Chapter 26

Sun Wukong Seeks a Remedy on the Three Isles; Guanyin's Sweet Dew Brings the Tree to Life

The poem says:

To live in the world, keep the blade above the heart; to cultivate yourself, remember the inch beside the ear.The old saw sets the blade at the heart of business: think three times, and check anger and deceit.The higher man does not contend, and so passes down the ages; the sage, harboring virtue, follows his season.For every strong one there is a stronger still: in the end it all comes to emptiness and wrong.

Now the Great Immortal Zhenyuan took Pilgrim's arm in his hand and said: "I know your abilities, and I have heard your famous name. But this time you overstepped reason and cheated your own heart; twist and turn as you may, you will not slip my hand. I will argue the matter with you clear to the Western Heaven: stand before that Buddha of yours, and still you must give me back my ginseng tree. Do not try your divine powers on me." Pilgrim laughed. "My dear sir, how small your ideas! If it is a living tree you want, what difficulty is there? Say so early, and spare yourself a quarrel." "Quarrel or no, shall I forgive you out of kindness!" said the Great Immortal. "Free my master, and I will give you back a living tree — how is that?" "If you have such power, and can heal the tree to life, I will bow eight times with you as sworn kin, and be your brother." "No trouble at all. Free them, and old Sun guarantees you your living tree."

The Great Immortal, reckoning he could not escape, ordered Tripitaka, Bajie, and Sha Monk set free. "Master, who knows what devilry our brother is up to now," said Sha Monk. "What devilry! This is called the face-to-face favors ghost," said Bajie. "A dead tree, healed back to life? He wants a fair front to show the world: let him go begging a cure, and he slips away clean. You and I will be the last thing he thinks of." "He will never dare abandon us," said Tripitaka. "Let us ask where he means to seek the cure." Then he called: "Wukong, how did you hoodwink the immortal into setting us free?" "Old Sun spoke true words and plain; how did I hoodwink him?" said Pilgrim. "Where will you go seeking the remedy?" asked Tripitaka. "The ancients said: remedies come from over the sea. I am going out over the Eastern Ocean, to tour the three isles and ten continents, call on the immortals old and sages hoary, and beg some art of raising the dead to life. I guarantee I will heal his tree alive." "How long till you return?" "Three days and no more," said Pilgrim. "Then so be it," said Tripitaka. "Three days is your limit. Back within three days, well and good; past three days without return, I chant that sutra of ours." "Obeyed, obeyed," said Pilgrim.

See him tuck up his tiger-skin kilt in haste and step out the door to the Great Immortal. "Set your mind at rest, sir: I go and I am back. But you must wait on my master well — three teas and six meals a day, never a thing wanting. If one thing is lacking, old Sun comes back to square accounts with you, and I will knock the bottom out of your stove first. His clothes wrinkled? Starch and wash them. His face gone yellow? I will not have it. Lost an ounce of flesh? I do not go out the door." "Go, go," said the Great Immortal. "He shall not endure one hunger pang."

Brave Monkey King! He sprang to the somersault cloud, took leave of the Five Hamlets Monastery, and made straight over the Eastern Ocean. Mid-air, swift as the lightning stroke, fleet as a shooting star, he was soon over the fairy region of Penglai. He pressed down the cloud and gazed carefully below: truly a marvelous place. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

An immortal land upon the world, ranked among the saints: Penglai stands appointed to command the waves.The jade terraces dip their shadows in the cold heart of heaven; the great towers' light floats high above the sea.Five-colored mists hold the music of jade; through the ninth heaven the stars and moon strike golden Ao.The Queen Mother of the West comes often here, bearing birthday peaches to the three immortals.

Pilgrim could not take in all the immortal scenery, and went straight into Penglai. As he walked he saw, outside the White Cloud Grotto under the shade of pines, three old men over a game of go: watching the board was the Star of Longevity; playing were the Star of Fortune and the Star of Emolument. Pilgrim came up calling, "Younger brothers, my respects." The three stars set aside the board and returned his greeting. "What brings the Great Sage?" "I have come expressly to find you and share some sport." "We heard the Great Sage left the Tao for the Buddha," said the Star of Longevity, "risking his life to guard the Tang monk west for the scriptures, pounding mountain roads day after day. Where would leisure come from, that you come for sport?" "I will not hide it from you, gentlemen: heading west, old Sun is held up halfway, and has come on a small matter of business — will you hear it?" "What place? What holdup? Tell us plainly, that we may judge what to do," said the Star of Fortune. "I am held up passing Longevity Mountain and the Five Hamlets Monastery." The three elders were startled. "The Five Hamlets Monastery is the immortal palace of the Great Immortal Zhenyuan. You did not steal and eat his ginseng fruit?" Pilgrim laughed. "What is it worth, a stolen fruit eaten?" "You monkey, you know not good from bad," said the three elders. "One breath of that fruit, and a man lives three hundred and sixty years; eat one, and he lives forty-seven thousand. It is called the Long-Life Grass of the Returned Elixir. Our own Way falls far short of his. He wins it with such ease, and may live as long as heaven itself; we must still nurture essence, refine breath, preserve spirit, tune dragon and tiger, seize Kan to fill Li — who knows how many pains it costs us. And you ask what such a fruit is worth? Under heaven there is only this one such numinous root." "Numinous root, numinous root — I have made an end of the root for him," said Pilgrim. The three elders cried in alarm, "How, an end of the root?"

"We were in his monastery the other day, the Great Immortal away from home, and two little boys received my master — and presented two ginseng fruits to my teacher. My master did not know them, took them for children not three days old, and refused again and again to eat. The boys took them away and ate them, without offering us a one. So old Sun went and stole three; we three brothers ate them. The boys, knowing no measure, cursed us up and down without stopping. Old Sun lost his temper, gave their tree one crack of the staff, and pushed it over: not a fruit left on the tree, boughs split, leaves fallen, roots out, branches hurt — dead and withered. Then the boys locked us in, and old Sun twisted the locks and walked out. Early next morning the gentleman came home in pursuit; in the talk our words did not agree, so we fell to fighting, and with one swish he spread his sleeve and swept the whole company into it. Ropes and cords, interrogation and whip: they beat us a whole day. That night we ran again; he caught us up and swept us in once more. He carried no weapon, only warded with his horsetail whisk, and these three divine weapons of ours brothers could not land a blow. Then he arranged us again: wrapped and lacquered my master and two brothers, and ordered me into the oil cauldron. I worked my escape art and slipped off, and broke his cauldron in the bargain. Seeing he could not hold me, he was rather in awe of me. So I made it up with him: let him free my master and brothers, and I would see the tree healed alive — and on those terms both sides found peace. And I thought: remedies come from over the sea. So I have toured the immortal regions and come to you three younger brothers: give me some remedy for a tree, and hurry my Tang monk out of his suffering."

Hearing this the three stars were troubled in their minds. "You monkey, you know no one at all. That Zhenyuanzi is the ancestor of the immortals of earth; we are the founders of the immortals of heaven. You, though a heaven immortal, are still of the unassigned Grand-One line, not entered the true stream — how would you slip his hand? Had the Great Sage killed beasts or birds, bugs or scaled things, my millet-grain elixir could bring them back. But the ginseng fruit is the root of an immortal tree: how is that to be healed? No remedy, no remedy." At the word no remedy Pilgrim's brows knotted into twin peaks, his forehead wrinkled in a thousand creases. "Great Sage," said the Star of Fortune, "no remedy here; maybe one elsewhere. Why fall into gloom already?" "Seeking elsewhere is easy enough, I grant: to tour the corners of the sea and sky, to turn through the thirty-six heavens, is a small thing. The trouble is my Elder Tang: strict law and a narrow gauge. He gave me three days, no more; past three days, and he chants the Tight-Fillet Spell." The three stars laughed. "Good, good, good! Without that art to hold you, you would be boring through the sky again." "Set your mind at rest, Great Sage; no need for gloom," said the Star of Longevity. "The Great Immortal is of the elder generation, but he and we are acquainted. First, we have long been apart and paid no visit; second, it is the Great Sage's friendship at stake. The three of us will go call on him now, convey your wish, and have the Tang monk promise not to chant the Tight-Fillet Spell — never mind three days or five; only when you find your remedy will we take our leave." "Deeply grateful, deeply grateful. Do go ahead, my three elder brothers; I am off." The Great Sage took leave of the three stars — but of this, no more.

Now the three stars rose on their auspicious light and came to the Five Hamlets Monastery. The whole household heard, high in the sky, the cry of cranes: it was the three elders gracing them with a visit. And what they saw was this:

Auspicious light, softly glowing, crowds the empty sky; through the heavens drifts fragrance, deep and sweet.A thousand strands of colored mist guard their feathered robes; a wisp of light cloud bears up their immortal feet.The azure luan flies, the vermilion phoenix wheels; their sleeves draw scented winds that sweep the ground below.Dragon-hung staves, smiles breaking forth; white beards of jade drifting across their breasts.Boyish faces glad, past all care; sturdy frames, heroic bearing, blessed beyond their fellows.In their hands the star-tallies, adding years to the sea-reckoning house; at their waists gourds and precious tally-scrolls.Ten thousand cycles, a thousand decades, fortune and long life without end; on the ten continents and three isles they lodge as fancy takes them.Ever they come into the world bearing a thousand auspices; ever they add a hundred blessings to the world of men.Through heaven and earth, in glory, fortune, and emolument: blessing and longevity without bounds, and this day joyfully attained.The three elders ride the auspicious light to greet the Great Immortal: the hall of blessing brims with harmony past all measure.

The immortal boys saw and hurried in to report: "Master, the three stars from over the sea have come." Zhenyuanzi was passing the time in easy talk with the Tang monk and his disciples; hearing the report he came down the steps to welcome them. Bajie, seeing the Star of Longevity, came up and seized him, laughing. "You fleshy-headed old fellow! All this time, and still so carefree — you could not bring a hat along?" He plucked his own monk's cap and popped it down on the star's head, clapping his hands and hawing with laughter: "Good, good, good — 'cap added, emolument advanced,' truly!" The Star of Longevity flung off the cap and cursed: "You lumbering lout, you know no bounds at all." "I am no lout," said Bajie. "You are the slaves." "You are the lout," said the Star of Fortune, "and dare call us slaves?" Bajie laughed again. "If you are no man's slaves, why are you called Add-Longevity, Add-Fortune, Add-Emolument?" Tripitaka shouted Bajie off and hurried to straighten his robes and bow to the three stars.

The three stars greeted the Great Immortal with the courtesy of juniors, and then they took their seats. Seated, the Star of Emolument said: "Long, long since we have seen your honored face — our courtesy has failed. Now, because the Great Sage Sun has stirred up your immortal mountain, we have come expressly to see you." "Pilgrim Sun has gone to Penglai?" asked the Great Immortal. "He has," said the Star of Longevity. "Having harmed your elixir tree, he came to us seeking a cure. We have no remedy, and he is gone to seek one elsewhere. We fear only that he may pass the holy monk's three-day limit, and the Tight-Fillet Spell be chanted. So we have come, first to pay our respects, second to beg an extension." Hearing this Tripitaka answered again and again: "I will not chant it, I will not chant it."

While they talked Bajie came running in, seized the Star of Fortune, and demanded fruit to eat: groping in his sleeve, digging at his sash, forever turning up his robes to search them. Tripitaka laughed: "What manners are Bajie's!" "Not bad manners at all," said Bajie. "This is called Every Turn a Fortune." Tripitaka ordered him out again. The Idiot stepped out the door but glared back at the Star of Fortune, eyes fixed, glowering with all his might. "Lout," said the Star of Fortune, "where did I ever offend you, that you hate me so?" "I do not hate you," said Bajie. "This is called Turning Back to Gaze at Fortune." Once outside the door the Idiot found a small page carrying four tea spoons, on his way to fetch cups and fruit for the tea; Bajie snatched them from him, ran up into the hall, and with the little chime-stone in hand rapped and rattled away, playing the fool from end to end. "This monk grows less respectful by the minute," said the Great Immortal. "Not disrespect at all," laughed Bajie. "This is called Good Luck Through the Four Seasons."

To leave Bajie playing the fool and tangling everything: Pilgrim rose on his auspicious cloud, left Penglai, and was soon over the immortal mountain Fangzhang — truly a wonderful place. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

Fangzhang towers apart, a heaven of its own: in the Palace of Great Origin the immortals meet.Purple terraces light the road of the Three Pure Ones; flowers and trees breathe perfume through five-colored mists.Golden phoenixes of themselves throng the pistil towers; who could hasten the jade unguent that waters the zhi fields?Blue peaches and purple plums, new ripe: and so the immortals change the year for ten thousand more.

Pilgrim pressed down the cloud, in no mood for scenery. As he went he caught a deep wind of fragrance and heard dark cranes calling: an immortal was thataway. And what he saw was this:

Ten thousand rays of rose-light fill the empty sky; colored mists flutter, the light unbroken.The vermilion phoenix bears flowers, brighter still; the azure luan flies dancing, its cries tender and bright.Fortune like the Eastern Sea, longevity like the mountains; a boy's face, a sturdy frame.In his gourd hides the elixir of a grotto heaven, the Never-Aging Pill; at his waist hangs the seal-script of long life, coeval with the sun.Often he has dropped auspices on the world of men; again and again he has dissolved the prayers against calamity.Emperor Wu once summoned him to lengthen his years; to the Jade Pool he goes each time for the Peach Banquet.He teaches the monks to shed their worldly ties; his finger opens the great road, bright as lightning.He has crossed the seas to wish the ages of the long-lived; to Vulture Peak he goes often to see the Buddha's face.His holy title: the Great Thearch-King of the Eastern Flower; the first among the immortals, companion of mists and rose-light.

Sun Wukong met him face to face and called, "Thearch-King, my respects." The Thearch-King hurried to return the courtesy. "Great Sage, forgive my poor welcome. Come into my humble dwelling for tea." Hand in hand they went in: truly shell towers and an immortal palace, jade pools and jasper pavilions beyond sight. They had just sat down to wait for tea when from behind the kingfisher screen came a boy. How was he dressed?

A Taoist robe on his body, flashing like drifting rose-light; a silk sash at his waist, its glimmer falling in patches.On his head a kerchief worked with the Dipper stars; straw sandals on his feet to roam the immortal crags.Refining the origin's truth, shedding his first shell: when deeds and works are done, delight follows his wish.He has seen through the primal stream of essence, breath, and spirit; the master within knows him without mistake.Fleeing fame, he joyfully lives years without bound; the sexagenary wheel of heaven cannot govern him.Round the winding corridor, up the jeweled tower: three times his hand has touched the peaches of heaven.Out of the kingfisher screen, through drifting incense cloud — your humble immortal is Dongfang Shuo.

Pilgrim saw him and laughed. "So this little thief is here! So there were no peaches at the Thearch-King's for you to steal!" Dongfang Shuo made his bow and answered: "You old thief, what business brings you here? So my master had no elixir for you to steal!"

The Thearch-King called: "Manqian, no more of your chatter. Bring tea." Manqian was Dongfang Shuo's Taoist name; he hurried within and brought two cups of tea. When they had drunk, Pilgrim said: "Old Sun has come on a matter of business, and does not know if you will grant it." "What matter? I am at your instruction," said the Thearch-King. "Lately, guarding the Tang monk westward, we passed Longevity Mountain and the Five Hamlets Monastery. His little boys behaved so outrageously that in a flash of temper I pushed over his ginseng tree. Held up by this, the Tang monk cannot get free, and I have come expressly to your honor to beg a remedy to heal it — I beg you grant it generously." "You monkey," said the Thearch-King, "reckless of everything, into trouble wherever you go! That Zhenyuanzi of the Five Hamlets Monastery, the holy Lord Coeval with the World, is ancestor of the immortals of earth — how did you come to affront him? His ginseng tree bears the Grass of the Returned Elixir: to steal and eat was guilt enough; to push over the very tree — will he ever let it rest?" "Just so. We ran, he caught us up, and — we were so many sweat-cloths to him — swept us all into his sleeve, and there the quarrel stands. I had no choice but to promise him a cure, and so I am here to beg it of you." "I have one pellet of the Nine-Turn Grand-One Returning Elixir, but it heals living creatures of this world, not trees. A tree is the spirit of wood and earth, nourished by heaven, moistened by earth. A mortal fruit tree might yet be treated; but Longevity Mountain is a blessed land from before the beginning, the Five Hamlets Monastery is a grotto heaven of the Ox-Gift Continent, and the ginseng fruit is a numinous root from the opening of heaven and earth. How could that be treated? No remedy, no remedy."

"Since there is no remedy, old Sun takes his leave," said Pilgrim. The Thearch-King would still have kept him for a cup of jade liquor, but Pilgrim said, "The matter presses; I dare not linger." So he mounted the cloud and came on to the sea isle of Yingzhou — another wonderful place. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

Jeweled trees, wrought fine and bright, illumine the purple haze; the towers of Yingzhou join the many heavens.Blue hills and green waters, jade flowers brilliant; jade liquors, swords of Kunwu, harder than iron and stone.Five-colored azure cocks crow at the sea-risen sun; the thousand-year vermilion phoenix sips the scarlet mist.The world gropes, and never fathoms the scene within the gourd: spring light beyond all images, for hundreds of millions of years.

The Great Sage came to Yingzhou and saw beneath the cinnabar crags and jeweled trees a company of white-haired, white-bearded elders, immortals with boys' faces and crane-bright temples, playing go, drinking wine, talking, laughing, singing. Truly it was this:

Auspicious clouds brimming with light; auspicious mists floating fragrance. Colored luans call at the grotto mouths; dark cranes dance on the hilltops.Blue lotus roots and water peaches go with the wine; mingled pears and fire jujubes lengthen life a thousand autumns.One and all they have heard no cinnabar edict, yet stand enrolled on the immortals' rolls: free and easy, drifting at their pleasure; loose and idle, given to quiet and seclusion.The zodiac's round of years cannot hold them; in all the earth and the great wheel of heaven they are simply free.Dark gibbons presenting fruit, pair on pair in attendance, sweet and dear; white deer bearing flowers, two by two bowing low, devoted and close.

The old ones were at their ease and pleasure when Pilgrim cried out in a great voice: "And why not take me along for the fun?" The immortals saw him and hurried forward to welcome him. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

The ginseng tree's numinous root is snapped; the Great Sage visits the immortals begging the wondrous art.Wreathed in cinnabar rose-light, out of the jeweled wood: the nine elders of Yingzhou come out to meet him.

Pilgrim knew them for the nine elders, and laughed. "Comfortable, my elder brothers!" "If the Great Sage had kept to the right in those days," said the nine elders, "and not wrought havoc in the Heavenly Palace, he would be more comfortable than we. All the better now, they say, that you have turned to the truth and gone west to worship the Buddha. How do you find leisure to come here?" Pilgrim told the whole story of seeking a remedy to heal the tree. The nine elders too were shocked. "You do bring calamity on yourself — calamity! Truly we have no remedy."

"Since there is no remedy, I must bid you farewell," said Pilgrim. The nine elders would have kept him for nectar and blue lotus roots; but Pilgrim would not sit: standing, he drank one cup of nectar, ate one piece of lotus root, and hurried away from Yingzhou, turning straight back over the Eastern Ocean. Soon he sighted Mount Potalaka not far off, pressed down the cloud, and came straight up to the Potalaka crag, where the Bodhisattva Guanyin, in the Purple Bamboo Grove, was expounding the sutra to the great devas, Muzha, and the Dragon Maiden. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

The lord of the sea, the city high, auspicious vapor thick; and wonders past telling beyond.Know that the dim and hidden thousand things all issue from the rare and subtle, the one degree.When the four sages receive the teaching, the true fruit is attained; when the six orders of beings have heard, they slip the cage.The lesser grove holds a savor of its own: flowers and fruits fragrant, the whole tree red with blossoms.

The Bodhisattva had long since seen Pilgrim coming, and sent the great god who keeps the mountain out to meet him. The great god came from the grove calling, "Sun Wukong! Where are you bound?" Pilgrim looked up and snapped: "You bear-and-bison! Is Wukong a name for your mouth? If old Sun had not spared you back then, you would be a corpse-ghost of Black Wind Mountain already. Now you follow the Bodhisattva, have received a good fruit of merit, live on this immortal mountain, hear the dharma teaching daily — and you cannot call me once 'Your Honor'?" The black bear had truly attained the true fruit, keeping watch over Potalaka for the Bodhisattva and titled a great god — and it was Pilgrim's doing. He could only smile ingratiatingly: "Great Sage, the ancients say: the noble man does not dwell on old wrongs. Why keep bringing that up? The Bodhisattva sent me to welcome you." Pilgrim composed himself in reverence and went with the great god into the Purple Bamboo Grove, and bowed before the Bodhisattva.

"Wukong," said the Bodhisattva, "where has the Tang monk traveled to?" "To Longevity Mountain, in the Ox-Gift Continent of the west," said Pilgrim. "On that Longevity Mountain is the Five Hamlets Monastery. Have you met the Great Immortal Zhenyuan?" Pilgrim knocked his head to the ground. "In the Five Hamlets Monastery, your disciple did not know the Great Immortal Zhenyuan, ruined his ginseng tree, and gave him offense; he has detained my master so that we cannot go forward." The Bodhisattva knew it already. "You brazen monkey, you know not good from bad!" she said. "That ginseng tree of his is a numinous root from the opening of heaven and earth. Zhenyuanzi is ancestor of the immortals of earth — I myself yield him three parts. How did you come to hurt his tree?" Pilgrim bowed again. "Your disciple truly did not know. That day the Immortal was from home; only two immortal boys waited on us. Zhu Wuneng, knowing he had fruit, wanted one for novelty, and your disciple did indeed steal three; we brothers divided and ate them. The boys discovered it and cursed us without end; your disciple lost his temper and pushed their tree over. Next day the Immortal came home in pursuit, swept us into his sleeve, roped and bound us, whipped and interrogated us a whole day. We escaped that night, and he caught us again and folded us in as before. Time after time, truly there was no getting away. I promised to heal his tree, and have been over the seas seeking a remedy, touring all three isles; none of the immortals has the power. So your disciple comes with single heart to bow before the Bodhisattva and make this plea: I look up to your compassion — deign to bestow a remedy, and save my Tang monk to go west the sooner." "Why did you not come to me at once," said the Bodhisattva, "and go hunting the isles instead?"

At these words Pilgrim rejoiced within: "Fortune! Fortune! The Bodhisattva certainly has a remedy." He pressed his plea again. "The sweet dew at the bottom of my pure vase," said the Bodhisattva, "heals immortal trees and numinous shoots well enough." "Has it ever been tested?" asked Pilgrim. "It has been tested." "What test?" asked Pilgrim. "Long ago the Supreme Lord Lao wagered with me: he pulled the willow twig from my hand, put it in his elixir furnace, roasted it scorched and dry, and sent it back to me. I took it and set it in the vase; after one day and night it had green branches and green leaves again, as before." Pilgrim laughed. "True fortune, true fortune! What the fire has scorched it can heal to life — and this tree is only pushed over. What difficulty could there be?" The Bodhisattva charged the assembly: "Keep the grove. I go and return." Then, the pure vase borne in her hand, the white cockatoo trilling ahead, the Great Sage Sun following behind — and there is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

The jade hair, the golden image — past the world's reckoning: she is the Honored One of mercy, the saver from suffering.Through kalpas past she met the Buddha Without Stain, and down to this day has achieved a body of deed.Through many lives she stilled the waves of the sea of desire; her field of heart holds not one grain of dust.The sweet dew, long tested, true wondrous dharma: it will keep the precious tree in spring forever.

Now in the monastery the Great Immortal and the three elders were in quiet talk when the Great Sage Sun pressed down his cloud and called, "The Bodhisattva is here! Come out to meet her, quickly, quickly!" In a fluster the three stars and Zhenyuanzi, with the Tang monk and his disciples, hurried out of the jeweled hall together. The Bodhisattva had barely stilled her auspicious cloud when she first exchanged courtesies with Zhenyuanzi, then made her salutations to the three stars, and when the courtesies were done took the seat of honor. Before the steps Pilgrim led the Tang monk, Bajie, and Sha Monk in their bows; the immortals of the monastery came also to pay their respects. "Great Immortal, no hesitating," said Pilgrim. "Set out the incense table at once, and beg the Bodhisattva to treat that tree of yours." The Great Immortal bowed. "So small an affair — how could I dare trouble the Bodhisattva to descend?" "The Tang monk is my disciple," said the Bodhisattva. "Sun Wukong affronted you, sir; it is but right that the precious tree be made good." "Since it is so," said the three elders, "no more courtesies. Let the Bodhisattva lead us all into the grove to see."

The Great Immortal ordered the incense table set, the back garden swept, and the Bodhisattva to go first, the three elders following. When the master and his disciples and the immortals of the monastery were all in the grove to see: the tree lay on the ground, the earth open, the root bared, leaves fallen, branches withered. "Wukong, your hand," said the Bodhisattva. Pilgrim held out his left hand. The Bodhisattva dipped the willow twig in the sweet dew of the vase and drew on his palm a talisman character of raising the dead to life, and told him to hold it beneath the root of the tree and watch for the water to rise. Pilgrim closed his fist and held it under the root, and in a moment there was a pool of clear spring water. "That water must touch no vessel of the five phases," said the Bodhisattva. "It must be dipped with jade ladles. Raise the tree, pour it over from the top, and of itself root and bark will join, leaves will lengthen, buds spring, branches green, and fruit appear." "Little Taoist boys, jade ladles, quickly!" "Your humble Taoist's poor mountain has no jade ladles," said Zhenyuanzi. "Only jade tea cups and jade wine cups — will they serve?" "Any jade thing that can dip water will do. Bring them and let me see." The Great Immortal ordered the boys out: two or three dozen tea cups and four or five dozen wine cups, and they dipped the clear spring at the root. Pilgrim, Bajie, and Sha Monk raised the tree, set it square and true, heaped the earth about it, and handed the sweet spring in the jade vessels to the Bodhisattva, cup by cup. She sprinkled it finely through the willow twig, murmuring the sutra and spell as she did. In no long time the water she had sprinkled was all bestowed, and the tree stood, truly as before, green-leaved and deeply shaded — and on it twenty-three ginseng fruits. "When the fruits went missing," said the boys Clear Breeze and Bright Moon, "we counted over and over and made only twenty-two. Now the tree lives again — how does it have one more?" "Time reveals a man's heart," said Pilgrim. "The other day old Sun stole only three. That fourth one dropped to the ground — the earth god said the treasure meets earth and sinks in — and Bajie kept bawling that I had palmed one off on the side, and so the tale got out and the wrangle lasted till now. Now the truth is plain." "I used no vessel of the five phases just now," said the Bodhisattva, "because I knew the thing stands in awe of the five phases."

The Great Immortal was delighted beyond measure. He hastened to have the golden mallet brought and knocked down ten fruits, and begged the Bodhisattva and the three elders back into the jeweled hall: first to thank them for their pains, second to hold a ginseng fruit assembly. The young immortals arranged the tables and chairs and laid the cinnabar trays: the Bodhisattva at the head in the place of honor, the three elders on the left, the Tang monk on the right, Zhenyuanzi at the nearer seat to keep them company; and each ate one. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

In Longevity Mountain an ancient grotto heaven: nine thousand years the ginseng takes to ripen once.The numinous root stood forth, its shoots and branches hurt; the sweet dew's fostering makes fruit and leaf whole.The three elders joy to meet old pacts renewed; the four monks, favored, meet a fate long planted.From this day, having shared the ginseng fruit together, they are all immortals, long-lived, never aging.

So the Bodhisattva and the three elders ate one each; the Tang monk, now knowing it the treasure of the immortals, ate one; Wukong and the two brothers one each; Zhenyuanzi kept them company with one; and the immortals of the monastery divided one among them. Pilgrim then thanked the Bodhisattva, who returned up the Potalaka crag; he saw the three stars off, and they turned straight for the isle of Penglai. Zhenyuanzi for his part laid a feast of vegetables and wine, and swore brotherhood with Pilgrim. Truly: no fighting, no friendship — and the two houses became one house. Master and disciples, all four, were glad and merry, and when the day darkened they rested. Of the elder it could now be said:

By destiny he ate the Grass of the Returned Elixir; for long life he must still endure the demons' hardness.

But how the farewells would go the next day — listen to the next chapter to find out.

Sun Wukong Seeks a Remedy on Three Islands; Guanyin's Sweet Spring Brings the Tree Back to Life

The poem says:

In the world, keep the blade under your heart—the character for "forbear"; in shaping yourself, remember the inch beside the word—this is "endure."Men say the character for "blade" is the very heart of trade, but think three times, and guard against anger and deceit.The highest of old did not contend, a lesson handed down from the beginning; the sage holds virtue in his breast and passes it on in his own day.The hard and strong will meet ones harder and stronger; in the end it all turns to emptiness and wrong.

Now the Great Immortal Zhenyuan took Pilgrim's arm in his hand and said: "I know your skill, and I have heard your fame. But this time you went past all reason and sinned against your own heart. Whatever twists and turns you try, you will not slip out of my hand. I could argue with you all the way to the Western Heaven, and stand before that Buddha of yours, and still you would owe me my ginseng tree. Do not try your magic on me." Pilgrim laughed and said: "Sir, what a small-minded way to talk. If the tree is to live, what is the difficulty? If you had said so at first, it would have saved a fight." The Great Immortal said: "No fight? Would I so lightly pardon you!" Pilgrim said: "Release my master, and I will give you back a living tree. How is that?" The Great Immortal said: "If you have such magic, and can heal the tree to life, I will bow eight times to you as a sworn friend and make you my brother." Pilgrim said: "No trouble at all. Let them go, and old Sun promises to return you a living tree."

The Great Immortal reckoned he could not slip away, and ordered Tripitaka, Bajie, and Sha Monk set free. Sha Monk said: "Master, what trick is our brother working now?" Bajie said: "What trick? This is called 'the friendly ghost face to face.' A dead tree—can it be healed alive? He is putting on a fine face for show. Under cover of going to find the cure, he simply gets away, and who cares what becomes of you and me?" Tripitaka said: "He would never dare desert us. Let us ask him where he will seek the cure." So he called: "Wukong, how have you tricked the immortal master into setting us free?" Pilgrim said: "Old Sun spoke true words. How have I tricked him?" Tripitaka said: "Where will you go for the remedy?" Pilgrim said: "The ancients said, 'Remedies come from over the sea.' I mean to go up over the Eastern Ocean, travel all the three islands and ten isles, call on the immortal ancients and holy elders, and find an art to bring the dead back to life. I promise you I will heal his tree." Tripitaka said: "How long will you be gone?" Pilgrim said: "Three days, no more." Tripitaka said: "Then so be it. I give you three days. Come back within three days and all is well. If you are not back after three days, I will recite that sutra of ours." Pilgrim said: "Understood, understood."

See him tighten his tiger-skin kilt quickly, come out the door, and say to the Great Immortal: "Sir, rest easy. I go and return. But see that my master is well served—three teas and six meals a day, nothing wanting. If anything is lacking, old Sun will come back and settle accounts with you, and the first thing I smash will be the bottom of your pot. When his clothes are wrinkled, wash and press them. If his face goes yellow, I will not have it; if he loses a little weight, I do not go out the door." The Great Immortal said: "Go, go. He shall never go hungry."

Good Monkey King! He sprang at once on his somersault cloud, left the Wuzhuang Monastery, and went straight over the Eastern Ocean. In midair he was quick as a lightning flash, swift as a shooting star, and soon reached the fairy land of Penglai. He brought down his cloud and looked carefully below. Truly a wonderful place. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

The immortal land of the great earth, with its ranks of holy ones; Penglai, appointed of old to stand against the waves.The jade terrace dips its shadow in the cold heart of the sky; the great towers' light floats high above the sea.Five-colored mist holds the music of sounding jade; from the ninth heaven, stars and moon strike down on the golden ao.The Queen Mother of the Western Pool often comes here, offering peaches again and again in greeting to the three immortals.

Pilgrim could not see the end of the fairy scenery, and he went straight into Penglai. As he was walking, he saw outside the White Cloud Cave, under the pine shade, three old men about a game of go: watching the board, the Star of Longevity; playing, the Star of Fortune and the Star of Rank. Pilgrim came up and called: "Old brothers, I salute you." The three stars brushed away the board, returned his bow, and said: "Great Sage, what brings you?" Pilgrim said: "I have come especially to play with you." The Star of Longevity said: "I heard the Great Sage left the Dao for the Buddha's way, risked his life to guard the Tang monk west to fetch the scriptures, and toils every day along mountain roads. How have you leisure for play?" Pilgrim said: "To tell you the truth, gentlemen, on my way west I have run into a snag, and I have come on a small matter of business. I do not know if you will agree." The Star of Fortune said: "What place? What snag? Tell us plainly, so we can see what is to be done." Pilgrim said: "The trouble came as I passed the Wuzhuang Monastery on Longevity Mountain." The three elders cried out in alarm: "The Wuzhuang Monastery is the immortal palace of the Great Immortal Zhenyuan. You did not steal and eat his ginseng fruit?" Pilgrim laughed and said: "What is it worth, if I did eat some?" The three elders said: "You monkey, you know neither good nor bad. To smell one of those fruits is to live three hundred and sixty years. To eat one is to live forty-seven thousand years. It is called the Grass-Returning Elixir of Ten Thousand Years. Our Dao is far short of his. He wins it with such ease, and can live as long as heaven itself. We still have to nurture essence and refine breath and guard the spirit, harmonize dragon and tiger, draw Kan to fill Li—who knows how much labor that costs. And you say it is hardly worth anything? Under heaven there is only this one spiritual root." Pilgrim said: "Spiritual root, spiritual root—I have already made an end of the root." The three elders cried out in shock: "How did you end the root?"

Pilgrim said: "The other day in his abbey the Great Immortal was not at home. Only two young boys received my master, and they offered him two ginseng fruits. My master did not know them, and said they were babies not three days old, and refused them again and again. The boys took the fruits away and ate them, and never offered us any. So old Sun stole three, and we three brothers ate them. The boys did not know their place, and cursed us, 'thief' before and 'thief' behind, without stop. Old Sun lost his temper, gave the tree one blow of his staff, and pushed it over. Not a fruit was left on it—branches split, leaves fell, roots out, limbs hurt—the tree is withered dead. Then the boys locked us in, and old Sun twisted the locks open and we went. Early the next morning the master came home, chased us down, and in the talk that followed words turned sour, and we fell to fighting. He dodged aside, spread his sleeve, and swept the whole party into it in one fold. Ropes and cords bound us; we were questioned and whipped a whole day. That night we ran again, and he caught us and folded us up again. He never had a blade in his hand; he only parried with a deer-tail whisk, and with our three fine weapons we could not land a blow. Then he worked on us as before: my master and two brothers he wrapped in cloth and painted with lacquer, and me he sent down to the oil pot. I made my escape art and got away, and broke his pot into the bargain. Seeing he could not hold me, he was a good deal afraid of me. So I talked fairly with him and agreed: let him free my master and brothers, and I will heal his tree, I promise, back to life. Then both sides could rest. And I remembered 'remedies come from over the sea,' so I have toured the fairy lands and come to find you three old brothers. If you have any art to heal a tree, pass one on to me, and rescue the Tang monk from his trouble quickly."

When the three stars heard this they were troubled in their hearts, and said: "You monkey, you know no one at all. Zhenyuan is the first ancestor of the earthly immortals; we are the elders of the heavenly immortals. You became a heaven immortal, true, but you are still one of the scattered Highest Unity, not of the true stream. How could you slip out of his hand? If the Great Sage had killed beasts or birds, or insects or scaled things, our pills small as millet grains could bring them back to life. But the ginseng fruit is the root of an immortal tree. How could that be healed? There is no remedy, no remedy." When Pilgrim heard there was no remedy, his brows knitted double, and his forehead creased in a thousand folds. The Star of Fortune said: "Great Sage, if there is no remedy here, there may be one elsewhere. Why fall into gloom?" Pilgrim said: "Going elsewhere to look is easy enough. To wander to the ends of the sea and the sky, through all the thirty-six heavens, is a small thing to me. But my Tang elder is strict and narrow in his measure. He gave me a limit of three days. If I am not back after three days, he will recite the Tight-Fillet Spell." The three stars laughed and said: "Good, good, good. If that trick did not hold you in, you would be burrowing through the sky again." The Star of Longevity said: "Great Sage, set your heart at rest, and do not fret. That Great Immortal is of the senior rank, but he knows us too. First, we have long been apart and never paid our respects. Second, there is your friendship to press. The three of us will go and call on him now, and speak for you, and tell the Tang monk to drop the Tight-Fillet Spell. Never mind three days or five—only when you come back with your remedy will we take our leave." Pilgrim said: "My thanks, my thanks. Let the three old brothers go on ahead. I am off." The Great Sage took his leave of the three stars—we say no more of him.

The three stars rose on lucky light and came at once to the Wuzhuang Monastery. Everyone in the abbey heard cranes crying down the long sky: the three elders had arrived. This is what they saw:

Lucky light clustered soft across the whole sky; fragrance drifted thick through the heavens.A thousand streaks of colored mist guarded the feathered robes; a single light cloud bore up immortal feet.Blue luan birds flew and red phoenixes swept down; their sleeves drew a perfumed wind that fell upon the ground.A dragon hung at the staff, and joy and laughter rose; white beards, like hanging jade, swept across the breast.Boyish faces, glad and free of care; sturdy frames, majestic, rich in blessing.They held star tallies and added to the count of the sea house; gourds hung at their waists with precious scrolls.Over myriad cycles and a thousand decades their blessing and years ran long; on the ten isles and three islands they lodged as fate allowed.They often came into the world bringing a thousand lucky things; always they added a hundred blessings to the world of men.Through all heaven and earth, honor and blessing and high place—blessing and long life without end, gladly won today.The three elders rode the lucky light to greet the Great Immortal; the hall of blessing filled with harmony past all bounds.

The immortal boys saw them and hurried to report: "Master, the three stars from the sea are here." Zhenyuanzi had been chatting idly with the Tang monk and his disciples. Hearing the report, he came down the steps to welcome them. When Bajie saw the Star of Longevity he came up, seized him, and laughed: "You bare-pated old fellow, long time no see. Still as easygoing as ever—not even a cap to bring with you." And he plopped his own monk's cap down on the star's head, clapped his hands, and roared with laughter: "Good, good, good. Truly, 'add a cap, gain a rank!'" The Star of Longevity flung the cap off and swore: "You clod, you have no sense of rank at all." Bajie said: "I am no clod. You are the ones who are truly servants." The Star of Fortune said: "You are the clod—how dare you call us servants?" Bajie laughed again and said: "If you are no one's servants, why are you called 'Add-Years,' 'Add-Fortune,' and 'Add-Rank'?" Then Tripitaka drove Bajie back, quickly straightened his robe, and bowed to the three stars.

The three stars greeted the Great Immortal with the courtesy due an elder, and then they sat. When they were seated, the Star of Rank said: "We have long gone without seeing your honored face, and failed in respect. Now, because the Great Sage Sun has stirred up trouble on your immortal mountain, we have come specially to call." The Great Immortal said: "Has Pilgrim Sun gone to Penglai?" The Star of Longevity said: "He has. Because he harmed your elixir tree, he came to us to seek a remedy. We have none, so he has gone looking elsewhere. But we fear he will break the holy monk's limit of three days, and the Tight-Fillet Spell will be recited. So we have come, first to pay our respects, and second to ask you for a longer grace." When Tripitaka heard this, he answered again and again: "I dare not recite it, I dare not."

While they talked, Bajie ran in again, grabbed the Star of Fortune, and demanded fruit to eat. He rummaged in the star's sleeve, dug at his waist, and kept pulling up his clothes to search him. Tripitaka laughed and said: "What kind of manners has that Bajie!" Bajie said: "It is not bad manners. This is called 'every turn is a blessing.'" Tripitaka ordered him out again. The Idiot stepped out the door, but glared back at the Star of Fortune without taking his eyes off him. The star said: "Clod, where did I ever offend you, that you hate me so?" Bajie said: "It is not hate. This is called 'looking back at blessings.'" Outside the door the Idiot saw a young page carrying four tea spoons, on his way to fetch cups and fruit for the tea. He snatched them from him, ran up into the hall, and rattled away on the little chime, playing the fool from end to end. The Great Immortal said: "This monk has no respect at all now." Bajie laughed and said: "It is not disrespect. This is called 'good luck in all four seasons.'"

We say no more of Bajie's clowning and pestering. Pilgrim sped on his lucky cloud away from Penglai and soon came to the immortal mountain of Fangzhang. It was a truly wonderful place. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

Fangzhang towers into another sky entirely; in the Palace of Great Origin the immortals gather.Light from the purple terrace shines along the road of the Three Pure Ones; flowers and trees send fragrance floating through five-colored mist.Golden phoenixes throng on their own accord the towers of petals; who could compel the jade cream to water the fields of zhi?Blue peaches and purple plums, newly ripe, serve the immortals' faith through ten thousand years.

Pilgrim brought down his cloud, with no heart for the scenery. As he went, he caught a rich sweet wind and heard dark cranes calling: an immortal was over that way. This is what he saw:

Ten thousand rays of dawn light filled the sky; colored mist drifted, the radiance unbroken.A red phoenix bore flowers in its beak, bright beyond telling; blue luan birds wheeled and danced, their calls sweet.His fortune like the Eastern Sea, his years like a mountain; his face like a little boy's, his body strong.In his gourd hides a cave-heaven pill of unfailing youth; at his waist hangs a charm of long life, one age with the sun.Time and again he has sent good fortune down among men; often he has granted prayers and ended calamity.Emperor Wu once summoned him to add to his span of years; he never misses a Peach Banquet at the Jade Pool.He teaches the monks to cast off worldly ties; his finger opens the great Way, bright as a lightning flash.He has crossed the sea to offer wishes for a thousand autumns, and often goes to Vulture Peak to see the Buddha's face.His holy title is the Great Emperor Donghua, first of all the immortals' companions in the mists.

Sun Wukong met him face to face and called: "Emperor, I salute you." The Emperor hurried to return the bow and said: "Great Sage, forgive my poor welcome. Come to my humble house and take tea." Hand in hand they went inside—truly a palace of shell and pearl, with jade pools and jasper towers past counting. They had just sat down to wait for tea when from behind the kingfisher screen came a young page. See how he was dressed:

A Daoist robe shone on him like floating dawn clouds; a silk sash at his waist scattered points of light.On his head a silk kerchief worked with the Dipper stars; straw sandals on his feet to roam the immortals' hills.He refined the original truth and cast off his old shell; when his works were complete, his joy was all his own.He saw through the flow of essence, breath, and spirit; the master within was known to him without error.He fled from fame, and now his joy is years without end; the sixty-year wheel of the calendar cannot govern him.He turns the winding corridor and climbs the precious tower; three times his hand has touched the peaches of heaven.Through drifting fragrant cloud he steps out past the kingfisher screen: this humble immortal is Dongfang Shuo.

When Pilgrim saw him he laughed and said: "So this is where the little thief has been hiding. There were no peaches at the Emperor's place, so you stole and ate them!" Dongfang Shuo bowed above and answered: "And what has the old thief come here for? There were no elixir pills at my master's, so you stole and ate them."

The Emperor called: "Manqian, stop your chatter. Bring tea." Manqian was Dongfang Shuo's Daoist name. He hurried inside and brought two cups. When they had drunk, Pilgrim said: "Old Sun has come on a matter of business. I do not know if you will grant it." The Emperor said: "What matter? I am glad to hear it." Pilgrim said: "Lately, guarding the Tang monk on his journey west, I passed the Wuzhuang Monastery on Longevity Mountain. His young boys were insolent, and in a flash of anger I pushed over his ginseng tree. Now we are stuck fast, and the Tang monk cannot go on. I have come to your honor to beg a remedy, and I beg you grant it freely." The Emperor said: "You monkey, you weigh nothing and consider nothing—brewing trouble everywhere. Zhenyuan of the Wuzhuang Monastery, whose holy title is Lord Even with the World, is the first ancestor of the earthly immortals. How did you come to cross him? His ginseng tree is the Grass-Returning Elixir. Even to steal and eat the fruit is a crime; but you pushed over the tree as well. Will he let that pass?" Pilgrim said: "Exactly. We got away, he caught up with us, and folded the whole party into his sleeve as if we were a waist cloth. That is how we fell out. There was nothing for it: I promised to find a remedy and heal the tree, and so I beg this of you." The Emperor said: "I have one pill here, the Nine-Turn Elixir of the Highest Unity, but it can heal living creatures of this world, not trees. A tree is the spirit of wood and earth, fed by heaven and moistened by the ground. An ordinary fruit tree might be healed. But Longevity Mountain is a blessed land from before the beginning, the Wuzhuang Monastery is a cave heaven of the He continent, and the ginseng fruit is a spirit root from when heaven opened and earth was divided. How could that be treated? There is no remedy, no remedy."

Pilgrim said: "If there is no remedy, old Sun takes his leave." The Emperor would have kept him for a cup of jade liquor, but Pilgrim said: "The business is urgent. I dare not delay." He rode his cloud on to the island of Yingzhou in the sea—also a wonderful place. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

Pearl trees, delicate and bright, light the purple mist; the palaces of Yingzhou touch the several heavens.Blue hills and green waters, rare flowers in their glory; jade liquor, fine steel, iron and stone all firm.Blue birds of five colors call to the sun on the sea; a thousand-year red phoenix drinks in the crimson haze.The men of this world never look into the scene inside the gourd; the spring beyond all images lasts a hundred million years.

When the Great Sage reached Yingzhou, he saw under the red cliffs and pearl trees several elders with white hair and long white beards, immortals with boyish faces and crane-white temples, playing go, drinking wine, talking, laughing, and singing. Truly:

Lucky clouds brimmed with light; bright mists floated their fragrance.Colored luan birds called at the cave mouths; dark cranes danced on the hilltops.Blue lotus root and water peaches went with the wine; mingling pears and fire dates promised a thousand autumns.Not one of them had heard an imperial summons, yet every name stood written on the rolls of heaven.Free and drifting, careless in their clear seclusion; the sixty-year wheel could not bind them—in all the wide world they were only free.Dark gibbons brought fruit, pair by pair in attendance, a lovely sight; white deer carried flowers in their mouths, bowing two by two in fond devotion.

The old men were in the middle of their wine and music when Pilgrim shouted in a loud voice: "What harm in letting me join the fun?" The immortals saw him and hurried forward to welcome him. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

The ginseng tree's spirit root was broken; the Great Sage visits the immortals, seeking the secret cure.Through winding red clouds he comes out of the precious wood; the nine elders of Yingzhou come out to meet him.

Pilgrim knew them for the nine elders, and laughed: "Old brothers, you live at your ease." The nine elders said: "Great Sage, if in those days you had kept to the right path and not wrecked the Heavenly Palace, you would live at ease even more than we. But it is well now. We hear you have come back to the truth and gone west to worship the Buddha. How have you found leisure to come here?" Pilgrim told them the whole business of seeking a remedy to heal the tree. The nine elders were greatly shocked and said: "You do bring trouble on yourself, trouble! We truly have no remedy."

Pilgrim said: "Since there is no remedy, I must say goodbye." The nine elders pressed him to stay and drink jade nectar and eat blue lotus root, but he would not sit. He only drank one cup standing and ate one piece of root, then hurried away from Yingzhou, turned back over the Eastern Ocean, and soon saw Potalaka Mountain not far off. He dropped his cloud head, came straight to the Putuo Rock, and found the Bodhisattva Guanyin in the Purple Bamboo Grove, preaching the sutra and expounding the Law to the great devas, Muzha, and the dragon girl. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

The lord of the sea's city stands high, thick with lucky air; stranger sights than these appear without end.Know that a thousand things, dim and hidden, all come forth from one faint and subtle source.The four sages, receiving the teaching, won their true fruit; the six orders of common beings, hearing it, slip free of the cage.In this grove of the mind is a true flavor all its own; flowers and fruits breathe perfume, the whole tree red.

The Bodhisattva had already seen Pilgrim coming, and she sent the great guardian of the mountain out to meet him. The guardian came out of the wood and called: "Sun Wukong, where are you going?" Pilgrim looked up and shouted: "You bear! Is Wukong a name for you to call? If old Sun had not spared you that day, you would be a dead ghost of Black Wind Mountain by now. Today you follow the Bodhisattva, have won a good reward, and live on this immortal mountain, always hearing the Law. Can you not call me once 'your lord'?" The black bear had truly won his reward: he kept watch over Putuo for the Bodhisattva and was titled a great god—all thanks to Pilgrim. He could only smile and say: "Great Sage, the ancients said, 'A gentleman does not dwell on old wrongs.' Why keep bringing that up? The Bodhisattva sent me to welcome you." Then Pilgrim composed himself in all respect and honor, and with the great god went into the Purple Bamboo Grove and bowed before the Bodhisattva.

The Bodhisattva said: "Wukong, how far has the Tang monk come?" Pilgrim said: "He has come to Longevity Mountain in the Western Continent of Niuhe." The Bodhisattva said: "On Longevity Mountain there is the Wuzhuang Monastery. Have you met the Great Immortal Zhenyuan?" Pilgrim knocked his head on the ground and said: "It was at the Wuzhuang Monastery. I did not know the Great Immortal Zhenyuan, and I wrecked his ginseng tree and crossed him. He has held my master fast, and we cannot go on." The Bodhisattva knew the whole story already, and she said: "You brazen monkey, you know neither good nor bad. His ginseng tree is a spirit root from when heaven opened and earth was divided. Zhenyuanzi is the first ancestor of the earthly immortals—even I give way to him by three parts. How did you dare wound his tree?" Pilgrim bowed again and said: "I truly did not know. That day he was not at home, and only two immortal boys waited on us. Zhu Wuneng knew he had fruit, and wanted one to taste something new. I did steal three of them, and we brothers shared them. When the boys found out, they cursed us past all bearing, and I lost my temper and pushed over the tree. Next day he came back, caught up with us, folded us into his sleeve, bound us with ropes and lashed us with the whip, and questioned us a whole day. That night we ran, and he caught us again and folded us up once more. Three times and twice—it was truly past escaping. I promised to heal his tree, and I have just come seeking a remedy over the sea. I toured all three islands, and none of the immortals had the skill. So with a true heart I bow before you, Bodhisattva, and beg you: in your mercy, grant me a remedy, so the Tang monk may go on west soon." The Bodhisattva said: "Why did you not come to me first, instead of hunting through the islands?"

When Pilgrim heard this, his heart leaped with secret joy: "I am saved, I am saved. The Bodhisattva surely has the remedy." He pressed his plea again. The Bodhisattva said: "The sweet dew in the bottom of my pure vase heals immortal trees and spirit plants well enough." Pilgrim said: "Has it ever been put to the test?" The Bodhisattva said: "It has been tested." Pilgrim asked: "What test?" The Bodhisattva said: "Long ago the Supreme Lord Lao made a wager with me. He pulled the willow sprays out of my vase and put them in his elixir furnace, roasted them dry as char, and sent them back to me. I took them and stood them in the vase. After one day and one night they were green-leafed willow branches again, as before." Pilgrim laughed and said: "Truly saved, truly saved! If roasted branches can be healed to life, what difficulty is there in a tree that has only been pushed over?" The Bodhisattva gave her orders to the assembly: "Watch over the grove. I go and return." She lifted the pure vase in her hand, the white parrot trilled cleverly before her, and the Great Sage Sun followed behind. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

The jade-white hair and the golden body are past the world's telling: this is the honored one of mercy, who saves from suffering.In a kalpa past he met the Buddha Without Stain, and down to this day has formed this body of works.Life after life he stilled the waves of the sea of desire; his field of heart keeps not one speck of dust.The sweet dew, long proven, is the true wondrous law: the precious tree shall keep its spring forever.

Now in the abbey the Great Immortal and the three elders were talking quietly, when suddenly the Great Sage Sun came down through his cloud, calling: "The Bodhisattva is here! Come out to meet her, quickly, quickly!" The three stars, Zhenyuanzi, and the Tang monk and his disciples all hurried out of the precious hall together. The Bodhisattva let her lucky cloud settle, spoke first to Zhenyuanzi in courtesy, then bowed to the three stars; the greetings done, she took the seat of honor. At the foot of the steps Pilgrim led the Tang monk, Bajie, and Sha Monk to bow, and all the immortals of the abbey came to pay their respects too. Pilgrim said: "Great Immortal, do not delay. Set out the incense table quickly, and ask the Bodhisattva to heal that fruit tree of yours." The Great Immortal bowed to the Bodhisattva and said: "Such a small matter—how could I dare trouble the Bodhisattva to come down?" The Bodhisattva said: "The Tang monk is my disciple. Sun Wukong wronged you, sir. It is only right that the precious tree be made good." The three elders said: "If that is so, there is no more to be said in modesty. Let the Bodhisattva come to the garden and see it."

The Great Immortal ordered the incense table set out and the back garden swept, and asked the Bodhisattva to go first, with the three elders following. The Tang monk and his disciples and all the immortals of the abbey came into the garden and looked: the tree lay on the ground, the earth split and the roots bare, leaves fallen, branches withered. The Bodhisattva said: "Wukong, hold out your hand." Pilgrim held out his left hand. The Bodhisattva dipped the willow spray in the sweet dew of the vase and drew on his palm a charm that brings the dead back to life, and told him to hold it under the root of the tree, and watch until water came. Pilgrim closed his fist and held it under the root, and in a moment a pool of clear spring water gathered there. The Bodhisattva said: "That water must not touch anything of the five metals and elements. It must be dipped out with a jade ladle. Then raise the tree, and pour the water from the top down. The bark and the root will join of themselves, leaves will grow, buds open, branches green, and fruit appear." Pilgrim said: "Young Daoists, fetch jade ladles quickly." Zhenyuanzi said: "There are no jade ladles in my poor mountain—only jade tea cups and jade wine cups. Will they serve?" The Bodhisattva said: "Any vessel of jade that can dip up water will do. Bring what you have." The Great Immortal ordered the young boys to bring out twenty or thirty tea cups and forty or fifty wine cups, and they dipped up the clear spring at the root. Pilgrim, Bajie, and Sha Monk hoisted the tree, set it upright and true, heaped the earth around it, and cupped up the sweet spring in the jade vessels, bowl by bowl, and handed them to the Bodhisattva. She sprinkled it gently over the tree with the willow spray, all the while reciting her spell. Before long the water she sprinkled was spent, and the tree was green again, its leaves deep and shaded, with twenty-three ginseng fruits hanging on it. The two boys Clear Breeze and Bright Moon said: "When the fruits went missing we counted and recounted only twenty-two. Now the tree has come back to life—how has it gained one more?" Pilgrim said: "As the saying goes, 'Time shows a man's heart.' I stole only three that day. The fourth fell to the ground, and the local earth god told me this treasure sinks into the earth when it touches soil. Bajie kept shouting that I had played favorites, and that is how the word leaked. It has been argued out till now, and the truth is seen." The Bodhisattva said: "The reason I used no vessel of the five elements is just that I knew this thing stands in awe of the five elements."

The Great Immortal was delighted past measure. He quickly ordered the gold-tapping mallet brought, and had ten fruits knocked down. He begged the Bodhisattva and the three elders to return to the precious hall, first to thank them for their labor, and second to hold a ginseng fruit feast. The young immortals arranged tables and chairs and laid out the cinnabar trays. The Bodhisattva sat at the head, the three elders on the left, the Tang monk on the right, Zhenyuanzi before them as host, and each ate one fruit. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

On Longevity Mountain, that old cave heaven, the ginseng ripens once in nine thousand years.When the spirit root showed itself, its shoots were broken; the sweet dew nourished it, and fruit and leaves are whole.The three elders met in joy, old friends renewed; the four monks met in luck, a fate from before.From this day, all who share the ginseng fruit at this feast are immortals who never age and never die.

Then the Bodhisattva and the three elders each ate one, the Tang monk, now knowing it was a treasure of the immortals, ate one, Wukong and his two brothers each ate one, Zhenyuanzi ate one as host, and the immortals of the abbey shared the last. Pilgrim then thanked the Bodhisattva and went back up to the Putuo Rock, and saw the three stars off on their way back to Penglai. Zhenyuanzi then set out a simple feast and swore brotherhood with Pilgrim. Truly, no fight, no friendship: the two houses became one. The master and his disciples were glad and happy, and when night fell they rested. Of the elder it may be said:

By destiny he ate of the Grass-Returning Elixir; yet a long life still must suffer the demons' trials.

What farewells would tomorrow bring? Listen to the next chapter to find out.