Chapter 57

The True Pilgrim Tells His Grief on Mount Potala; the False Monkey King Copies the Rescript at Water Curtain Cave

Now the Great Sage Sun, vexed and gloomy, rose into the air. To go back to Water Curtain Cave on Mount Flower-Fruit — he feared the little imps would laugh at him, laugh that he came of himself and went of himself, no measure of a great man. To go throw himself on the Heavenly Palace — he feared it would not suffer a long stay. To go to the islands of the sea — he would be ashamed to face the immortals of the three islands. To go to the dragon palace — his pride would not bend to beg the Dragon King. Truly without prop or stay. He weighed it bitterly to himself: "Enough, enough, enough. I will go back and see my master again; that is the true fruit."

So he brought down the cloud and came straight to stand before the Tang monk's horse: "Master, forgive your disciple this once! Never again will I do violence — let me be taught by you, Master. By all means let me still guard you west." The Tang monk saw him and made no answer at all; he held the horse and at once began the Tight-Fillet Spell, back and forth, more than twenty times over, till the Great Sage fell writhing to the ground, the fillet sunk a full inch into the flesh, before he stopped and said: "You would not go back — why come pestering me again?" Pilgrim only said: "Do not chant it, do not chant it. I can get along somewhere; I only fear you cannot reach the Western Heaven without me." The Tang monk said in wrath: "You ape, you have killed and destroyed life, and brought me how much trouble; now truly I will not have you. Whether I can go or not is none of your affair. Be off, be off — linger, and I chant the spell again, and this time I will not stop till I have wrung the brains from your skull." The Great Sage, the pain past bearing, and seeing the master's heart unmoved, had no choice but to mount the somersault cloud again and rise into the air. Suddenly it came to him: "This monk has betrayed my heart. I will go to the cliff of Potala and tell my grief to the Bodhisattva Guanyin."

Good Great Sage! He wheeled his somersault, and in less than an hour was over the great southern sea. He checked his auspicious light, came to Mount Potala, and burst into the Purple Bamboo Grove, where suddenly Moksa the Pilgrim met him face to face with a salute: "Great Sage, where away?" Pilgrim said: "I would see the Bodhisattva." Moksa led him to the mouth of the Tide-Sound Cave, where the Boy of Wealth-in-Goodness saluted: "Great Sage, what brings you?" Pilgrim said: "I have a matter to lay before the Bodhisattva." At the word "lay before" the boy laughed: "You sharp-tongued monkey! Just as when I held the Tang monk fast and you deceived me. My Bodhisattva is a holy bodhisattva of great mercy and great pity, of great vow and great vehicle, who saves from suffering and sorrow, boundless and beyond measure — what fault of hers would you lay before her?" Pilgrim was full of stifled vexation; at these words his wrath flared: with a snort he shouted the Boy of Wealth back a step: "You little beast of betrayal and ingratitude — how dull you are! When you were fiend-making and spirit-working in those days, I begged the Bodhisattva to take you in and turn you to the right discipline; now you have this bliss and long life, free and easy, your years the years of heaven — and instead of thanking old Monkey you flout him. I have a matter to lay before the Bodhisattva in petition — how do you make it sharp-tongued slander of the Bodhisattva?" The boy smiled in apology: "Still the hasty monkey. I was only jesting — how did you come to turn face?"

As they spoke, a white parrot flew to and fro, and they knew the Bodhisattva called; Moksa and the boy led the way forward to below the precious lotus throne. Pilgrim, seeing the Bodhisattva, flung himself down in worship, and could not keep back the tears that gushed like a spring, and wept aloud. The Bodhisattva had Moksa and the boy raise him: "Wukong, what grief is this? Tell it plainly. Do not weep, do not weep; I will ease your suffering and quell your calamity." Pilgrim, weeping, bowed again: "In my days as a man, when did your disciple ever swallow such an insult? Since the Bodhisattva freed me from heaven's punishment and I took the discipline of the Buddha's gate, guarding the Tang monk west to worship the Buddha and seek scriptures, I have thrown away my body and staked my life to break his impediments — like snatching crisp bone from a tiger's jaws, or stripping living scales from a flood dragon's back — all in hope of reaching the true fruit, washing away my sins and purging the wicked. Who could know the elder would betray kindness and forget the debt, so wholly lost to one bond of goodness, never weighing black from white in his bitterness?" The Bodhisattva said: "Tell me the rights and wrongs of it, and let me hear." Pilgrim then told the whole story of the killing of the robbers from beginning to end. The Tang monk, because he had beaten many men to death, had bred resentment, and without weighing black from white chanted the Tight-Fillet Spell and driven him off, time after time — no road to heaven, no gate into the earth — and so he had come to lay the case before the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva said: "Tripitaka Tang, bearing his edict west, is wholly set on being a monk of goodness and will never lightly take a life. With your boundless powers, why beat so many common robbers to death? Robbers, though wicked, are human bodies still — they should not be beaten to death; they are not as demon birds and monster beasts, ghosts and fiends. Those, killed, are your merit; these human bodies killed are your cruelty. Only drive them off and scatter them, and your master is saved of himself. By fair judgment, the wrong is yours."

Pilgrim, tears in his eyes, kowtowed: "Though your disciple is in the wrong, he should redeem crime with service — not be driven off like this. I beg the Bodhisattva, in your great mercy, chant the Loosening-the-Fillet Spell, take off the gold fillet, and give it back to you, and let me go back to Water Curtain Cave to make my living." The Bodhisattva laughed: "The Tight-Fillet Spell was handed me by the Tathagata. When he sent me east to find the scripture-seeker he gave me three treasures — the brocade cassock, the nine-ring tin staff, and the three fillets of gold, restraint, and prohibition — and taught me the three charms in secret; there is no Loosening-the-Fillet Spell at all." Pilgrim said: "If so, I take my leave of the Bodhisattva." The Bodhisattva said: "You leave me — and go where?" Pilgrim said: "Up to the Western Heaven, to petition the Tathagata to chant the Loosening-the-Fillet Spell." The Bodhisattva said: "Wait. Let me look at your auspice and ill-auspice." Pilgrim said: "No need — this much ill luck is enough." The Bodhisattva said: "I do not look at you. I look at the Tang monk's."

Good Bodhisattva! Seated on the lotus throne, she moved her mind through the three realms, looked far with the eye of wisdom over the whole universe, and in a moment spoke: "Wukong, your master, this very instant, has a calamity against his life, and soon he will come looking for you. Stay here; I will speak with the Tang monk and have him go with you again for the scriptures, to bring the true fruit to pass." The Great Sage Sun could only turn to the faith and not presume; he stood in attendance below the precious lotus throne — but of that no more.

Now the elder Tang, having driven Pilgrim off, had Bajie lead the horse and Sha Monk carry the load; the party, four with the horse, went west not fifty li when the Tang monk reined in: "Disciples, since we left the farmhouse at the fifth watch, and with the vexation that Keeper of Heavenly Horses gave us, we have been half a day hungry and thirsty. Who will go beg a meal for me?" Bajie said: "Master, please dismount. Let me see whether there is a village near, and go beg a meal." The Tang monk slid down from the horse. The Idiot rose on a cloud and looked carefully from mid-air: as far as the eye reached, nothing but ridges — no thought of a house. He brought his cloud down and told the Tang monk: "Nowhere to beg a meal — as far as one can see, not a farmhouse." The Tang monk said: "If there is no place to beg a meal, at least bring some water for thirst." Bajie said: "Let me go down to the gully south of here and fetch some water." Sha Monk took the alms bowl and handed it to Bajie. Bajie, bowl in hand, rode off on cloud and mist. The elder sat by the road and waited a long while, and no one came back — poor man, parched of mouth and bitter of tongue, past bearing. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

To guard the spirit and nourish the breath — that is called essence; nature and feeling are given in one bodily form.When the heart is disordered and the spirit dim, all sicknesses arise; the body fails, the essence spoils, and the fountainhead of the Way gives way.The three flowers never forming — labor all in vain; the four elements in decay — the struggle wasted.Wood and earth without power, metal and water cut off — the dharma body idles: when will it ever be achieved?

Sha Monk at the side, seeing the Tang monk's hunger and thirst past bearing and Bajie not back with the water, could only make the baggage fast and tether the white horse: "Master, sit at your ease; I will go press the water along." The elder, tears in his eyes, said nothing, only nodded. Sha Monk mounted the cloud-light in haste and went too toward the southern hills.

The master, tempered alone and boiling in his own trouble, was distressed past all. In the very midst of his anguish he heard a sudden loud sound; the elder, startled, raised himself to look — and there was Sun Pilgrim kneeling by the roadside, a porcelain cup held in both hands: "Master — without old Monkey you cannot so much as get water. Here is a cup of good cold water; drink and quench your thirst, and I will go and beg a meal." The elder said: "I will not drink your water. If I die of thirst where I stand, I accept my lot. I will not have you — go." Pilgrim said: "Without me you cannot reach the Western Heaven." The Tang monk said: "Whether I can or cannot is none of your affair. Brazen ape, why keep pestering me?" And that Pilgrim changed countenance, wrath rising to anger, and cursed the elder: "You hard-hearted bald reprobate! You slight me to the bone." Swinging the iron staff, dropping the cup, he brought it down on the elder's back. The elder fell senseless, speechless; and the other lifted the two blue-felt bundles in his hand, mounted the somersault cloud, and was gone, no one knew where.

Now Bajie, bowl in hand, made for the southern slope below the mountain, and suddenly saw, in a fold of the hills, a thatched farmhouse. Before, when he had looked, the mountain's height had hidden it; only now, come near, did he know it for a house. The Idiot thought in secret: "With an ugly mug like mine they will surely fear me, and all my pains go for nothing — no meal could I beg. I must change into something handsome, I must change."

Good Idiot! He pinched the sign, murmured a charm, shook himself seven or eight shakes, and changed into a fat yellow monk sick with the wasting disease; whimpering and groaning he shuffled to the door and called: "Patron — in the kitchen there is leftover rice; on the road there are hungry men. I am a poor monk from the Land of the East, bound for the Western Heaven for scriptures. My master on the road is hungry and thirsty; if you have crusts and cold rice in the house, I beg a little, to save us." Now the men of that house were all away, transplanting rice; only two women were at home, who had just cooked the midday meal, filled two basins, and were about to carry them out to the fields — with some rice and crusts still in the pot, not yet dished up. The woman, seeing his sickly look, and hearing him talk of the Land of the East and the westward journey, feared he was light-headed with sickness and talking nonsense, and feared too he might fall down dead at the door; so, soothing and humoring him, she filled his bowl full of leftover rice and crusts. The Idiot carried it back, showed his true form, and returned the way he had come.

As he went he heard someone call "Bajie." He looked up: it was Sha Monk standing on the cliff-top, shouting: "Over here! Over here!" And coming down the cliff to meet him, he said: "There is good clear water in this gully — where have you been?" Bajie laughed: "When I got here I saw a house in a fold of the hills, and I have begged this bowl of dry rice." Sha Monk said: "The rice will serve — but the master is parched with thirst; how shall we get water to him?" Bajie said: "Water is easy: hold your lapel out to carry the rice, and I will take the bowl and scoop the water."

The two came back to the road in high spirits, and there lay the Tang monk face to the ground in the dust; the white horse had slipped its rein, neighing long and prancing at the roadside; the baggage load was gone without trace. Bajie stamped and beat his breast in horror, crying out: "No need to ask! No need to ask! It is some remnant of the crew Sun Pilgrim drove off, come to beat the master to death and carry off the baggage." Sha Monk said: "First tether the horse!" And crying: "What shall we do? What shall we do? Truly it is as they say — to fail halfway, to stop in mid-course." He called: "Master" — and the pearls flew from his eyes, weeping in grief. Bajie said: "Brother, do not weep. Things have come to this; let the scriptures go. Watch the master's body while I ride the horse to some prefecture, province, county, village, or market and sell it for a few taels, buy a coffin, and bury the master; then we two go each his own way and break up the company."

Sha Monk truly could not bear to leave him; he turned the Tang monk's body over and warmed his face with his own face, weeping: "Master of my bitter lot!" And then the elder breathed warm from mouth and nose, and his breast was warm. He called at once: "Bajie, come — the master's life is not lost." The Idiot came near and helped the elder up. He came to, groaning a while, and cursed: "That brazen ape has beaten me dead." Sha Monk and Bajie asked: "What ape?" The elder said nothing, only sighed. He asked for water and drank a few mouthfuls, and then said: "Disciples — you had just gone when that Wukong came pestering me again. I stood fast and would not take him back, and he struck me a blow of the staff and snatched away both the blue-felt bundles." Bajie heard, ground his teeth, and fire rose in his heart: "Confounded brazen monkey! How dare you be so insolent?" He said: "Sha Monk, wait on the master; I will go to his house and demand the bundles." Sha Monk said: "Do not rage yet. Let us help the master to that house in the fold of the hills and beg some hot tea and broth, warm the rice we begged before, and put the master to rights — then go look for him."

Bajie did as he said: he helped the master into the saddle, took the bowl with the cold rice, and came straight to that house's gate. Only an old wife was at home; suddenly seeing them, she hurried to hide. Sha Monk joined his palms: "Mother, we are sent by the Great Tang of the Land of the East, bound west. Our master is unwell; we have come specially to your house to beg hot tea and broth for his meal." The old wife said: "Just now there was a yellow, fat monk sick with the wasting disease, who said he was sent from the Land of the East, and begged his meal and went — and now there is another from the Land of the East? I have no one at home; go turn elsewhere." The elder heard, and holding on Bajie, dismounted and bowed: "Grandmother, I have three disciples, one in heart and mind, guarding me to the great Thunderclap Monastery in India to worship the Buddha and seek scriptures. Only my eldest disciple, called Sun Wukong, has been fierce and violent all his life and would not keep the good way, and I sent him home. Who knew he would come sneaking back, strike me a blow of the staff on the back, and snatch away my bags and my robe and bowl? Now I must send a disciple to find him and demand them back; and as there is no resting place on the empty road, I have come specially to your worshipful house, grandmother, to rest a while. When the luggage is recovered we go on at once — we shall never dare stay long." The old wife said: "Just now a yellow fat monk sick with the wasting disease begged his meal and went, saying he was from the Land of the East bound west — how is there another party?" Bajie could not help laughing: "It was I. Because I am long of mouth and big of ear, I feared you would be frightened and refuse me a meal — so I changed into that shape. Do you not believe me? Is not this your own crusty rice in my brother's lapel?"

The old wife knew the rice was truly what she had given, and did not turn them away, but had them sit, and boiled a pot of hot tea and handed it to Sha Monk to soak the rice. Sha Monk soaked the cold rice and gave it to the master. The master ate a few mouthfuls, and when his spirit had settled a long while, said: "Who will go demand the luggage?" Bajie said: "Years ago, when the master drove him off, I went looking for him once, and I know his Water Curtain Cave on Mount Flower-Fruit. Let me go, let me go." The elder said: "You cannot go. That ape was never on good terms with you, and your talk is rough; if one word or two goes wrong, he will beat you. Let Wujing go." Sha Monk took it on: "I will go, I will go." The elder charged Sha Monk further: "When you come there, mind the temper of the thing. If he will give you the bundles, make your thanks as if in earnest and bring them; if he will not, by no means quarrel with him — come straight to the Bodhisattva at the South Sea, tell her all this, and ask her to go question him for them." Sha Monk obeyed in every point, and said to Bajie: "I am going to look for him now. Do not badger the master by any means, but serve him well; and do not be rude in this house, for fear they will not keep supplying our meals. I go and return." Bajie nodded: "I understand. But whether you get them or not, come back early — do not let it be the sharp burden carried on a pole that slips from both ends." Sha Monk pinched the sign, mounted the cloud-light, and made straight for the eastern continent of Divine Land. Truly:

The body here, the spirit flown, no keeping of the house; a furnace without fire — how should it smelt the cinnabar?The Yellow Dame leaves her lord to seek the golden elder; Wood-Mother goes for the master — what help against the sick face?Gone, and who knows what day of return; this time, who can reckon when he comes again.The five elements in birth and conquest, their affinities all awry — we wait only for the Mind-Ape to pass the pass again.

Sha Monk in mid-air traveled three days and nights before he reached the great eastern sea, and suddenly heard the sound of waves. He looked down: truly it was black mist swelling against the sky, the yin air strong; the gray deep held the sun, and dawn's light was cold. He had no heart for sightseeing; he passed over the immortal mountain and crossed Yingzhou, went straight east to the borders of Mount Flower-Fruit, rode the sea wind, trod the water's flow, and after a long while saw the high peaks ranked like halberds, the sheer walls hanging like screens. He came to the summit, brought down his cloud, found a path down the mountain, and looked for Water Curtain Cave. As he drew near he heard countless monkey fiends in the mountain clamoring without pause. He came nearer and looked carefully: it was Sun Pilgrim sitting high on a stone platform, a paper spread in both hands, reading aloud:

"Li, emperor of the Great Tang of the Land of the East, by edict before our throne commands his sworn brother, the holy monk, Dharma Master Chen Xuanzang, to go to the Western Heaven, to the Thunderclap Monastery on Vulture Peak in the land of India, expressly to worship the Tathagata Buddha and seek scriptures. Because a swift sickness invaded our person and our soul wandered to the netherworld, happily our span of years was lengthened; we are grateful to the lord of darkness for release back to life, and have spread a grand assembly of goodness and built a mass for the deliverance of the dead. And in glory the Bodhisattva Guanyin, who saves from suffering and sorrow, appeared in her golden body, showing that in the west there is a Buddha and there are scriptures, able to deliver the souls in darkness and lift them beyond; and she specially named the Dharma Master Xuanzang to journey far over a thousand mountains and seek the sutras and verses. Should he pass through the various countries of the western lands, let no one cut off his good cause, but honor this rescript and let him pass. Set down before the throne in the autumn of the thirteenth year of Zhenguan of the Great Tang. Since leaving the great country he has passed through many lands, and on the way taken an eldest disciple, Pilgrim Sun Wukong; a second disciple, Zhu Wuneng, Bajie; and a third disciple, the monk Sha Wujing."

Having read it through, he began again from the top.

Sha Monk heard it was the rescript of passage, and could not keep back — he stepped near and called at the top of his voice: "Brother — why do you read out the master's rescript?" That Pilgrim heard, looked up quickly, did not know Sha Monk, and called: "Seize him! Seize him!" The monkeys all closed round, dragged and hauled Sha Monk near, and shouted: "Who are you, to push unbidden at our immortal cave?" Sha Monk, seeing him changed of face and refusing to know him, could only bow from below and say: "I report to you, brother: truly the master's temper was hot and he wronged you; he chanted the spell on you several times and drove you home. First, we his juniors did not plead for you; second, we went to look for water and beg a meal, the master being hungry and thirsty. Who knew that you, brother, meaning well, would come again, and vexed that the master would not hold you in his service, strike him down senseless and snatch the luggage. Afterward we brought the master round, and I have come specially to call on you, brother. If you bear the master no hate, then remember your old debt of deliverance, and come back with me, your junior, with the luggage, to see the master, and together to the Western Heaven, to bring the true fruit to pass. But if your grudge is deep and you will not come, then by all means give the bundle to me, your junior, and stay in these deep mountains, happy in your evening among mulberry and elm — a beauty in both ways, truly."

That Pilgrim heard and laughed coldly: "Worthy brother, this reasoning is not at all to my mind. That I beat the Tang monk and snatched the luggage is not because I will not go west, nor because I love to live here. I have now read the rescript through and through; I will go to the Western Heaven myself, worship the Buddha, and seek the scriptures, and carry them to the Land of the East — I will have the whole achievement to myself, and the people of the southern continent will set me up as their patriarch, my name handed down ten thousand generations." Sha Monk laughed: "Brother, you speak amiss. Never has there been such a thing as Sun Pilgrim fetching the scriptures. Our Tathagata Buddha made the three treasuries of true scriptures, and originally named the Bodhisattva Guanyin to go to the Land of the East to find the scripture-seeker; we are to toil over a thousand mountains, seek out the countries, and guard that seeker. The Bodhisattva said: the scripture-seeker is the Tathagata's own disciple, called Elder Golden Cicada; because he would not listen while the Buddha preached, he was banished from Vulture Peak, reborn in the Land of the East, to perfect his fruit in the west and cultivate the great Way again. On the road such impediments as these were due, and we three were freed from them to be his guardians. If you go without the Tang monk, brother, what Buddha would hand the scriptures to you? Would it not be a waste of all your pains?" That Pilgrim said: "Worthy brother, you are the dull one after all — you know the one and not the two. You think that having a Tang monk you guard him — and have I no Tang monk? Here I have chosen another true monk of the Way, and will go for the scriptures myself, old Monkey alone supporting him — what is wanting? We start tomorrow at first light. If you will not believe it, I will have him out for you to see." He called: "Lads — bring the old master out quickly." They truly ran in and led out a white horse and brought out a Tang Tripitaka; behind him a Bajie carrying the luggage, and a Sha Monk with the tin staff.

Sha Monk, seeing this, flew into a rage: "I, old Sha, on the road do not change my name, nor seated change my surname — where is there another Sha Monk? None of your insolence — taste my staff!" Good Sha Monk! Staff raised in both hands, the demon-quelling staff came down full on the false Sha Monk's head and killed him — a monkey fiend it was. That Pilgrim, enraged, swung the gold-banded staff, and leading the troop of monkeys hemmed Sha Monk in. Sha Monk charged east and west, fought his way out to the road, rose on cloud and mist, and made his escape: "This brazen ape, so shameless! I will go tell the Bodhisattva." That Pilgrim, seeing Sha Monk had killed a monkey fiend and driven off his Sha Monk, did not pursue; he went back to the cave, had the lads drag the slain fiend's corpse aside, strip the skin, fry the flesh, and with coconut wine and grape wine he ate with all the monkeys. Then he chose another demon monkey skilled in transformations, made it into another Sha Monk, taught it anew, and set out for the west — but of that no more.

Sha Monk left the eastern sea on a cloud and traveled a day and night, and came to the South Sea. As he went he soon saw Mount Potala was not far. He hastened forward, lowered his clouds and mist to look — what a place! And truly:

It folds within it the secret of heaven and encloses the region of earth. It gathers a hundred rivers and bathes the sun and washes the stars; it receives the gathered streams and breeds the wind that rocks the moon. The tide rises and the great kun fish transforms; the waves roll and the giant turtle swims. Its waters join the northwestern sea; its waves merge with the ocean due east. The four seas are linked by one vein of earth; the immortal isles and islets each an immortal palace. Say nothing of a Penglai over all the earth — look at the cloud caves of Potala. What scenery! On the mountain head the sunset blaze magnifies the primal essence; beneath the crags the auspicious wind sways the moon's crystal. In the purple bamboo grove peacocks fly; on green willow branches the wondrous parrots talk. The precious flowers and jeweled grasses are fair year by year; the treasure trees and golden lotuses rise year upon year. White cranes again and again pay court to the summit; white luan birds time and again come to the mountain pavilion. Even the sporting fish know to cultivate their true nature — leaping the waves and piercing the water to hear the sutras preached.

Sha Monk walked slowly up Mount Potala, gazing at the immortal scenery. Moksa the Pilgrim met him face to face: "Sha Wujing — you are not guarding the Tang monk for the scriptures; what brings you here?" Sha Monk saluted and said: "There is a matter for which I have come to wait on the Bodhisattva; I beg you to bring me in to her." Moksa knew he came looking for the Pilgrim, and said nothing of it; he went in first and told the Bodhisattva: "Outside is the Tang monk's youngest disciple, Sha Wujing, come to pay homage." Sun Pilgrim, below the throne, heard and laughed: "This must be the Tang monk in trouble, and Sha Monk come to fetch the Bodhisattva." The Bodhisattva ordered Moksa to call him in at the gate. Sha Monk flung himself down in worship; the bows done, he raised his head and was about to tell the whole matter when he saw Sun Pilgrim standing at the side; unable to wait to speak, he drew the demon-quelling staff and struck at Pilgrim's face. That Pilgrim did not strike back, only slipped aside. Sha Monk cursed without pause: "You brazen ape, rebel against the Ten Evils! Come again to pull the wool over the Bodhisattva's eyes!" The Bodhisattva called out: "Wujing, no violence. Whatever the matter, tell me first."

Sha Monk put up the precious staff, bowed again below the throne, and said to the Bodhisattva, wrath boiling: "This monkey has done violence all along the road, past counting. The other day at the foot of the slope he beat two highway robbers to death, and the master blamed him. Who knew that evening he would lodge in the robbers' own harborer's house, and beat a whole band of robbers to death without mercy, and come carrying a man's head, dripping blood, to show the master. The master was so frightened he fell from his horse, cursed him a few words, and sent him home. After we parted, the master was famished and parched, and sent Bajie for water. When he waited long and none came, he sent me to look for him. Who knew that Sun Pilgrim, seeing us both away, would come back, strike the master a blow of the iron staff, and snatch away the two blue-felt bundles. We came back and brought the master round, and went to his Water Curtain Cave to find him and demand the bundles — and he changed countenance, would not know me, and read the master's rescript over and over. I asked what he read it for, and he said he would not guard the Tang monk, but would go himself to the Western Heaven for the scriptures, carry them to the Land of the East, count it his own achievement, have himself made patriarch, his name blazoned ten thousand ages. I said: 'Without the Tang monk, who would give you the scriptures?' He said he had chosen a true monk of the Way. And when he had him called out, there truly was a white horse, a Tang monk, followed by a Bajie and a Sha Monk. I said: 'I am Sha Monk — where is there another?' I closed on him and struck him a blow with my precious staff, and it was a monkey fiend. Then he led his troop to seize me, and I have come expressly to petition the Bodhisattva. I did not know he could ride the somersault cloud and get here before me; and who knows what fair words and flowery talk he has used to pull the wool over your eyes, Bodhisattva?" The Bodhisattva said: "Wujing, do not calumniate a man. Wukong has been here four days now, and I have not once let him go back — where would he get any thought of choosing another Tang monk and fetching the scriptures himself?" Sha Monk said: "There is a Sun Pilgrim at Water Curtain Cave this very moment; how dare you trifle with me?" The Bodhisattva said: "If so, do not rage. I will have Wukong go with you to Mount Flower-Fruit and see: the true is hard to destroy, the false easy to remove; there you will see for yourselves."

The Great Sage heard and took leave of the Bodhisattva with Sha Monk. And this going of theirs was to:

Before Mount Flower-Fruit, black and white be told; at the mouth of Water Curtain Cave, true and false be known.

But how they would tell them apart? Listen to the next chapter to find out.

The true Pilgrim pours out his grief on Potalaka Mountain; The false Monkey King copies the rescript at the Water Curtain Cave

The Great Sage Sun, vexed and gloomy, rose into the air. To go back to Flower-Fruit Mountain and the Water Curtain Cave—he feared the little demons of his old cave would laugh at him, laugh that he had left and returned, not the measure of a true man. To go seek the Heavenly Palace—he feared it would not suffer him to stay long. To go to the sea isles—he would be ashamed to face the immortals of the three isles. To go to the dragon palace—he could not bring himself to beg the Dragon King. Truly he was without stay or support. He pondered bitterly: "Enough, enough, enough. I will go back to see my master after all; that is the true fruit."

So he pressed down his cloud and came straight to Tripitaka's horse and stood waiting: "Master, forgive your disciple this once! Never again will I do violence—I take your instruction. Only let me keep guarding you on the road to the Western Heaven." The Tang monk, seeing him, would not answer at all: he reined in and at once recited the Tight-Fillet Spell, forward and backward, more than twenty times over. The Great Sage fell to the ground under it, the fillet pressed an inch deep into his flesh, before the elder stopped and said: "You will not go back—why come and cling to me again?" Pilgrim cried only: "Do not recite, do not recite. I have places to pass my days, but I fear that without me you will never reach the Western Heaven." Tripitaka raged: "You ape, you have killed and destroyed lives and dragged me into so much trouble. Now I truly do not want you. Whether I can get there or not is none of your business. Go, go quickly. If you are slow, I will recite the spell again, and this time I will not stop, and I will wring the brains out of your skull." The Great Sage, past bearing with the pain, and seeing the master would not turn, had no choice but to mount the somersault cloud again and rise into the air. Suddenly he came to himself: "This monk has betrayed my heart. I will go to the cliff of Potalaka and lay my case before the Bodhisattva Guanyin."

Good Great Sage! He turned the somersault, and in less than a watch was over the great sea of the southern ocean. He lowered his auspicious light, came to Potalaka Mountain, and pushed into the purple bamboo grove, where Muzha the Pilgrim met him face to face and bowed: "Where are you going, Great Sage?" Pilgrim said: "To see the Bodhisattva." Muzha led him to the mouth of the Tide-Sound Cave, where the boy Good Wealth bowed: "What brings the Great Sage?" Pilgrim said: "I have a matter to lay before the Bodhisattva." Good Wealth, hearing the word "lay before," laughed: "Sly-tongued monkey! Just like the old days, when I held the Tang monk prisoner and you outwitted me. My Bodhisattva is a holy and good Bodhisattva of great mercy and great pity, of great vow and great vehicle, who saves from suffering and hardship, boundless and measureless. What fault could you have to bring against her?" Pilgrim was full of stifled anger; hearing this, his temper burst out. With a snort he shouted Good Wealth backward and said: "You little beast, forgetful of kindness and loyalty, and a fool into the bargain! Back then you were a spirit making mischief; I begged the Bodhisattva to take you in and set you on the true path, and now you enjoy this bliss and long life, free and easy, with years like Heaven's—and instead of thanking Old Sun you affront him. I have come with a matter to beg of the Bodhisattva, and you say I am sly-tongued and would accuse her?" Good Wealth said with an apologetic smile: "Still the hasty monkey. I was only joking; why turn on me?"

As they spoke, a white parrot flew back and forth, and they knew the Bodhisattva was calling. Muzha and Good Wealth led the way to the foot of the precious lotus throne. Pilgrim saw the Bodhisattva and threw himself down in worship, tears gushing like a spring, weeping aloud. The Bodhisattva told Muzha and Good Wealth to raise him: "Wukong, whatever grieves you, say it plainly. Do not cry, do not cry; I will save you from your trouble." Pilgrim, weeping, bowed again: "In my days as your disciple, when did I ever swallow such an insult? Since the Bodhisattva freed me from my heavenly punishment and I took the vows, protecting the Tang monk westward to worship the Buddha and seek the scriptures, I have thrown away my body and staked my life to free him from his demon troubles—like snatching a crisp bone from a tiger's jaws, or stripping a live scale from a flood-dragon's back. All I hoped was to come to the true fruit, washing away my sins and putting off evil. Who knew the elder would betray kindness and loyalty, throw away his store of good karma, and never ask black from white?" The Bodhisattva said: "Tell me the whole rights of it, the black and the white." Pilgrim told her the whole story of the killing of the robbers, beginning to end: the Tang monk, because he had beaten many men to death, conceived a hatred, and, not asking black from white, recited the Tight-Fillet Spell and drove him off time after time, till there was no road up to heaven and no door into the earth, and he had come specially to tell the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva said: "Tripitaka Tang went west under edict, bent on being a monk of goodness, and will never lightly take a life. With boundless powers like yours, why beat so many robbers to death? Robbers are bad men, but they are still human beings, and should not be killed—unlike demon birds and monster beasts, ghosts and goblin fiends. To kill those is your merit; to kill human beings is your unfeelingness. Drive them off and scatter them, and your master is saved. By my reckoning, the fault is yours."

Pilgrim, tears in his eyes, knocked his head: "Even if your disciple is at fault, my merits might weigh against the crime; I should not be driven off like this. I beg the Bodhisattva, out of her great mercy, to recite the Loosening-Fillet Spell, take off the gold fillet, take it back, and let me escape to the Water Curtain Cave." The Bodhisattva laughed: "The Tight-Fillet Spell was handed to me by the Tathagata. When he sent me east to find the scripture-seeker, he gave me three treasures: the brocade cassock, the nine-ringed tin staff, and three fillets, gold, tight, and binding, with three spells taught me in secret. There is no Loosening-Fillet Spell at all." Pilgrim said: "Then I take my leave of the Bodhisattva." The Bodhisattva said: "Where are you going, that you leave me?" Pilgrim said: "Up to the Western Heaven, to beg the Tathagata to recite the Loosening-Fillet Spell." The Bodhisattva said: "Wait. Let me see your luck, good or bad." Pilgrim said: "No need to look. Luck this bad is quite enough." The Bodhisattva said: "I will not look at you; I will look at the Tang monk's luck."

Good Bodhisattva! She sat upright on the lotus throne, sent her mind through the Three Realms, looked far with her wise eye over the whole universe, and in a moment spoke: "Wukong, in a very little while your master will be in danger of his life, and soon he will come looking for you. Stay here while I speak to the Tang monk, and have him take you back to fetch the scriptures and win the true fruit." The Great Sage Sun had to submit and dared not be unruly; he stood waiting at the foot of the precious lotus throne—and no more of that.

The Tang elder, having driven Pilgrim off, had Bajie lead the horse and Sha Monk carry the load. Four mouths counting the horse, they went west not fifty li when Tripitaka reined in: "Disciples, we left the farmhouse at the fifth watch, and then that Bimawen put me in such a temper. Half the day now, hungry and thirsty both. Who will go beg a meal for me?" Bajie said: "Master, please dismount. Let me see whether there is a farm village near, and go beg a meal." Tripitaka tumbled off his horse. The Idiot leaped into the clouds, looked carefully through midair, and saw nothing but ridges and hills, with never a house in sight. Bajie came down and told Tripitaka: "There is nowhere to beg a meal. As far as the eye reaches, not a farmhouse." Tripitaka said: "If there is no place to beg a meal, at least get some water to wet our throats." Bajie said: "I will fetch some water from the ravine under the south mountain." Sha Monk handed him the alms bowl. Bajie took it and rode off into the clouds and mist. The elder sat by the road and waited a long time, with no one coming back; poor man, his mouth parched and his tongue bitter, past bearing. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

To guard the spirit and nurse the breath is called essence; feeling and nature are cast at one birth in one form.When the heart is in turmoil the spirit darkens, and every sickness springs up; when the body decays and the essence spoils, the root of the Way gives way.The three flowers never forming, all the toil is wasted; the four elements sinking, all the striving is in vain.Earth and wood make no headway, metal and water are cut off; the dharma body, slack and lazy—when will it ever be perfected?

Sha Monk, standing by, saw Tripitaka hard put to it with hunger and thirst, and Bajie not back with the water; he could only steady the bags and tether the white horse: "Master, sit here at your ease; I will go hurry the water along." The elder, tears in his eyes, said nothing, only nodded. Sha Monk leaped onto his cloud-light and went off too toward the south mountain.

The master, alone, was smelting and tormenting himself, in great distress. Just then, in his panic, he heard a loud noise. The elder, startled, raised himself to look—and it was Sun Pilgrim kneeling by the road, a porcelain cup held in both hands: "Master, without Old Sun you could not even get water. Here is a cup of good cold water. Drink a mouthful and wet your throat, and I will go beg a meal." The elder said: "I will not drink your water. Let me die of thirst where I stand; that is my lot. I do not want you. Be off." Pilgrim said: "Without me you will never reach the Western Heaven." Tripitaka said: "Whether I get there or not is none of your business. Brazen ape, what do you mean, hanging about me like this?" That Pilgrim's face changed; anger rose in him, and he cursed the elder: "You hard-hearted bald wretch! You scorn me to the bone." He swung the iron staff, dropped the cup, and brought it down on the elder's back. The elder fainted to the ground, unable to speak. Pilgrim took up the two blue-felt bags, mounted the somersault cloud, and was gone no one knew where.

Bajie, bowl in hand, made for the south slope of the mountain, and suddenly saw a thatched farmhouse in a hollow of the hills. Before, when he had looked from the sky, the height of the mountain had hidden it; only now, close up, did he know it for a house. The Idiot thought to himself: "With this ugly face of mine they will surely be afraid of me, and all my trouble wasted—I will never beg a meal. I must change into something better, I must."

Good Idiot! He pressed his fingers into the sign, murmured a spell, shook his body seven or eight shakes, and changed into a yellow, bloated monk sick with the wasting disease, moaning and groaning as he shuffled to the door, calling: "Patron, there is leftover rice in the kitchen and hungry men on the road. I am a poor monk from the East, bound for the Western Heaven to fetch the scriptures. My master is hungry and thirsty on the road. If you have any scorched rice or cold rice in the house, I beg a little, to save our mouths." As it happened, the men of the house were all away, transplanting rice seedlings. Only two women were home; they had just cooked the noon meal, filled two basins, and were packing it to carry out to the fields, with some rice and scorched rice still in the pot. Seeing his sickly looks, and hearing him talk of the East and the westward journey, they feared he was light-headed with illness and talking nonsense, and feared too that he might fall down dead at their gate. So they coaxed and humored him, filling his bowl full with leftover rice and scorched rice. The Idiot carried it back, showed his true form, and took the old road.

As he went, he heard someone call "Bajie!" He looked up: it was Sha Monk, standing on the cliff, shouting: "Here! Over here!" When he came down the cliff and they met, Sha Monk said: "There is good clear water in this ravine—where have you been?" Bajie laughed: "I came here, saw a farmhouse in a hollow, and begged this bowl of dry rice." Sha Monk said: "The rice will serve, but the master is parched with thirst. Where is the water?" Bajie said: "Water is easy. Hold your jacket front out and carry the rice, and I will use the bowl to scoop water."

The two came back to the road in high spirits—and there was the Tang monk face down in the dust; the white horse, rein loose, neighing and prancing by the roadside; the luggage gone without a trace. Bajie stamped and beat his breast, wailing: "No need to ask! It is one of the robbers' gang that Pilgrim drove off: they have come here, beaten the master to death, and made off with the luggage." Sha Monk said: "First tie up the horse!" Then he only cried: "What now? What now? This is truly the case of stopping halfway, giving up midway." He called: "Master," tears rolling, weeping in grief. Bajie said: "Brother, do not cry. Things are as they are; say no more of fetching scriptures. You watch over the master's body. I will ride to some prefecture, county, village, or market town, sell the horse for a few taels of silver, buy a coffin, and bury the master. Then we two each go our own way and break up the band."

Sha Monk truly could not give him up. He turned the Tang monk over, face to face, and cried: "Master, you poor doomed man!"—and saw breath coming warm from the elder's mouth and nose, and warmth in his chest. He called: "Bajie, come! The master is not dead." The Idiot came near and helped the elder up. He came to, groaning, and cursed: "That wicked ape—he has beaten me to death!" Sha Monk and Bajie asked: "What ape?" The elder said nothing, only sighed. He asked for water, drank a few mouthfuls, and only then said: "Disciples, as soon as you were gone, Wukong came back and clung to me again. I stood firm and would not take him back, so he struck me one blow of the staff and made off with both the blue-felt bags." Hearing this, Bajie ground his teeth and kindled the fire in his heart: "That plague-stricken monkey! How dare he be so rude?" He said: "Sha Monk, you wait on the master. I will go to his house and demand the bags." Sha Monk said: "Do not fly into a rage. Let us help the master to that farmhouse in the hollow, beg some hot tea and broth, warm the rice we begged, and nurse the master first; then we can look for him."

Bajie did as he said: he helped the master onto the horse, took the bowl with the cold rice, and came to the farmhouse door. Only an old wife was at home; seeing them, she hurried to hide. Sha Monk pressed his palms: "Mother, we are sent by the Tang of the East to the Western Heaven. Our master is unwell, and we have come specially to your house to beg some hot tea and broth, so that he can eat." The old woman said: "Just now a yellow, bloated monk sick with the wasting disease said he was sent from the East and went off with his begged meal. Now there is another party from the East? There are no men at home; please try somewhere else." Hearing this, the elder, leaning on Bajie, dismounted and bowed: "Mother, I have three disciples, of one heart and one mind, who protect me to Great India, to the Thunderclap Monastery, to worship the Buddha and seek the scriptures. Only my eldest disciple, called Sun Wukong, has been violent all his life and will not keep the good path, so I sent him away. I did not expect him to come sneaking back, strike me one blow on the back, and rob me of my bags and my robe and bowl. Now I must send a disciple after him to demand them back. As that empty road is no place to sit, I have come to your house, mother, to rest a while. As soon as the luggage is recovered we will go; we will certainly not stay long." The old woman said: "Just now a yellow, bloated monk sick with the wasting disease went off with begged meal, saying he was from the East bound for the West. How come there is another party?" Bajie could not help laughing: "That was me. My mouth is long and my ears big, and I was afraid your family would be frightened and would not give alms, so I changed into that shape. If you do not believe me, is not that scorched rice from your own pot in my brother's jacket front?"

The old woman recognized the rice as truly what she had given, and no longer refused them; she had them sit, boiled a pot of hot tea, and gave it to Sha Monk to soak the rice. Sha Monk soaked the cold rice and handed it to the master. The master ate a few mouthfuls, steadied himself a long while, and said: "Who will go demand the luggage?" Bajie said: "Two years ago, when the master drove him off, I went to look for him once, and I know his Water Curtain Cave on Flower-Fruit Mountain. Let me go, let me go." The elder said: "You must not. That ape was never on good terms with you, and you speak roughly. One word or two awry, and he will beat you. Let Wujing go." Sha Monk took it on: "I will go, I will go." The elder gave Sha Monk his instructions: "When you get there, mind how things look. If he will give you the bags, make your thanks and bring them back. If he will not, do not quarrel with him: go straight to the Bodhisattva in the Southern Sea, tell her all this, and ask her to question him for them." Sha Monk obeyed in every point, and said to Bajie: "I am going to look for him now. Do not grumble, and nurse the master carefully. Do not play the brute in this house either, or they will refuse to feed us. I will be back as soon as I can." Bajie nodded: "I understand. But whether you get the bags or not, come back soon; do not end up like a pointed carrying-pole, with the load slipping off both ends." So Sha Monk pressed the sign, rose on his cloud-light, and flew straight for the East-Victory Continent. Truly:

The body stays behind, but the spirit flies and will not keep its lodging; a furnace without fire—how can it smelt the elixir?The Yellow Dame leaves her lord to seek the old lord of gold; Mother Wood tends her master, helpless before his sick face.This going, no one knows what day he returns; this time, who can measure when he will be back?The five elements, breeding and checking, are out of joint; all waits for the Mind-Ape to pass the pass again.

Sha Monk, in midair, traveled three days and nights before he came to the eastern ocean, and suddenly heard the sound of waves. Looking down: truly, black mist swelled to the sky and the dark air was thick; the gray sea held the sun, and the dawn light was cold. He had no heart to admire the view; he crossed over to the immortal isles, made straight east for the borders of Flower-Fruit Mountain, rode the sea wind and trod the water a long while more, and then saw high peaks ranked like halberds and steep walls hung like screens. Coming to the peak top, he pressed down his cloud and looked for a way down, seeking the Water Curtain Cave. As he came near, he heard countless monkey spirits in the mountain chattering and yelling. Coming closer to look again, he saw Sun Pilgrim sitting high on a stone platform, a paper spread in both hands, reading aloud:

"Li, Emperor of the great kingdom of Tang in the Land of the East: before Our throne We have commanded Our sworn brother, the holy monk and Dharma Master Chen Xuanzang, to go up to the Western Heaven, to the land of India, to the Thunderclap Monastery on Vulture Peak, to bow before the Tathagata Buddha and seek the scriptures. We were seized by a sudden illness, and Our soul journeyed to the world below; happily Our span of life was not yet run out, and in grace the king of the dead released Us and sent Us back to life. We spread a great assembly of goodness and built a Mass for the deliverance of the dead. Most graciously the Bodhisattva Guanyin, who saves from suffering and hardship, appeared in her golden body and made known that in the West there is a Buddha and there are scriptures, able to raise the souls of the dark world and free them; and We specially commissioned the Dharma Master Xuanzang to cross a thousand mountains and seek the sutras and verses. Should he pass through the kingdoms of the western lands, let no one destroy this good karma, but honor this rescript and act on it. Given before the throne on a lucky day in autumn of the thirteenth year of Zhenguan of the Great Tang. Since leaving the great kingdom he has passed through many kingdoms, and on the way has taken on an eldest disciple, Pilgrim Sun Wukong; a second disciple, Zhu Wuneng, Bajie; and a third disciple, the monk Sha Wujing."

He read it through, then read it again from the top.

Sha Monk heard that it was the traveling rescript. He could not hold back; he came forward and called at the top of his voice: "Big brother, why are you reading the master's pass?" That Pilgrim, hearing him, looked up quickly, did not know Sha Monk, and called: "Seize him! Seize him!" The monkeys ringed him about, dragging and pulling him forward, and shouted: "Who are you, that you dare come near our immortal cave?" Seeing that Pilgrim had changed his face and would not own him, Sha Monk could only bow and say: "I report to you, big brother: truly it was the master's hot temper that wronged you; he recited the spell over you several times and drove you home. First, we disciples did not speak up for you; second, we were away finding water and begging food for the master's hunger and thirst. We never dreamed you would come back so kindly—and then blame the master for not keeping you, strike the master down senseless on the ground, and carry off the luggage. Later we brought the master round, and I have come specially to call on you, brother. If you bear the master no grudge, then remember your old debt to the man who freed you, take the luggage back with me, little brother, and go see the master, and together we go west and win the true fruit. But if your grudge is too deep and you will not come, then at least give me the bags, brother. Stay here in your deep mountains and enjoy your late-life ease—truly the best of both worlds."

Pilgrim heard and laughed coldly: "Brother, that reasoning does not suit me at all. My beating the Tang monk and seizing the luggage is not because I will not go west, nor because I love to live here. I have now read the rescript through and through. I will go west myself, worship the Buddha, fetch the scriptures, and carry them to the Land of the East; I will win the glory alone, and the people of the southern continent will set me up as their patriarch, and my name will pass down ten thousand generations." Sha Monk laughed: "Brother, that will not do. Never has there been such a thing as Sun Pilgrim fetching the scriptures of his own account. Our Buddha the Tathagata made the three treasuries of true scriptures, and it was he who directed the Bodhisattva Guanyin to go to the Land of the East to find a scripture-seeker, one who would toil over a thousand mountains, seek out the kingdoms, and be protected on his way. The Bodhisattva said: the scripture-seeker is a disciple of the Tathagata's own, called the elder Golden Cicada. Because he dozed while the Buddha preached, he was banished from Vulture Peak, reborn in the Land of the East, and appointed to win his reward in the West and cultivate the great Way again. The demon troubles on the road were to be expected, and we three were freed from our own punishments to be his guardians. If you do not have the Tang monk with you, brother, what Buddha would hand the scriptures to you? Would it not be toil and scheming all for nothing?" That Pilgrim said: "Brother, you are dull-witted: you know one thing and not the other. You say you have a Tang monk and guard him together—do you think I have no Tang monk? I have picked out another true monk of the Way here, and I will go fetch the scriptures myself, with Old Sun alone to support him. Why not? We start tomorrow at dawn. If you do not believe me, I will have him brought out for you to see." He called: "Lads, bring out the old master." They really did run in and lead out a white horse and bring out a Tripitaka Tang, followed by a Bajie carrying the luggage and a Sha Monk holding the tin staff.

Seeing this, Sha Monk flew into a rage: "I, old Sha, walking do not change my name, sitting do not change my surname—where is there another Sha Monk? None of your rudeness—take my staff!" Good Sha Monk! He raised the demon-taming staff in both hands and struck the false Sha Monk on the head, killing him with one blow—it was a monkey spirit. That Pilgrim, enraged, swung the gold-banded staff and led the troop of monkeys to ring Sha Monk in. Sha Monk bored east and west, fought his way out to the roadside, leaped into the clouds and mist, and escaped, saying: "This brazen monkey is too lawless. I will go tell the Bodhisattva." That Pilgrim, seeing Sha Monk had beaten one monkey spirit to death and driven Sha Monk off, did not chase him. He went back to the cave, had the lads drag the demon corpse aside, skin it, fry the flesh, and eat it with the whole troop of monkeys, with coconut wine and grape wine. Then he picked another monkey spirit who knew transformations, had it change into another Sha Monk, and began teaching it over again for the journey west—and no more of that.

Sha Monk rose on his cloud, left the eastern sea, traveled a day and a night, and came to the Southern Sea. As he went, Potalaka Mountain was not far off. He hurried forward, stopped low on his clouds and mist, and looked. What a place! Truly:

It folds in the deeps of heaven and takes in the region of earth.It gathers a hundred rivers, bathes the sun and washes the stars; it takes in the many streams, breeds the wind and rocks the moon.The tide rises and the great kun fish changes; the waves roll vast where the giant turtle swims.Its waters join the northwest sea; its waves meet the eastern ocean straight.The four seas link as one vein of the earth; the immortal lands, isles, and islets each have their immortal palaces.Say nothing of Penglai spread over the earth; look rather at the cloud caves of Potalaka.What scenery! On the peaks the glow of dawn clouds feeds the primal essence; under the crags the auspicious wind sways the crystal moonlight.In the purple bamboo grove peacocks fly; on the green willow branches the wondrous parrots talk.Precious flowers and jade grasses flourish year by year; treasure trees and golden lotuses spring up age after age.White cranes again and again pay court at the summit; white luan birds several times have come to the hill pavilion.Even the fish know to cultivate their true nature: they leap the waves and pierce the water to hear the sutras preached.

Sha Monk walked slowly up Potalaka, admiring the immortal scenery. Muzha the Pilgrim met him face to face: "Sha Wujing, have you left off guarding the Tang monk and fetching the scriptures? What brings you here?" Sha Monk, his salutations done, said: "I have a matter on which I have come specially to call on the Bodhisattva. Please introduce me." Muzha knew perfectly well he had come hunting Pilgrim, but said nothing of it; he went in first and told the Bodhisattva: "Outside is Sha Wujing, the Tang monk's youngest disciple, come to pay his respects." Sun Pilgrim, below the terrace, heard and laughed: "The Tang monk must be in trouble, and Sha Monk has come to beg the Bodhisattva's help." The Bodhisattva ordered Muzha to call him in at the gate. Sha Monk threw himself down in worship, and when he had finished, raised his head and was about to tell the whole story when he suddenly saw Sun Pilgrim standing at the side. He could not wait to speak: he drew the demon-taming staff and struck Pilgrim full in the face. That Pilgrim did not strike back; he slipped aside and dodged. Sha Monk cursed on and on: "You brazen monkey, rebel guilty of the ten deadly sins! Now you come to fool the Bodhisattva too!" The Bodhisattva called out: "Wujing, stop. Whatever it is, tell me first."

Sha Monk put up his precious staff, bowed again below the terrace, and said hotly: "This monkey has played the murderer all along the road, past counting. The other day below the slope he beat two road-blocking robbers to death, and the master blamed him. Then at night we lodged in the house of the robbers' own chief, and he beat a whole band of robbers to death, and came back carrying a man's head, dripping blood, to show the master. The master was so frightened he fell from his horse, cursed him a few words, and sent him away. After we parted, the master was starving and parched; he sent Bajie for water, and when he did not come back for a long time, sent me to look for him. Never dreaming that, seeing us two away, Sun Pilgrim would come back, strike the master down with the iron staff, and carry off both the blue-felt bags. When we came back we brought the master round, and I went to his Water Curtain Cave to demand the bags. Instead, he changed his face and would not own me, but read the master's rescript over and over. I asked what he wanted reading it for, and he said he would not guard the Tang monk any more: he would go west himself to fetch the scriptures and carry them to the Land of the East, count the merit as his own, be set up as patriarch, and have his name praised for ten thousand ages. I said: 'Without the Tang monk, who would hand the scriptures to you?' He said he had picked out another true monk of the Way. And when he had him brought out, there truly was a white horse and a Tang monk, followed by a Bajie and a Sha Monk. I said: 'I am Sha Monk—where is there another Sha Monk?' I rushed up and struck him one blow of my precious staff, and it turned out to be a monkey spirit. Then he led the troop to seize me, and I have come specially to tell the Bodhisattva and beg her help. Who knew he could ride the somersault cloud and got here before me? And who knows what smooth words he has used to fool the Bodhisattva?" The Bodhisattva said: "Wujing, do not go slandering people. Wukong has been here four days now, and I have not let him go home. Where would he get the idea of hiring another Tang monk and fetching the scriptures himself?" Sha Monk said: "There is a Sun Pilgrim at the Water Curtain Cave at this very moment. How dare you say I am lying?" The Bodhisattva said: "If that is so, do not be impatient. I will have Wukong go with you to Flower-Fruit Mountain and see. The true is hard to destroy, the false easy to remove; there you will see for yourselves."

The Great Sage heard, took leave of the Bodhisattva, and set off with Sha Monk. This journey of theirs was:

Before Flower-Fruit Mountain they will tell the black from the white;at the mouth of the Water Curtain Cave they will sort the true from the false.

But how they would tell them apart—listen to the next chapter to find out.