CHAPTER 94 

The Four Monks Dine to Music in the Palace Gardens; One Demon Loves in Vain and Longs for Bliss

The story tells how Sun Wukong and the other two disciples went with the official who had brought the invitation to outside the Meridional Gate of the palace, where the eunuch gate officer immediately reported their arrival and brought back a summons for them to enter. The three of them stood in a row, not bowing. “Are you three gentlemen the illustrious disciples of the holy monk? What are your names? Where do you live? Why did you become monks? What scriptures are you going to fetch?” Wukong then came closer, intending to enter the throne hall.

“Don’t move,” one of the king’s bodyguards shouted. “If you have anything to say, say it standing down there.”

“We monks like to step forward whenever we’re given an opening,” Wukong said with a smile, at which Bajie and Friar Sand too approached the king. Worried that their rough manners would alarm the king, Sanzang stepped forward and called out, “Disciples, His Majesty has asked you why you have come here. You must submit your reply.”

Seeing his master standing in attendance beside the king, Wukong could not restrain himself from calling aloud, “Your Majesty is treating yourself with respect but others with contempt. If you are taking my master as your son-in-law, why do you make him stand in attendance on you? The normal custom is for a king to call his son-in-law Your Excellency, and an excellency really ought to be sitting down.”

This gave the king so bad a fright that he turned pale and wished he could leave the throne hall. But as this would have looked very bad he had to summon up his courage and tell his attendants to fetch an embroidered stool on which he invited the Tang Priest to sit. Only then did Pilgrim Sun submit the following spoken memorial:

“My ancestral home is the Water Curtain Cave

In the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit

In the land of Aolai

In the Eastern Continent of Superior Body.

My father was heaven, my mother earth,

And I was born when a rock split open.

I took as my master a Taoist adept,

And mastered the Great Way.

Then I returned to my land of immortals,

Where I gathered all of us to live in our cave heaven.

In the ocean’s depths I subdued the dragons,

Then climbed the mountains to capture wild beasts.

I removed us from the registers of death,

Put us on the rolls of the living,

And was appointed Great Sage Equaling Heaven.

I enjoyed the Heavenly Palaces,

And roamed around the splendid buildings.

I met the immortals of Heaven

In daily carousals;

Lived in the holy regions,

Happy every day.

But because I disrupted the Peach Banquet,

And raised a rebellion in the palaces of Heaven,

I was captured by the Lord Buddha

And imprisoned under the Five Elements Mountain.

When hungry I was fed on pellets of iron,

When thirsty I drank molten copper:

For five hundred years I tasted no food or tea.

Fortunately my master came from the East

To worship in the West.

Guanyin told him to deliver me from heavenly disaster.

I was rescued from my torment

To be converted to the Yogacarin sect.

My old name was Wukong;

Now I am known as the Pilgrim.”

When the king realized how important Wukong was he quickly came down from his dragon throne and walked over to steady the venerable elder with his hand and say, “Son-in-law, it was divine providence that brought us one such as yourself to be our kinsman through marriage.” Sanzang thanked the king profoundly for his graciousness and urged him to return to his throne. “Which gentleman has the distinction of being the second disciple?” the king asked. Bajie thrust his snout out to make himself look more impressive as he replied:

“In previous lives the old me used to be

Given to pleasure and indolence.

I lived in confusion,

My nature disordered and my heart deluded.

I did not know how high the sky was or how deep the earth;

I could not tell the ocean’s width or the mountains’ distance.

Then in the middle of my idleness

I suddenly met a true immortal.

In half a sentence

He undid the net of evil;

With two or three remarks

He smashed the gate to disaster.

Then I became aware,

Took him as my master on the spot,

Diligently studied the arts of the Double Eight,

Respectfully refined the Triple Three’s sequence.

When training was complete I was able to fly,

And ascend to the Heavenly Palace.

The Jade Emperor in his benevolence

Appointed me as Marshal Tian Peng,

To command the marines of the River of Heaven,

And wander at ease within the palace gates.

Then when I was drunk at the Peach Banquet

I misbehaved with the Goddess of the Moon,

Was stripped of my commission,

And exiled to the mortal world.

Because I came into the wrong womb

I was born with the likeness of a pig.

Living at the Mount of Blessing

I committed unbounded evil.

When I met the Bodhisattva Guanyin

She showed me the way of goodness.

I came over to the Buddhist faith

To escort the Tang Priest

On his journey to the Western Heaven,

Seeking the marvellous scriptures.

My Dharma name is Wuneng,

And people call me Bajie.”

When the king heard this he trembled with fear, not daring to look at him. This made the idiot more spirited than ever, shaking his head, pursing his lips, thrusting his ears up and roaring with laughter.

Sanzang, worried that Bajie was giving the king a fright, shouted, “Control yourself.” Only then did Bajie put his hands together and pretend to behave himself.

“And why was the third distinguished disciple converted?” the king then asked. Putting his hands together, Friar Sand said:

“I was originally a mortal man,

Who turned to the Way out of fear of the Wheel of Reincarnation.

I wandered like a cloud to the corners of the seas.

Roamed to the very ends of the sky.

I always wore the robe and held the begging bowl,

And ever concentrated my mind within the body.

Because of my sincerity

I fell in with immortals,

Raised the Baby Boy,

To mate him with the Lovely Girl.

When the Three Thousand Tasks were achieved

All was combined in the Four Images.^*

I rose above the boundary of the sky,

Bowed to the dark vault of heaven,

And was appointed Curtain-raising General.

I was in attendance on the Phoenix and Dragon Carriage,

And General was my rank.

Because at the Peach Banquet

I accidentally smashed a crystal bowl

I was exiled to the Flowing Sands River,

My face was altered,

And I became an evil killer.

Fortunately the Bodhisattva traveled to the East

To persuade me to turn to the faith

And await the Buddha’s son from Tang.

Who would go to seek scriptures in the Western Heaven.

I became his follower and made a fresh start,

Refining once more my great awareness.

I took my surname Sand from the river;

My Buddhist name is Wujing,

And my title Friar.”

The king was both most alarmed and most delighted to hear this. Delighted because his daughter had found herself a living Buddha, and alarmed by three veritable evil gods. Just as the king was being torn between alarm and delight the chief astrologer submitted this memorial: “The wedding has been set for the twelfth day of this month, the day of water-rat, a lucky time at which all will be auspicious for nuptials.”

“What day is it today?” the king asked.

“Today is the eighth, the day of earth-monkey,” the astrologer replied, “the day on which gibbons offer fruit, and the right day on which to advance worthies and accept their suggestions.” This greatly pleased the king, who sent his officials in attendance to have the halls and pavilions in the royal garden swept clear. Here he invited his future son-in-law with his three distinguished disciples to stay while they waited for the nuptial feast at which the princess would marry him. The underlings all carried out their instructions, the king ended the audience and the officials withdrew.

The story now tells how when Sanzang and his disciples reached the imperial garden night was falling. A vegetarian meal was laid on. “We really deserve a meal today,” said Bajie with delight. The people in charge brought in plain rice and pasta by the carrying-pole load. Bajie kept eating a bowlful then taking a refill over and over again. He only stopped eating when his stomach was completely full. A little later the lamps were lit and the bedding laid out, after which everyone went to bed. As soon as the venerable elder saw that there was nobody around he started to shout angrily at Wukong, berating him.

“You macaque, Wukong! You keep ruining me. I said we were just going to present the passport and told you not to go near the decorated tower. Why did you keep demanding to take me there to have a look? Well, did you have a good enough look? What ever are we to do about this trouble you have got us into?”

“Master,” replied Wukong, putting on a smile, “it was you who said, ‘My late mother married after throwing an embroidered ball to make the match she was destined for.’ I only took you there because you seemed to want to enjoy something of the past. Besides, because I remembered what the ancient monk in the Almsgiver’s Spread Gold Monastery said I came here to find out whether she’s an impostor or not. When I saw the king just now there was something a bit sinister about the way he looked, but I haven’t yet seen what the princess is like.”

“What will happen when you see the princess?” the venerable elder asked.

“My fiery eyes with their golden pupils can tell whether someone’s true or false, good or evil, rich or poor,” Wukong replied. “I’ll know what to do and be able to sort out right and wrong.”

“So you’ve learned physiognomy in the last few days, Elder Brother,” said Friar Sand and Bajie with a smile.

“Physiognomists are just my grandson,” Wukong replied.

“Stop joking,” said Sanzang. “He definitely wants me now. What are we to do about it?”

“At that happy occasion on the twelfth the princess is bound to come out to pay her respects to her parents,” said Wukong. “I’ll take a look at her from where I’ll stand by the side. If she really is a woman you can be her consort and enjoy the kingdom’s glory and splendor.”

This made Sanzang angrier than ever. “You’re a fine ape,” he said abusively, “still trying to ruin me. As Wuneng said, we have already done ninety-seven or ninety-eight hundredths of the journey. You’re trying to destroy me with your crafty tongue again. Shut up! Don’t open that stinking mouth of yours any more. Next time there’s any misbehavior from you I shall start reciting that spell again, and that will be more than you can take.”

The mention of the spell being recited had Wukong falling straight to his knees before Sanzang and pleading, “Don’t say it, don’t say it! If she’s really a woman we’ll all raise a rumpus in the palace during the wedding ceremony and get you out.” While master and disciples were talking they had not noticed that it was now night. Indeed:

Slow dripped the clepsydras;

Heavy hung the fragrance of the flowers.

Pearl curtains hung over splendid doorways;

No fire or light was seen in the still courtyard.

Empty was the shadow of the deserted swing;

All was silence when the flute’s notes died away.

The room was surrounded by flowers and bright in the moonbeams,

Lit by those spiky stars not blocked by any trees.

The cuckoo rested from her song;

Long was the butterfly’s dream.

The River Way spanned the celestial vault

While white clouds made their way home.

Just when they were closest in feeling

The willows swaying in the wind were more dispiriting than ever.

“It’s late, Master,” said Bajie. “Let’s carry on arguing tomorrow morning. Go to sleep now, go to sleep!” Master and disciples did then get a night’s sleep.

The golden cockerel was soon greeting the dawn, and the king entered the throne hall for his audience. This is what could be seen:

A purple aura rising high above the opened palace

As the winds carried royal music to the azure sky.

While clouds drifted, the leopard-tail banners moved;

The sun shone upon the demon figures on the roof, and the jade pendants tinkled.

A scented mist delicately touched the palace’s green willows,

While dewdrops lightly moistened the garden flowers.

A thousand officials in ranks shouted and danced in homage:

Seas and rivers were at peace and the state was unified.

When all the civil and military officials had paid their homage to him, the king proclaimed, “The Department of Foreign Affairs will arrange a nuptial banquet for the twelfth. Today the spring wine shall be prepared, and our future son-in-law shall be entertained in the royal gardens.” The Protocol Office were told to lead the three worthy future royal in-laws to sit in the state hostel while the Department of Foreign Affairs laid on a vegetarian banquet for the three of them. The two departments arranged for the musicians of the court orchestra to play and look after them while they passed the days enjoying the beauty of spring.

As soon as Bajie heard this he said, “Your Majesty, we always stay with our master: we never leave him for a moment. As he’s going to be drinking and feasting in the palace gardens we’d better go along for a couple of days’ fun too if our master’s to be your son-in-law. Otherwise the deal’s off.” Seeing how ugly and coarse-spoken Bajie was, twisting his head and neck, thrusting his snout out and waving his ears—which all made him seem rather intimidating—the king was so worried that Bajie might ruin the wedding that he had to accede to the request.

“Prepare a banquet for two in the Sino-Barbarian Hall of Eternal Pacification for our son-in-law and ourself. Prepare a meal for the other three gentlemen in the Pavilion of Lingering Spring. We are afraid that it might be inconvenient for master and disciples to sit together.” Only then did the idiot chant his respects to the king and thank him. Everyone then withdrew, after which the king ordered the officials of the inner palace to prepare a banquet, and told the queens and consorts of the three palaces and six compounds to give the princess hair ornaments, cakes and other things for the wedding on the twelfth.

It was now about ten in the morning, and the king had a carriage ready in which to take the Tang Priest and the others to go to see the palace gardens. The gardens were a fine place:

The paths, inlaid with coloured stones,

Have carved and chiseled balustrades.

Beside the paths inlaid with coloured stones

Strange flowers spread over the rocks;

Outside the carved and chiseled balustrades,

And within them too, flower blossoms rare.

Early peach trees are a bewitching turquoise,

And golden orioles dart among the willows.

The walker finds the fragrance fill his sleeve,

And many pure scents imbue his clothing.

Phoenix terrace and dragon pool,

Bamboo lodge and pine pavilion.

On the phoenix terrace

Pipes are played to lure the phoenix to appear;

In the dragon pools

Fish are reared to become dragons and leave.

In the bamboo lodge are poems

Whose well-chosen words match the “White Snow Melody”

The books in the pine pavilion

Are pearls and jade in blue-covered volumes.

Rocks and jade twist around the artificial hills;

Deep are the blue-green waters of the winding stream.

Peony pavilions,

Rose bowers,

Make a natural brocade.

Trellises of jasmine,

Beds of begonia,

Are like sunset clouds or jeweled mosaics.

Herbaceous peonies are marvelously fragrant;

Rare is the beauty of the mallows from Sichuan.

White pear and red apricot blossom vie in scent;

Purple orchid and golden daylily compete in splendor.

Corn poppy,

Lily magnolia buds,

Azalea flowers,

Are brilliantly coloured.

Magnolia flowers,

Garden balsam,

Plantain lilies,

Tremble.

Everywhere red shines through the richness of cosmetics

While heavy scents drift from a brocade surrounding screen.

The warmth returning with the east wind is greeted with joy;

All the garden’s beauties display their brilliance.

The king and his companions walked around enjoying the flowers for a long time. Soon the officials of the Protocol Office came to invite Xingzhe and the other two to the Pavilion of Lingering Spring while the king led the Tang Priest by the hand to the Sino-Barbarian Hall so that they could all drink and feast. These were splendid occasions with singing, dancing and instrumental music. Indeed:

The sun shone from the majestic palace gates;

Good auras filled the royal buildings.

The spring spread out an embroidery of flowers,

And heaven’s light shone from afar on the court robes.

Pipes and singers wafted their music as if in a banquet of immortals;

The goblets flew, carrying jade liquor.

Master and subjects enjoyed the same pleasure

As Sino-barbarian peace brought prosperity.

Seeing with what great respect he was being treated by the king, the venerable elder had nothing for it but to force himself to join in the celebrations. In fact he gave only a show of happiness: inside he was miserable. As he sat there he saw four golden screens hanging on the wall, screens painted with scenes of the four seasons. Each picture had a poem on it by a famous academician. The poem on the spring scene read:

The vital forces of heaven turn creation around;

The world is happy and everything is renewed.

The peach and the plum blossoms vie in splendor;

Swallows fly to the painted rafters, shaking the incense dust.

The poem on the summer scene read:

In warm and sultry air all thoughts are slow

The palace mallow and pomegranate reflect the sun’s brilliance.

The jade flute’s music disturbs the noonday dream;

The scent of caltrops is wafted through the curtains.

The poem on the autumn scene read:

One leaf on the parasol tree by the well is yellow;

The pearl curtain is not rolled up on the night of frost.

After the autumn sacrifice the swallows abandon their nest;

When the rush flowers snap, the wild geese leave for another land.

The poem on the winter scene read:

The clouds fly over the rainy sky, all dark and cold;

The north wind blows the snow into thousands of bills.

Deep in the palace the stove glows warm;

They say the plum has blossomed by the jade balustrade.

When the king noticed the absorption with which the Tang Priest was gazing at the poems he said, “As you enjoy savoring the poems so much you must be a fine poet yourself, son-in-law. If you do not begrudge your pearls we would like to invite you to make up a matching poem for each of them, ending three of the lines with the same word. Will you agree?”

The venerable elder was the sort of person who could be so carried away by a scene that he forgot the circumstances, someone who had an enlightened mind and thoroughly comprehended his own nature, so when the king pressed him so earnestly to match the verses he found himself saying the line, “The sun’s warmth melts the ice the world around.”

This greatly pleased the king, who told the officials in attendance on him, “Fetch the four treasures of the study, so that our son-in-law can write down the matching verses he composes for us to savor at our leisure.” The venerable elder was glad to comply. Picking up a brush, he produced matching lines. The matching poem on the spring scene read:

The sun’s warmth melts the ice the world around;

Within the palace garden, flowers are renewed.

Gentle winds and rain enrich the people;

Rivers and seas are calm; gone is all worldly dust.

The matching poem on the summer scene read:

The Dipper now points south; the day goes slow;

Locust and pomegranate trees contend in brilliance.

Golden oriole and purple swallow sing in the willows,

Their melodious voices drifting through red curtains.

The matching poem on the autumn read:

Fragrant the green mandarin; the orange turns to yellow.

Blue pine and cypress welcome frost’s coming.

Half-open chrysanthemums make a tapestry on the trellis;

Pipes and songs waft through the watery, cloud-covered land.

The matching poem on the winter scene read:

As skies clear after welcome snow the air is cold;

Grotesque-shaped crags and boulders mark jade hills.

As charcoal burns in the stove to warm the yogurt

Singing with hands in their sleeves they lean on jade balustrades.

The king was utterly delighted by the matching verses. “ ‘Singing with hands in their sleeves they lean on jade balustrades’ is really good,” he said with admiration, and ordered the royal orchestra to set the new poems to music. The banquet did not break up until the day was over.

Pilgrim Sun and the other two were also having a splendid meal in the Pavilion of Lingering Spring. Each of them was feeling rather merry after downing a few cups, and they decided to go to see their master, who was in another building with the king. This made Bajie start acting like the idiot he was.

“This is great,” he yelled at once. “We’re doing very nicely here. Today we’ve had a right good time. But now we’re full we ought to go to sleep it off.”

“You really are ill-bred, brother,” said Friar Sand with a grin. “How could you possibly go to sleep when you’re as full as that?”

“You wouldn’t know,” said Bajie. “There’s a saying that goes,

Unless you stretch out for a nap when you’ve dined

How can your belly with fat be well lined?”

When the Tang Priest had taken his leave of the king he went back to the pavilion and scolded Bajie: “Cretin! You acted coarser than ever. What sort of place do you think this is, to shout and yell like that? If you had made the king angry he would have had you killed.”

“Don’t worry,” Bajie replied, “don’t worry. We’re being treated as his in-laws, so it would be very awkward for him to get angry with us. As the proverb goes,

If you’re related a beating can’t rend it;

If you are neighbors a cursing won’t end it.

We were only joking. He’s nothing to be frightened of.”

At this the venerable elder shouted, “Bring the idiot here. Give him twenty strokes of the dhyana staff.” Wukong then grabbed Bajie and knocked him over, while Sanzang raised the cudgel to beat him.

“Master, Royal Son-in-law,” the idiot shouted, “Spare me! Spare me!”

One of the officials who was present at the banquet persuaded Sanzang not to hit Bajie, who clambered back on his feet, grumbling, “You’re a fine excellency; you’re a fine royal son-in-law. Applying the royal law before you’re even married!”

“Stop that nonsense,” said Wukong, making a face at him, “stop that nonsense! Go to bed at once.” They then spent another night in the Lingering Spring Pavilion. The next morning they feasted as before.

Before long they had been enjoying themselves for three or four days, by when it was that splendid day, the twelfth. The officials of the three sections of the Department of Foreign Affairs all submitted a memorial that said, “Since we received the edicts on the eighth the palace for the Royal Son-in-law has been built, and all that we are waiting for is for the trousseau to be installed. The nuptial banquet has been prepared, with meat and vegetarian food for over five hundred guests.”

This greatly pleased the king, who was just going to invite his future son-in-law to come to the banquet when a eunuch from the inner quarters of the palace reported to him, “Your Majesty, Her Majesty the queen asks you to come.” The king then withdrew to the inner quarters of the palace, where the queens of the three palaces and the consorts of the six compounds brought the princess to the Sunlight Palace to talk and joke together. The place was truly a mass of flowers or brocade. The magnificence and beauty was more than a match for the halls of heaven or the moon’s pavilions; nor was it inferior to the jade palaces of immortals.

There are four new lyrics on the “Happy Gathering and Splendid Wedding” about it. The lyric “Happy” goes:

Happy! Happy!

Delight and bliss!

The wedding is celebrated

With its love and beauty.

Elegant court dresses

That the Lady of the Moon could never rival;

Dragon and phoenix hairpins,

Sumptuous threads of flying gold.

Cherry lips, white teeth and rouge-red cheeks

Sylphs with forms as delicate as flowers.

Brocades upon brocades,

An extravagance of color,

Full of fragrance,

A host of princesses.

The lyric “Gathering” goes:

Gathering! Gathering!

Bewitching charms,

Rivaling the great beauties of the past,

Enough to topple a city or a state,

Like flowers or jade.

Dressed to make them lovelier still,

Even more dazzling in their finery,

And the splendor of their jewels.

Their orchid hearts and natures were pure and lofty;

Noble were their powder-white faces and ice-smooth skin.

The lines of their painted eyebrows were like distant hills;

They formed a throng of willowy elegance.

The lyric “Splendid” goes:

Splendid! Splendid!

Jade girls, fairy maidens,

Utterly adorable,

Truly to be admired,

Perfumed with fine fragrances,

Adorned with cosmetics.

Although far from the Tiantai paradise,

This was no mere palace of a king.

Sweet were their smiling words

As the sound of pipes and songs was wafted around.

A thousand beauties, massed flowers, a splendid brocade:

How could its match be found in the world?

The lyric “Wedding” goes:

Wedding! Wedding!

Orchid fragrance,

Ranks of fairy girls,

Crowds of beauties.

The royal concubines have put on new splendor;

The princesses are in fresh garments.

Piled clouds of raven hair,

Rainbow gowns over phoenix skirts.

Soft music of immortals,

Two rows of purple and red.

In the past they pledged to ride in one phoenix chariot;

This morning is the happy occasion and the splendid wedding.

When the king arrived his queens and consorts led the princess and the other palace ladies out to meet him. The delighted king took them into the Sunlight Palace to sit down. When the queens, consorts and others had made their obeisances the king said, “Princess, my good daughter, we think that your heart’s desire was fulfilled when you had the good fortune to find the holy monk by throwing your ball from the decorated tower on the eighth. The officials of all the departments have been most understanding of our wishes, so that everything is now ready. As today is a lucky one let us hurry to the nuptial banquet and not be late.”

The princess stepped forward, went down in a kowtow, and submitted this petition: “Your Majesty my father, I beg you to forgive your daughter for her effrontery, but I have a request to make. In the last few days it has been reported in the inner quarters of the palace that the Tang Priest has three extremely hideous disciples. I couldn’t bring myself to see them: I’m afraid the sight would terrify me. So I beg you, Father, to send them out of the city. Otherwise the shock might be too much for my trail health and lead to disaster.”

“If you had not mentioned them, child,” the king replied, “we would have very nearly forgotten about them. They are indeed rather ugly, and for the last few days we have had them entertained in the Lingering Spring Pavilion. When we go into the throne hall this morning we will return their passport and tell them to leave the city so that we can hold our banquet.” The princess then kowtowed again in thanks, after which the king left in his carriage to enter the throne hall and issue a decree inviting his son-in-law and the other three gentlemen to attend.

Now the Tang Priest had been following the dates by counting on his fingers, so when he reached the twelfth he had a discussion with his three disciples before dawn. “It is the twelfth today,” he said. “How are we to cope?”

“I’ve already noticed something of an ill-omened air about the king,” Pilgrim Sun said, “but the evil hasn’t actually infected him or done any great harm. The only thing is that I’ve not yet had a look at the princess. If she comes out and lets me take a peep at her I’ll know whether she’s an impostor or not, then I’ll do something. Don’t worry. He’s bound to summon us now and send us three away from the city. Accept the invitation and don’t be afraid. I’ll slip back and stay close to you to protect you.” As master and disciples were talking a royal equerry did indeed come with officials from the protocol office to bring an invitation.

“Let’s go,” said Wukong, “let’s go. I’m sure they’re going to see us three on our way and keep you here, Master, for the wedding.”

“If they’re seeing us off they’re bound to give us hundreds and thousands of ounces of gold and silver,” said Bajie. “We’ll be able to buy some presents to take home with us. When I get back to my in-laws’ place I’ll be able to have a bit of fun again.”

“Shut up, Second Brother,” said Friar Sand, “and stop talking such nonsense. We’ll do what Big Brother says.”

They then followed the officials to the foot of the throne hall steps, taking baggage and horse with them. When the king had greeted them he commanded Wukong and the other two to come forward. “Hand your passport up,” he said, “and we shall seal it, sign it and return it to you. You three gentlemen will be generously provided with funds for your journey and escorted on your way to see the Buddha on Vulture Peak. If you come back with the scriptures you will also receive generous rewards. We shall keep our son-in-law here: there will be no need for you to worry about him.”

Wukong thanked the king, then told Friar Sand to take the passport out and hand it over. The king read it, sealed and signed it, then brought out ten ingots of gold and twenty of silver that he wanted to present to them as gifts for his in-laws. Bajie, who always had been very keen on money and sex, stepped forward to accept them.

Wukong then gave a respectful chant and said, “We’ve disturbed you.”

As Wukong turned to go Sanzang hastily scrambled to his feet, grabbed hold of him, and said through clenched teeth, “You are all abandoning me.”

Pilgrim Sun pinched the palm of Sanzang’s hand, gave him a meaningful look and said, “Unwind and take your pleasure here while we go to fetch the scriptures. We’ll call on you on our way back.” Not knowing whether to believe this or not, the venerable elder refused to let him go. When all the officials saw this they took it for a real parting. Soon the king invited his son-in-law back into the throne hall, ordering the officials to escort the three gentlemen out of the city, whereupon Sanzang had to let go of Wukong and enter the hall.

As Pilgrim Sun and the other two went out through the palace gates they each took their leave.

“Are we really going?” asked Bajie. Wukong said nothing, and just walked back to the hostel, where the superintendent received them and provided tea and a meal.

“You two stay here,” Wukong said to Bajie and Friar Sand, “and whatever you do, don’t show your faces. If the hostel superintendent asks what’s happening, give him vague answers. Don’t say anything. I’m going off to look after the master.”

The splendid Great Sage pulled out one of his hairs, blew on it with magic breath, called “Change!” and turned it into his own double to stay in the hostel with Bajie and Friar Sand, while he himself leapt up into mid air in a flash, turning himself into a bee.

Yellow wings, sweet mouth and a sharp tail,

He dances wildly in the wind,

The brilliant thief of fragrance from the blossom

Who sways his way through willows and flowers.

With many a drenching for his troubles

He flies to and fro, but all in vain.

The thick delight he makes he never tastes;

All he can do is leave his fame behind.

Watch him as he flies lightly into the palace, where he saw the Tang Priest sitting on an embroidered stool at the king’s left, frowning and worried at heart. Flying up to his master’s Vairocana mitre, Wukong crept stealthily to his ear and said, “I’m here, Master, so don’t fret.” These words were heard by the Tang Priest alone—none of the ordinary mortals had any hope of hearing them—so he felt relief at last.

Before long a eunuch came with an invitation: “Your Majesty, the nuptial banquet is set out in the Jay Palace. Her Majesty and the princess are awaiting you in the inner quarters. They invite Your Majesty and His Excellency to go in for the wedding.” Overwhelmed with happiness, the king went into the inner quarters with his son-in-law. Indeed:

The wicked king’s love of flowers led to disaster;

When the dhyana mind starts thinking, each thought brings sorrow.

If you don’t know how the Tang Priest escaped once in the inner quarters of the palace, listen to the explanation in the next installment.

* These terms refer to the esoteric practices of physiological alchemy.