity memorialized that in the Three Worlds all beings with nine orifices can become immortals. We therefore extended education to the worthy by summoning him to the upper world and appointing him Protector of the Horses in the Imperial Stable. But this was not good enough for the scoundrel, who rebelled against Heaven. We sent Heavenly King Li and Prince Nezha to accept his surrender, extended him an amnesty, and summoned him back to the upper world. We made him a ‘Great Sage Equaling Heaven,’ though this carried no salary. As he had nothing to do he would go wandering all over the place, and for fear that this might lead to trouble we had him look after the Peach Orchard. Once again he flouted the law by stealing and eating every single one of the big peaches from the old trees. When the banquet was to be held he was not invited as his position was purely an honorary one; so he played a trick on the Bare-foot Immortal, went to the banquet looking like him, ate all the immortal delicacies, and drank all the immortal liquor. On top of this he stole Lord Lao Zi’s pills of immortality and some imperial liquor, which he took to his mountain for the monkeys to enjoy. This made us very angry so we sent a hundred thousand heavenly troops to spread heaven-and-earth nets and subdue him. But we have received no reports today, so we do not know whether we have been victorious.”

When the Bodhisattva heard this she said to Hui’an the Novice, “Hurry down from Heaven to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit and find out about the military situation. If you meet with any opposition you may do your bit to help, but the important thing is to bring an accurate report back.” Hui’an the Novice straightened his robes, took his iron staff, left the palace by cloud, and went straight to the mountain. He saw that with the layer upon layer of heaven-and-earth nets, and the men holding bells and shouting passwords at the gates of the camp, the cordon round the mountain was watertight.

Hui’an stopped and called, “Heavenly soldiers at the gates of the camp, I would trouble you to report that I, Moksa, the second son of Heavenly King Li, also known as Hui’an, the senior disciple of Guanyin of the Southern Sea, have come to ask about the military situation.” Then the divine soldiers of the Five Mountains inside the camp went in through the gates of the headquarters, where the Rat, the Cock, the Horse and the Hare stars reported the news to the commander of the central corps. Heavenly King Li sent a flag of command with the order that the heaven-and-earth nets were to be opened to let Hui’an in. The east was just beginning to grow light as Hui’an followed the flag in and bowed to Heavenly King Li and the four other heavenly kings.

“Where have you come from, my son?” asked Heavenly King Li.

“Your stupid son accompanied the Bodhisattva to the Peach Banquet, and when she found the banquet deserted and nobody at the Jade Pool, she took me and the other immortals to see the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor told her that you, Father, and the other kings had gone down to the lower world to capture this monkey fiend. As the Jade Emperor has received no news all day on the outcome of the battle, the Bodhisattva sent me here to find out what has happened.”

“We arrived here and encamped yesterday,” Heavenly King Li replied, “then sent the Nine Bright Shiners to challenge the enemy to battle, but that wretch used such tremendous magic powers that the Nine Bright Shiners all came back defeated. Then we led out own soldiers into action, and the wretch also drew up his line of battle. Our hundred thousand heavenly soldiers fought an indecisive engagements with him till dusk when he used a spell to divide up his body and force us back. When we withdrew our forces and held an investigation, we found that we had only captured wolves, tigers, leopards, and so on, and had not even taken half a monkey fiend. We have not yet given battle today.”

Before he had finished speaking someone appeared outside the gates of the headquarters to report that the Great Sage was outside at the head of a crowd of monkey spirits, clamoring for battle. The four other heavenly kings, Heavenly King Li, and Prince Nezha were all for committing their forces, but Moksa said, “Father, when your stupid son was instructed by the Bodhisattva to come here and find out the news, I was also told that if there was a battle I could do my bit to help. May I please go and see what sort of a ‘great sage’ he is, untalented though I am?”

“My boy,” said Heavenly King Li, “you have been cultivating your conduct with the Bodhisattva for some years now so I suppose that you must have acquired some magic powers, but do be very careful.”

The splendid Prince Moksa hitched up his embroidered robes and charged out through the gates of the headquarters waving his iron staff with both hands. “Which of you is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven?” he shouted.

“I am,” answered the Great Sage, brandishing his As-You-Will cudgel. “But who do you think you are, asking a question like that?”

“I am Prince Moksa, the second son of Heavenly King Li, and I am now a disciple and a guard before the throne of the Bodhisattva Guanyin. My Buddhist name is Hui’an.”

“Why have you come here to see me instead of staying in the Southern Sea and cultivating your conduct?” asked the Great Sage, and Moksa replied, “My teacher sent me here to find out about the military situation, but now that I’ve seen your savagery I’ve come to capture you.”

“You talk big, don’t you,” said the Great Sage.

“Well then, don’t go away, try a taste of my cudgel.” Moksa, not in the least frightened, struck at him with his iron staff. It was a fine fight they fought, half-way up the mountainside outside the gates of the headquarters.

The staves were matched, but made of different iron;

The weapons clashed, but their masters were not the same.

One was a wayward immortal known as the Great Sage,

The other a true dragon disciple of Guanyin.

The cast-iron staff, beaten with a thousand hammers,

Had been forged by the art of the Dings and the Jias.

The As-You-Will cudgel once anchored the Milky Way:

As the Treasure Stilling the Sea its magic power was great.

When the two met they were well matched indeed.

And they parried and lunged at each other without end.

The sinister cudgel, Infinitely murderous,

Could whirl round your waist as quick as the wind,

The spear-catching staff,

Never yielding an opening,

Was irresistible, parrying to right and left.

On the one side the flags and banners fly,

On the other the camel drums roll.

Ten thousand heavenly generals in multiple encirclement;

A cave of monkey devils densely packed together.

Monstrous fogs and evil clouds cover the earth,

While the smoke of deadly battle rises to the sky.

Yesterday’s fighting was bad enough;

Today’s struggle is even worse.

The admirable skills of the Monkey King

Put Moksa to flight, utterly defeated.

After they had fought some fifty or sixty rounds, Hui’an’s arm and shoulders were numbed and aching, and he could resist the Great Sage no longer. Waving his staff in a feint, he turned away and ran. The Great Sage then withdrew his monkey soldiers and encamped outside the gates of the cave.

The big and little heavenly soldiers at the gates of the other camp received Hui’an and let him go straight to the headquarters, where he gasped and panted for breath as he said to the Four Heavenly Kings, Li the Pagoda-bearer, and his brother Prince Nezha, “What a great sage! What a great sage! His magic powers are too much for me. He beat me.” Startled by this news, Heavenly King Li had a request for reinforcements written and sent the Strong-arm Devil King and Prince Moksa up to Heaven to submit.

Not daring to waste a moment, the two messengers rushed out through the heaven-and-earth nets and mounted their propitious clouds. A moment later they arrived outside the Hall of Universal Brightness, where they greeted the Four Heavenly Teachers, who led them to the Hall of Miraculous Mist and handed up their memorial. Prince Moksa, or Hui’an, did homage to the Bodhisattva, who asked him what he had found out.

“As you instructed me, I went to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit,” reported Hui’an, “asked them to open the gates of the heaven-and-earth net, saw my father, and told him of the orders you had given me. His Majesty my father said that they fought against the Monkey King yesterday but did not capture a single monkey spirit—only tigers, leopards, lions, elephants and so on. While he was telling me this the Monkey King demanded battle again, so your disciple fought some fifty or sixty rounds against him with my iron staff, but I was no match for him. He beat me, and drove me back to the camp. This is why my father has sent me and the Strong-arm Devil King up to Heaven to ask for reinforcements.” The Bodhisattva lowered her head in deep thought.

The Jade Emperor opened the memorial and saw that it contained a request for help. “This intolerable monkey spirit has enough tricks to fight off a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers,” he observed with a smile. “Heavenly King Li has asked for reinforcements. Which heavenly soldiers should I send him?”

Before the words were out of his mouth, Guanyin put her hands together and said, “Do not worry, You Majesty. I can recommend a god to capture this monkey.”

“Which god?” the Jade Emperor asked, and the Bodhisattva replied, “Your Majesty’s nephew, the Illustrious Sage and True Lord Erlang, who is now living at Guanjiangkou in Guanzhou, enjoying the incense that the lower beings burn to him. In the past he exterminated the Six Bogies. He has the Brothers of Plum Hill and the twelve hundred straw-headed gods, and his magical powers are enormous. He will agree to be sent though he would not obey a summons to come here, so Your Majesty might like to issue a decree ordering him to take his troops to the rescue.” The Jade Emperor then issued such a decree and sent the Strong-arm Devil King to deliver it.

The devil king took the decree, mounted his cloud, and went straight to Guanjiangkou. He reached the temple of the True Lord within an hour. When the demon judges guarding the gates went in to report that there was an envoy from heaven standing outside with an imperial decree, Erlang went with the brothers to receive the decree outside the gates, and incense was burned as he read.

The Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the monkey fiend of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, has rebelled. Because he stole peaches, wine and pills while in Heaven and wrecked the Peach Banquet, we have despatched a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and eighteen heaven-and-earth nets to surround the mountain and force him to submit, but we have not yet succeeded. We do now therefore especially appoint our worthy nephew and his sworn brothers to go to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit and give their help in eliminating him. When you succeed, large rewards and high office shall be yours.

Erlang was delighted. He told the envoy from Heaven to go back and report that he would be putting his sword to the Emperor’s service. We need not describe how the devil king reported back to Heaven.

The True Lord Erlang called the six sworn brothers of Plum Hill—Marshals Kang, Zhang, Yao, and Li, and Generals Quo Shen and Zhi Jian—together before the hall. “The Jade Emperor has just ordered us to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit to subdue a monkey fiend,” he said. “You are all coming with me.”

The brothers were all eager to go, and mustering their divine troops they unleashed a gale wind. In an instant they had crossed the Eastern Ocean, riding eagles and leading dogs, pulling their bows and drawing their crossbows, and had reached the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.

Finding that the many layers of heaven-earth nets were impenetrable, Erlang shouted, “Listen, all you generals in charge of the heaven-and-earth nets. I am the True Lord and the Illustrious Sage Erlang, and I have been sent here by the Jade Emperor to capture the monkey fiend. Open the gates of the camp and let me in at once.” Each line of gods forming the nets let them through, and the four other heavenly kings and Heavenly King Li all came to welcome him outside the headquarters. When the introductions were over he asked how the fighting had gone, and the heavenly kings gave him a full account of what had happened.

“Now that I, the Little Sage, have come here I shall have to match a few transformations with him,” said Erlang with a smile. “I hope that all you gentlemen will maintain a close cordon with your heaven-and-earth nets, but don’t screen off the top of the mountain; then I’ll be able to fight him. If he beats me I shan’t need the help of you gentlemen, as I have my brothers to support me; and if I beat him I won’t have to trouble you to tie him up as my brothers can do it. I would just like to ask Heavenly King Li to stand in the sky and operate this fiend-detecting mirror. I’m worried that if he’s beaten he may go and hide somewhere, so you will have to give me a clear view of him and not let him get away.” The heavenly kings stayed in the four quarters, and all the heavenly soldiers were drawn up in their battle positions.

The True Lord Erlang went out at the head of the four marshals and the two generals—making seven sworn brothers with himself included—to challenge the enemy to battle; and he ordered his other officers to defend the camp firmly and keep the eagles and dogs under control. All the straw-headed gods acknowledged the order. Erlang then went to the outside of the Water Curtain Cave, where he saw the monkey hordes neatly drawn up in a coiled-dragon battle line; in the middle of the central corps stood a pole with a banner on it reading “Great Sage Equaling Heaven.”

“What business has that loathsome fiend to call himself the equal of Heaven?” Erlang asked; and the six sworn brothers of Plum Hill replied, “Stop admiring him and challenge him to battle.” When the junior monkeys at the gate of their camp saw the True Lord Erlang they rushed back to report, whereupon the Monkey King took his gold-banded cudgel, adjusted his golden armour, put on his cloud-walking shoes, felt his phoenix-feather cap, and leapt out through the gates of the camp. He saw at first sight how cool and remarkable Erlang looked, and how elegantly he was dressed. Indeed:

His bearing was refined, his visage noble,

His ears hung down to his shoulders, and his eyes shone.

The hat on his head had three peaks and phoenixes flying,

And his robe was of a pale goose-yellow.

His boots were lined with cloth of gold; dragons coiled round his socks;

His jade belt was decorated with the eight jewels,

At his waist was a bow, curved like the moon,

In his hand a double-edged trident.

His axe had split open Peach Mountain when he rescued his mother,

His bow had killed the twin phoenixes of Zongluo.

Widespread was his fame for killing the Eight Bogies,

And he had become one of Plum Hill’s seven sages.

His heart was too lofty to acknowledge his relatives in Heaven;

In his pride he went back to be a god at Guanjiang.

He was the Merciful and Miraculous Sage of the red city,

Erlang, whose transformations were numberless.

When the Great Sage saw him he laughed with delight, raised his gold-banded cudgel, and shouted, “Where are you from, little general, that you have the audacity to challenge me?”

“You must be blind, you wretch, if you can’t recognize me. I am the nephew of the Jade Emperor, and my title is Merciful and Miraculous King Erlang. I am here on imperial orders to arrest you, Protector of the Horses, you rebel against Heaven, you reckless baboon.”

“Now I remember who you are,” replied the Great Sage. “Some years ago the Jade Emperor’s younger sister wanted to be mortal and came down to the lower world, where she married a Mr. Yang and gave birth to a son, who split the Peach Mountain open with his axe. Is that who you are? I should really fling you a few curses, but I’ve got no quarrel with you; and it would be a pity to kill you by hitting you with my cudgel. So why don’t you hurry back, young sir, and tell those Four Heavenly Kings of yours to come out?”

When the True Lord Erlang heard this he burst out angrily, “Damned monkey! Where are your manners? Try this blade of mine!” The Great Sage dodged the blow and instantly raised his gold-banded club to hit back. There was a fine battle between the two of them:

The Merciful God Erlang,

The Great Sage Equaling Heaven:

One is the Handsome Monkey King, the proud deceiver of his enemies;

The other a true pillar, the unknown subduer.

When the two met

They were both in a fighting mood.

He who had no respect before

Today learned a sense of proportion.

The iron staff raced with the flying dragons,

The divine cudgel seemed like a dancing phoenix.

Parrying to the left, thrusting to the right,

Advancing to meet a blow, flashing behind.

The brothers of Plum Hill add to one side’s might,

While the other has the four Stalwart Generals to transmit orders.

As the flags wave and the drums roll each side is as one;

Battle-cries and gongs raise everyone’s morale.

The two steel blades each watch for their chance,

But neither leaves an opening as they come and go.

The gold-banded cudgel, the treasure from the sea,

Can fly and transform itself to win the victory.

A moment’s delay and life is lost;

A single mistake will be the last.

After Erlang and the Great Sage had fought over three hundred rounds the outcome of the fight was still undecided. Erlang braced himself, and with a shake became ten thousand fathoms tall; in his hands his two-bladed trident looked like the peaks of Mount Hua. His face was black, his fangs were long, and his hair was bright red: he looked ferociously evil. He hacked at the Great Sage’s head. The Great Sage, also resorting to magic, gave himself a body as big as Erlang’s and a face as frightening; and he raised his As-You-Will gold-banded cudgel, which was now like the pillar of Heaven on the summit of the Kunlun Mountain, to ward off Erlang’s blow. This reduced the two ape field marshals Ma and Liu to such trembling terror that they could no longer wave their banners, while the gibbon generals Seng and Ba were too scared to use their swords. On the other side Kang, Zhang, Yao, Li, Guo Shen and Zhi Jian threw the straw-headed gods into an assault on the Water Curtain Cave, with the dogs and eagles unleashed and their bows and crossbows drawn. This attack put the four monkey generals to flight, and two or three thousand devils were captured. The monkeys threw away their spears, tore off their armour, abandoned their swords and halberds, and fled screaming. Some went up the mountain and some returned to the cave, like roosting birds frightened by an owl, or stars scattered across the sky. That is all we have to say about the sworn brothers’ victory.

The story goes on to tell how the True Lord Erlang and the Great Sage, having turned themselves into figures on the scale of Heaven and Earth, were locked in battle when the Great Sage was suddenly appalled to notice that the monkey fiends in his camp had scattered in terror. Putting off his magic appearance he broke away and fled, his cudgel in his hand. Seeing him go, the True Lord Erlang hurried after him with long strides.

“Where are you going?” he asked. “If you surrender at once, your life will be spared.” The Great Sage, who had no heart left for the fight, was running as fast as he could. As he approached the mouth of the cave he came up against Marshals Kang, Zhang, Yao and Li, as well as Generals Guo Shen and Zhi Jian, blocking his way at the head of their armies.

“Where are you going, damned monkey?” they asked, and the Great Sage hastily squeezed his gold-banded cudgel till it was the size of an embroidery needle and hid it in his ear. Then he shook himself, turned into a sparrow, flew up into a tree, and perched on one of its branches.

The six sworn brothers looked for him very hard but could find him nowhere, so they all shouted in unison, “The monkey fiend has escaped, the monkey fiend has escaped!”

As they were shouting the True Lord Erlang arrived and asked them, “Brothers, where had you chased him to when he disappeared?”

“We had him surrounded here just now, but he vanished.” Erlang opened his phoenix eyes till they were quite round and looked about him. He saw that the Great Sage had changed himself into a sparrow and was perching on a branch; so he put off his magical appearance, threw down his divine trident, and took the pellet bow from his waist. Then he shook himself, changed into a kite, spread his wings, and swooped in to attack. As soon as the Great Sage saw this he took off and turned himself into a big cormorant, soaring up into the sky. Erlang saw him, and with a quick shake of his feathers and a twist of his body he transformed himself into a crane and pierced the clouds as he tried to catch him. The Great Sage landed on a mountain stream and, changing into a fish, plunged into the water. Erlang, who had pursued him to the bank of the stream, could see no trace of him.

“That macaque must have gone into the water and changed himself into some kind of fish or shrimp,” he thought. “I’ll transform myself again, then I’ll get him.” He turned into a fish-hawk and soared above the lower reaches of the stream and the first waves of the sea. He waited there for a time. Meanwhile the Great Sage, who was in the form of a fish, swam with the stream until he noticed a bird flying above him. It was quite like a blue kite, except that its feathers were not blue; it was quite like an egret, but it had no crest on its head; and it was quite like a stork, but its legs were not red.

“That must be what Erlang turned himself into while waiting for me,” he thought, turned round quickly, and went away.

“The fish who turned round,” thought Erlang when he saw this, “is like a carp but its tail isn’t red; it’s like a mandarin fish, but I can’t see the pattern on its scales; it’s like a snakehead, but without a star on its head; and like a bream, but it has no needles on its gills. Why did it turn round the moment it saw me? It must be that monkey transformed.” He swooped down and snapped at the Great Sage with his beak. The Great Sage leapt out of the water, turned into a water-snake, swam to the bank, and slid into the grass. Failing to catch the fish in his beak, Erlang saw a snake jump out of the water and realized it was the Great Sage. He changed himself at once into a red-crested grey crane, and stretched out his long beak that was like a pair of pointed pincers to eat up the water-snake. The snake gave a jump and became a bustard standing stiffly on a smartweed-covered bank. When Erlang saw that he had turned himself into so low a creature—for the bustard is the lowest and lewdest of birds, not caring whether it mates with phoenix, eagle or crow—he kept his distance, reverted to his own body, went away to fetch and load his pellet bow, and knocked him flying with a single shot.

The Great Sage seized the chance as he rolled down the precipice to crouch there and turn himself into a temple to a local god. He opened his mouth wide to look like the entrance to the temple and turned his teeth into the doors; he made his tongue into a statue of a god and his eyes into windows and lattice. He could not tuck his tail away, so he stuck it up behind him as a flagpole. When Erlang came to the foot of the precipice he could not see the bustard he had shot over, and anxiously opening his phoenix eyes he looked carefully around and saw a temple with its flagpole at the back.

“It must be that monkey over there,” he observed with a smile. “He’s trying to fool me again. I’ve seen temples before, but never one with the flagpole at the back. I’m sure it is that beast up to his tricks again. If he’d managed to lure me in, he’d have been able to get me with a single bite. Of course I won’t go in. I’ll smash his windows in with my fist, then I’ll kick his door down.”

“Vicious, really vicious,” thought the Great Sage with horror when he heard him say this. “Those doors are my teeth, and the windows are my eyes; and if he smashes my teeth and bashes in my eyes, what sort of a state will that leave me in?” With a tiger leap he disappeared into the sky.

The True Lord Erlang rushed around wildly, but he could only see his six sworn brothers, who crowded round him and asked, “Elder Brother, did you catch the Great Sage?”

“That monkey turned himself into a temple to fool me,” he replied with a laugh. “Just when I was going to smash his windows and kick in his door he gave a jump and vanished without a trace. Strange, very strange.” They were all astonished, and though they looked all around they could see no sign of him.

“Brothers, you patrol this area while I go to look for him above,” said Erlang, and with a quick jump he was riding a cloud in mid-air.

When he saw Heavenly King Li holding high the fiend-detecting mirror and standing with Nezha at the edge of a cloud, the True Lord asked, “Your Heavenly Majesty, have you seen that Monkey King?”

“He hasn’t come up here—I’ve been keeping a lookout for him with this mirror,” the Heavenly King replied. The True Lord Erlang then told him how he had used transformations and magic to capture the monkey hordes.

“He changed into a temple,” Erlang went on, “but got away just when I was going to hit him.” On hearing this, Heavenly King Li turned the fiend-detecting mirror in all four directions, then said with a laugh, “Hurry away, True Lord, hurry away. The monkey made himself invisible to get through the encirclement, and he’s gone to your place, Guanjiangkou.” Erlang took his divine trident and returned to Guanjiangkou in pursuit.

The Great Sage had already arrived there, changed himself into the likeness of the god Erlang with a shake of his body, put away his cloud, and gone into the temple. The demon judges did not realize who he really was, so they all kowtowed to welcome him. He took his seat in the middle of the temple, and inspected the offerings: the beef, mutton and pork presented by one Li Hu, the ex-voto promised by a Zhang Long, the letter from a Zhao Jia asking for a son, and one Qian Bing’s prayer for recovery from illness. As he was looking round it was announced that another Lord Erlang had arrived. All the demon judges hurried to look, and they were all astonished.

The True Lord Erlang asked, “Has a so-called Great Sage Equaling Heaven been here?”

“We haven’t seen any Great Sages,” they replied, “only another god who’s looking around inside.”

The True Lord rushed in through the gates, and as soon as the Great Sage saw him he reverted to his own appearance and said, “There’s no point in shouting, sir. This temple’s mine now.”

The True Lord raised his double-bladed trident and swung at the Monkey King’s head, but the Monkey King dodged the blow by magic, took his embroidery needle, shook it till it was as thick as a bowl, and rushed forward to meet the attack. Shouting and yelling, they fought their way out through the gates, and went on fighting through the mists and clouds all the way back to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. The Four Heavenly Kings and all their soldiers were so alarmed that they kept an even tighter guard. Marshals Kang and Zhang and the others came to meet the True Lord, and combined their efforts to surround the Handsome Monkey King. But of this no more for now.

After the Strong-arm Demon King had sent the True Lord Erlang and his six sworn brothers with their troops to capture the fiend, he had gone back to Heaven to report. He found the Jade Emperor, the Bodhisattva Guanyin, the Queen Mother and all his immortal ministers in conference.

“Although Erlang has joined the fight, we have had no reports on it all day,” the Jade Emperor said.

Guanyin put her hands together and replied, “May I suggest that Your Majesty go out through the Southern Gate of Heaven with Lord Lao Zi to see for yourself what is happening.”

“A good idea,” said the Emperor, and he went by chariot with Lao Zi, the Queen Mother, and all the immortal ministers to the Southern Gate of Heaven. Here they were met by a number of heavenly soldiers and strongmen. When the gates were opened and they looked into the distance they saw that the heavenly hosts were spread all around in a net; Heavenly King Li and Nezha were standing in mid-air with the fiend-detecting mirror, and Erlang was struggling with the Great Sage within the encircling ring.

The Bodhisattva addressed Lao Zi and asked, “What do you think of the god Erlang I recommended? He really does have divine powers. He’s just got that Great Sage cornered, and all he has to do now is to catch him. If I give him a little help now he will certainly be able to do it.”

“What weapon would you use, Bodhisattva? How could you help him?” Lao Zi asked.

“I’ll drop that pure vase of willow twigs on the monkey’s head. Even if it doesn’t kill him it will knock him off balance and enable the Little Sage to catch him.”

“That vase of yours is made of porcelain,” Lao Zi replied, “and if you hit the target that will be fine. But if it were to miss his head and smash into his iron club, it would be shattered. Just hold your hand while I give him a little help.”

“What sort of weapon do you have?” the Bodhisattva asked, and Lord Lao Zi replied, “I’ve got one all right.” He pulled up his sleeve and took a bracelet off his right arm.

“This weapon,” he said, “is made of tempered steel to which I have added the magic elixir. It preserves my miraculous essence, can transform itself, is proof against fire and water, and can snare anything. One of its names is Diamond Jade and the other is Diamond Noose. When I went out through the Han Pass some years ago to turn into a foreigner and become a Buddha, I have a great deal to thank it for. It’s the best protection at any time. Just watch while I throw it down and hit him.”

As soon as he had finished speaking he threw it down from outside the heavenly gate, and it fell into the camp on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, hitting the Monkey King neatly on the head. The Monkey King was too preoccupied with fighting the seven sages to notice this weapon falling on him from heaven, and when it struck him on the forehead he lost his balance and stumbled, then picked himself up and started to run. The slim dog of the god Erlang caught him up and bit him in the calf, bringing him down again. As he lay on the ground he cursed at the dog.

“You don’t bother your own master, damn you; why pick on me to bite?” He rolled over and tried unsuccessfully to get up, but the seven sages all held him down, roped him up, and put a sickle-shaped blade round his collar-bone to prevent him from making any more transformations.

Lord Lao Zi then recovered his Diamond Jade and invited the Jade Emperor, Guanyin, the Queen Mother, and all the immortal ministers to return to the Hall of Miraculous Mist. Down below, Heavenly King Li and the four other heavenly kings assembled their troops and pulled up the stockade. They went over to congratulate Erlang and said, “It was all thanks to you, Little Sage.”

“No, it was thanks to the great blessings of His Celestial Majesty and the might of all the gods—it was nothing I did,” replied the Little Sage.

“No time to talk now, Elder Brother,” said the four marshals Kang, Zhang, Yao, and Li. “Let’s take this wretch up to Heaven to see the Jade Emperor and ask what is to be done with him.”

“Worthy brothers,” Erlang replied, “you never received any heavenly commission, so it would not be right for you to see the Jade Emperor. The heavenly soldiers can escort him while I go up there with the heavenly kings to report back. You should comb this mountain with your troops, and when you’ve finished go back to Guanjiangkou. When I’ve asked for our rewards, I’ll come back and we can celebrate together.” The four marshals and the two generals accepted their orders, and the rest mounted their clouds and went to Heaven triumphantly singing victory songs. Before long they were outside the Hall of Universal Brightness. The heavenly teachers reported to the throne that the Four Great Heavenly Kings and the rest of them had captured the monkey devil, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, and were now waiting to be summoned. The Jade Emperor then issued an edict ordering the Strong-arm Demon King and the heavenly soldiers to march him to the Demon-beheading Tower, where the wretch was to have his body chopped to mincemeat. Goodness!

The bully and cheat now meets with a bitter punishment,

The heroic spirit must now come to an end.

If you don’t know what happened to the Monkey King’s life, then listen to the explanation in the next installment.