Chapter 58

Two Minds Throw the Great Cosmos into Uproar; a Single Body Finds True Quiescence Hard to Cultivate

This Pilgrim and Sha Monk bowed farewell to the Bodhisattva and rose on two streams of auspicious light, leaving the South Sea. Now the Pilgrim's somersault cloud is swift, and Sha Monk's immortal cloud slower; the Pilgrim would go on ahead. Sha Monk caught him: "Brother, none of your hiding the head and showing the tail, going first to get your root set. Come, we go together." The Great Sage was true of heart, but Sha Monk had his doubts. So the two truly went together on the cloud. Before long they saw Mount Flower-Fruit. They brought down the cloud and looked carefully outside the cave: there truly was a Pilgrim, sitting high on the stone platform, drinking and making merry with the troop of monkeys. In looks he was the Great Sage's very twin: yellow hair and gold fillet, gold-pupiled fire eyes; on his body too a cotton cassock, at his waist a tiger-skin skirt; in his hand too a gold-banded iron staff; on his feet too a pair of deerskin boots; the same hairy face and thunder-god mouth, hollow cheeks and a jutting nose, wide ears and broad brow, tusks growing outward.

The Great Sage flared with rage: with one fling of his hand he left Sha Monk, drew the iron staff, and came on cursing: "What manner of fiend are you, to change yourself into my likeness, usurp my children and grandchildren, set yourself up in my immortal cave, and lord it in my name?" That Pilgrim, seeing him, made no answer at all, but met him with the iron staff. The two Pilgrims together — truly no telling true from false. A fine fight, ah:

Two staffs, two monkey fiends — no light matter, this meeting.Both would guard the imperial brother of the Tang; each works his feats to found a hero's name.The true monkey truly took the Buddha's discipline; the false fiend falsely claims a son of the Buddha's love.Because his powers are many and transforming, no true, no false — the two are matched.One the primordial single breath, the Sage Equal to Heaven; one the long-smelted sprite of a thousand wiles, the earth-shrinking fiend.This one the As-You-Will Gold-Banded Staff; that one the iron bar that follows the heart.Parry and ward yield no victory; hold and withstand yield no defeat.First they closed outside the cave; in a little while the battle rose to mid-sky.

The two, each treading his cloud-light, leaped fighting up into the ninth heaven.

Sha Monk at the side dared not strike. Seeing them fight, truly he could not tell true from false. To draw his blade and help one — he feared to wound the true. He bore it a long while, then leaped down the cliff, and with the demon-quelling precious staff struck to the outside of Water Curtain Cave, scattering the fiends in terror, overturning the stone benches, smashing every vessel of their wine and meat. He looked for the blue-felt bundles — nowhere in any corner. Now the Water Curtain Cave is a waterfall of flying spring that hangs over the cave mouth: from afar like a curtain of white cloth, from near at hand a vein of water — hence the name Water Curtain Cave. Sha Monk, not knowing its secret ways, could not find it. So he rose on a cloud, hurried up into the ninth heaven, whirling the precious staff, and still could not strike. The Great Sage said: "Sha Monk, since you cannot help, go back and tell the master: such and such has befallen; old Monkey will fight this fiend up to the South Sea, before the Bodhisattva on Mount Potala, and settle true from false there." He had scarcely spoken when that Pilgrim said the very same. Sha Monk, seeing that the two were alike in face and voice, without one hair of difference, black and white past telling, could only do as he was told, wheel his cloud, and go back to tell the Tang monk — but of that no more.

See those two Pilgrims, traveling and fighting, straight to the South Sea, straight to Mount Potala, striking and cursing, their shouts without pause. They soon startled the guardian devas, who reported into the Tide-Sound Cave: "Bodhisattva — truly two Sun Wukongs come fighting." The Bodhisattva, with Moksa the Pilgrim, the Boy of Wealth-in-Goodness, and the Dragon Maiden, came down from the lotus throne and out the door, calling: "Beast of calamity, where are you going?" The two seized each other in turn: "Bodhisattva, this fellow is indeed like your disciple. We fought from Water Curtain Cave, a long while, neither winning. Sha Wujing's fleshly eyes are dull, he could not tell us apart, and though he had strength he could not help; it was I who had him go back west and tell the master. I have fought this fellow to your precious mountain, to borrow the Bodhisattva's eye of wisdom, and have her tell your disciple true from false, wicked from right." He had scarcely spoken when that Pilgrim said the same word for word. The devas and the Bodhisattva looked a long while and could not tell them. The Bodhisattva said: "Let go your hands; stand on either side, and let me look again." They truly let go and stood at either side. This one said: "I am the true." That one said: "He is the false."

The Bodhisattva called Moksa and the boy forward and whispered: "Each of you hold one of them; I will chant the Tight-Fillet Spell in secret — the one who aches is true; the one who does not, false." The two did so, each holding one. The Bodhisattva murmured the spell in secret, and both cried out in pain together, hugging their heads and rolling on the ground, crying only: "Do not chant, do not chant!" The Bodhisattva stopped, and the two fell on each other again and brawled as before. The Bodhisattva, at her wits' end, ordered the devas and Moksa forward to help. The gods, fearing to wound the true one, dared not strike. The Bodhisattva called "Sun Wukong," and both answered. The Bodhisattva said: "You bore once the office of Keeper of the Heavenly Horses; when you wrecked the Heavenly Palace the divine generals all knew you. Go up to heaven, tell them apart, and bring back word." This Great Sage thanked her grace; and that Pilgrim thanked her grace too.

The two, pulling and hauling, shouting and fighting without pause, came straight to outside the Southern Gate of Heaven. The Wide-Gaze Heavenly King, in alarm, led the four heavenly generals Ma, Zhao, Wen, and Guan, and the gods of the gate, great and small, all with weapons raised to bar the way: "Where are you going? Is this a place for brawling?" The Great Sage said: "I was guarding the Tang monk west for the scriptures, and on the road beat some robbers to death; the Tang monk drove me home, and I went straight to the cliff of Potala to tell my grief to the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Who knew when this fiend had changed itself into my likeness, beaten the Tang monk down, and snatched the bundles. Sha Monk came to Mount Flower-Fruit to demand them, and found this fiend in possession of my den. Then he went to the cliff of Potala to petition the Bodhisattva, and saw me standing in attendance below the throne; Sha Monk swore it was I, who had ridden the somersault cloud and got there first to hoodwink her. The Bodhisattva is truly upright and clear: she did not believe Sha Monk, but ordered me to go with him to Mount Flower-Fruit and see with our own eyes. Truly this fiend is like old Monkey in looks; we fought from Water Curtain Cave to Mount Potala to see the Bodhisattva, and even she could not tell us. So we fought here, and beg the powers of the devas' eyes to tell me true from false." He had scarcely spoken when that Pilgrim told the same story, thus and so. The gods of heaven looked a long while and could not tell them either. The two bawled: "If you cannot tell us, clear the road — we are going to see the Jade Emperor!"

The gods could not hold them and opened the gate of heaven; they came straight to the Hall of Divine Mists. Marshal Ma and the four Celestial Masters Zhang, Ge, Xu, and Qiu reported: "Below there are two Sun Wukongs of a kind who have fought their way in the gate of heaven, calling to see the sovereign." Before the words were done the two came brawling in. The Jade Emperor in fright came down and stood in the precious hall, and asked: "You two — for what cause do you brawling disturb the Heavenly Palace, bawling your way to my very presence and seeking death?" The Great Sage said: "Ten thousand years! Ten thousand years! Your servant has turned to the faith and taken the discipline of the Buddha's gate, and will never again let his heart deceive or lie above. Only this fiend has changed itself into your servant's likeness —" and thus and so he told the whole story through, "and I beg you to tell my case true from false." That Pilgrim told it through likewise. The Jade Emperor at once summoned Pagoda-Bearer Heavenly King Li and ordered: "Bring the Demon-Revealing Mirror, and shine it on these two — which is true and which is false; let the false perish and the true stand." The Heavenly King took the mirror and shone it, and asked the Jade Emperor and the gods to look: in the mirror were two shadows of Sun Wukong — fillet, clothes, every hair the same. The Jade Emperor could not tell them either, and had them driven out of the hall.

This Great Sage laughed coldly; that Pilgrim laughed aloud for joy. Hauling hair and clutching necks they fought their way out of the gate of heaven again and dropped onto the western road, crying: "We two go to see the master, we two go to see the master."

Now Sha Monk, since leaving those two at Mount Flower-Fruit, traveled three days and nights more and came back to the farmhouse, and told the Tang monk the whole story. The Tang monk repented of himself: "At the time I only thought it was Sun Wukong who struck me the blow and snatched the bundles — who knew it was a fiend transformed into the Pilgrim?" Sha Monk told him further: "The fiend had counterfeited an elder too, and a white horse; and there was a Bajie carrying our bundles, and another changed into me. I could not hold my anger and struck one dead with my staff — a monkey fiend it was. That scattered them; and I went to tell my grief to the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva had me go again with brother to identify them, and that fiend was indeed the brother's very image. I could be of no help, and so came back first to tell you, master." Tripitaka heard and went pale with fright. Bajie laughed aloud: "Good, good, good! It has come true, what the old wife of this house said: she said there were several parties seeking scriptures — is this not another party?"

The whole household, old and young, came to ask Sha Monk: "Where have you been these days, seeking your travel money?" Sha Monk laughed: "I went to Mount Flower-Fruit in the eastern continent of Divine Land to demand the luggage of my eldest brother, then to Mount Potala in the South Sea to call on the Bodhisattva Guanyin, then back to Mount Flower-Fruit, and only then returned here." The old man asked: "How far is the journey out and back?" Sha Monk said: "Some two hundred thousand li and more." The old man said: "Grandfather! In these few days to go so far — nothing but riding the clouds could do it!" Bajie said: "Not riding the clouds — how else cross the sea?" Sha Monk said: "Ours hardly counts as walking; my eldest brother could go and come in a day or two." The household heard and said they must be immortals. Bajie said: "We are no immortals — but the immortals are our juniors!"

As they spoke they heard an uproar and shouting in mid-air. All hurried out to look: it was the two Pilgrims come fighting. Bajie, seeing, could not keep his hands still: "Let me go tell them apart." Good Idiot! He sprang up in haste and called into the air: "Brothers, no brawling — old Pig has come!" Both answered together: "Brother, come beat the fiend! Come beat the fiend!" The household, startled and delighted: "The arhats who ride the clouds and tread the mists have lodged with us; even one vowed to feed monks could not feed such good men." And they gave no thought to tea or meals, but served them the more. And they said: "These two Pilgrims may fight out something dreadful — earth overthrown, heaven turned — and work havoc here." The Tang monk saw that the old man smiled to his face and fretted behind it, and said: "Old patron, be at ease; do not fret and sigh. When I have subdued my disciple and turned him from evil to good, I will thank you." The old man answered again and again: "We dare not, we dare not." Sha Monk said: "Patron, say no more. Master, sit here; my second brother and I will go, each take one by the arm and bring him before you; then chant that spell of yours, and the one who aches is the true, and the one who does not is the false." The Tang monk said: "Well said indeed."

Sha Monk rose into mid-air: "You two, stop your hands. Come with me before the master, and we will tell true from false." This Great Sage let go; that Pilgrim let go too. Sha Monk took one by the arm and called: "Second brother, you take the other." And so they took them, brought down the cloud, and came straight to outside the thatched house. The Tang monk saw them and at once chanted the Tight-Fillet Spell. The two cried out together: "We fight this bitter fight, and you chant the spell on us? Do not chant, do not chant!" The elder, tender-hearted by nature, stopped and chanted no more — but still he could not tell true from false. The two tore free and went at it again. This Great Sage said: "Brothers, guard the master; I will fight him to King Yama's presence and plead the case there." That Pilgrim said the same. The two grappled and hauled, and in a moment were gone again.

Bajie said: "Sha Monk — since you were at Water Curtain Cave and saw the false Bajie carrying the bundles, why did you not snatch them back?" Sha Monk said: "When that fiend saw me strike his false Sha Monk with the precious staff, he closed round on me in a crowd to seize me, and I fled for my life. When I had told the Bodhisattva, and came again with the Pilgrim to the cave mouth, the two of them fought in the air, and I went and overturned his stone benches and scattered his little fiends. There was only that waterfall of running spring, and I could not tell where the cave mouth opened; I could not find the bundles, and so came back empty-handed to report to you, master." Bajie said: "So you did not know. When I went to fetch him home years ago, we met outside the cave mouth first. After I had talked him round he jumped down to change his clothes in the cave, and I saw him dive into the water. That waterfall is the cave mouth. No doubt the fiend has stowed our bundles inside." The Tang monk said: "Since you know the door, while they are both away slip into the cave, take out the bundles, and we will go to the Western Heaven. Let him come — I will have no more use for him." Bajie said: "I will go." Sha Monk said: "Second brother, there are a thousand or more little monkeys before his cave; alone you may not manage them, and it would turn out ill." Bajie laughed: "No fear, no fear." He hurried out the door, rose on cloud and mist, and made straight for Mount Flower-Fruit to find the luggage — but of that no more.

Now the two Pilgrims fought and brawled their way to the back of the Shadow Mountain, and the ghosts of the whole mountain trembled and hid. Some who ran ahead burst into the gates of the netherworld and reported up to the Hall of the Kings of Darkness: "Sovereign — on the Shadow Mountain are two Great Sages Equal to Heaven come fighting." The King Qin of the First Hall sent word in terror to King Chu of the Second Hall, King Song of the Third, King Bian of the Fourth, King Yama of the Fifth, King Ping of the Sixth, King Taishan of the Seventh, King Dushi of the Eighth, King Wuguan of the Ninth, and King Zhuanlun of the Tenth; hall passed word to hall, and in a moment the ten kings were gathered; and they sent men flying to tell the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. All on the Hall of Darkness, they mustered the armies of the dead to lie in wait to catch the true and false. They heard a fierce wind rolling and a dismal fog spreading, and the two Pilgrims, tumbling and rolling, fought down to below the Hall of Darkness.

The kings of the dead came near and barred the way: "Great Sage, what matter brings you brawling into our dark realm?" This Great Sage said: "I was guarding the Tang monk west for the scriptures, and passing through the Kingdom of Western Liang came to a mountain where robbers waylaid my master. Old Monkey beat several to death; the master blamed me and drove me home. I went to the Bodhisattva at the South Sea to tell my grief, and who knew how this fiend caught the drift of it and counterfeited my likeness, struck down my master on the road, and snatched the luggage. My brother Sha Monk came to my own mountain to demand the bundles, and this fiend set up falsely under my master's name, meaning to fetch the scriptures west himself. Sha Monk fled to the South Sea to see the Bodhisattva — I was standing by. He told the whole matter, and the Bodhisattva had me go with him to Mount Flower-Fruit to look, and truly this fellow had seized my den. I fought my case with him to the Bodhisattva's presence — in looks and speech alike, and even she could not tell true from false. Then we fought up to heaven, and the gods truly could not tell us. We came before my master, and my master chanted the Tight-Fillet Spell to test us, and the pain was the same for both. So we have brawled our way to the dark realm, and I beg the kings of the dead to search the Register of Life and Death, and see of what stock this false Pilgrim is, and send his soul after him quickly, that two hearts may no longer work confusion." The fiend said the same word for word. The kings heard and called the registrar judges to search from the beginning — and there was no name of any false Pilgrim. They looked again in the rolls of furred creatures: of monkeys one hundred and thirty entries; but since the Great Sage Sun in his early years, when he won the Way, wreaked havoc in the courts of darkness and struck out his own death-name with one stroke of the brush, all of the monkey kind since have gone unregistered. The search done, they reported before the hall. The kings, tablets in hand, said to the Pilgrim: "Great Sage, here in the dark realm there is no name to search; go back to the world of light and plead your case."

As they spoke they heard the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha: "Wait, wait. Let my Listener hear for you, and tell true from false." Now the Listener is a beast that crouches beneath Ksitigarbha's reading desk. If it lies close to the ground, in a moment it can mirror the hills and rivers and the altars of state of the four great continents, and all the cave-heavens and blessed lands; it can mirror good and evil, and hear out wise and foolish, among the shell-less, the scaled, the furred, the feathered, and the creeping creatures, and the celestials, earthly immortals, spirits, human immortals, and ghost immortals. The beast, taking Ksitigarbha's command, lay prone in the courtyard of the Hall of Darkness. In a moment it raised its head and said to Ksitigarbha: "The fiend's name I know — but it must not be spoken to his face, and I cannot help to seize him." Ksitigarbha said: "What if it were said to his face?" The Listener said: "Said to his face, I fear the fiend's wrath would break out and trouble the precious hall, and the dark realm would know no peace." And when asked: "Why can you not help to seize him?" The Listener said: "The fiend's powers are one with the Great Sage Sun's. What strength have the gods of the dark realm? So I cannot seize him." Ksitigarbha said: "If so, how shall he be driven out?" The Listener said: "The Buddha's law is boundless." Ksitigarbha understood at once, and said to the Pilgrim: "You two are one in face and one in power. To settle it you must go to the Tathagata Shakyamuni at the Thunderclap Monastery; only there will it be made clear." Both shouted together: "Rightly said, rightly said! Let us go plead it before the Buddha of the Western Heaven." The kings of the ten halls saw them out and thanked Ksitigarbha, who returned to the Cloud-Tinted Palace and had the ghost officers shut the passes of the dark realm — but of that no more.

See those two Pilgrims flying on cloud and racing on mist, fighting their way up to the Western Heaven. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

When a man harbors two hearts, calamity is bred, and doubt and suspicion to the sky's edge and the sea's corner.He hankers after the precious horse and the rank of the three dukes; he hankers after the gold hall and the seat of the first grade.Campaigning south and fighting north, never a rest; barring east and clearing west, never settled.The gate of Chan must learn the art of no-mind: nurture the child in stillness, and the sacred embryo will form.

The two of them, in mid-air, pulling and hauling, grappling and clutching, traveling and fighting, brawled their way straight to the outside of the Thunderclap Precious Monastery on Vulture Peak, the immortal mountain of the far west. There, behold, the Four Great Bodhisattvas, the Eight Great Vajras, the five hundred arhats, the three thousand revealers, the nuns and monks and laymen and laywomen — all the host of saints — were gathered below the seven-jeweled lotus throne, listening in silence to the Tathagata preach. The Tathagata was just come to this:

"Where there is being without being, there is non-being without non-being. Where there is form without form, emptiness without emptiness. Not-being serves as being; not-non-being serves as non-being. Not-form serves as form; not-emptiness serves as emptiness. Emptiness is just emptiness; form is just form. Form has no abiding form — form is emptiness. Emptiness has no abiding emptiness — emptiness is form. To know emptiness as not-empty, to know form as not-form: this is called clear illumination, and only so is the wondrous sound reached."

The whole assembly bowed their heads in homage; and while the words were passing from hand to hand, being read and recited, the Tathagata let down heavenly flowers, scattered in radiance over all, left the precious throne, and said to the assembly: "You are all of one mind; behold now two minds come contending and fighting."

The assembly raised their eyes: truly two Pilgrims, shouting at heaven and hounding earth, fighting their way to the holy ground of Thunderclap. In alarm the Eight Great Vajras came forward to bar the way: "Where would you two go?" This Great Sage said: "A fiend has changed itself into my likeness, and I have come to the precious lotus throne to beg the Tathagata to tell my case false or true." The vajras could not hold them; they came brawling to below the throne, and knelt before the Buddha and pleaded: "Your disciple guarded the Tang monk and came to this precious mountain to seek the true scriptures, smelting demons and binding monsters all the way, spending spirit past counting. On the way we fell in with robbers who plundered us, and it is true your disciple wounded several men a second time. The master blamed me and drove me home, and would not let me come with him to worship the Tathagata's golden body. Helpless, your disciple could only flee to the South Sea and tell his grief to Guanyin. Who knew this fiend would counterfeit your disciple's voice and face, strike the master down, and snatch the luggage. My brother Wujing came looking for me at my mountain, and this fiend plied him with cunning words, pretending there was another true monk for the scriptures. Wujing got free and came to the South Sea and told it in full. When Guanyin knew it she had your disciple go again with Wujing to my mountain; and so, the two of us matching true against false, we fought to the South Sea, and fought to the Heavenly Palace, and fought before the Tang monk, and fought before the courts of darkness — and none could tell us apart. So I have dared to come in boldly, and beg with all my might that the gate of expediency be thrown open and the thought of mercy spread wide, to make clear to your disciple wicked from right — that I may guard the Tang monk to worship the golden body, fetch the scriptures back to the Land of the East, and exalt the great teaching forever." The assembly heard the two mouths in one voice, each telling it through, and could not tell them either. Only the Tathagata knew it all, and was on the point of speaking — when he saw, from the colored clouds of the south, Guanyin coming to do reverence to the Buddha.

The Buddha joined his palms: "Venerable Guanyin — of those two Pilgrims, which is true and which is false?" The Bodhisattva said: "The other day in your disciple's poor domain I truly could not tell. They went on to the Heavenly Palace and the courts of darkness, and none could tell them. I have come expressly to tell the Tathagata: I beg you, make it clear for them." The Tathagata laughed: "Your powers are vast, but you can survey all that comes to pass within the compass of heaven; you cannot know every creature within it, nor gather every kind." The Bodhisattva begged to hear the kinds within the compass of heaven. The Tathagata then said: "Within the compass of heaven there are five orders of immortals — celestials, earthly, spirits, humans, and ghosts; and five orders of creatures — the shell-less, the scaled, the furred, the feathered, and the creeping. This fellow is not celestial, not earthly, not spirit, not human, not ghost; nor shell-less, nor scaled, nor furred, nor feathered, nor creeping. And there are four monkeys who range the world and are not entered in any of the ten kinds." The Bodhisattva said: "May I ask which four monkeys?" The Tathagata said: "The first is the Stone Monkey of Numinous Brightness: it masters transformations, knows the seasons of heaven and the advantages of earth, and can shift the stars and change the Dipper. The second is the Red-Buttocks Horse Monkey: it knows the dark and the light, is skilled in the affairs of men, at ease in going and coming, and can put off death and lengthen life. The third is the Long-Armed Gibbon: it can take sun and moon in hand, shrink a thousand mountains, tell the lucky from the ill, and sport with all between heaven and earth. The fourth is the Macaque of Six Ears: it is quick to hear every sound, can read the reason of things, knows past and future, and understands the ten thousand things. These four monkeys are not entered among the ten kinds and are beyond the names of the two regions. And I see that the false Wukong is a Macaque of Six Ears. Set in one place, this monkey knows what passes a thousand li away; whatever men say, it knows it too. So it is quick to hear every sound, can read the reason of things, knows past and future, and understands the ten thousand things. The one who is the very image and voice of the true Wukong — that is the Macaque of Six Ears."

The macaque, hearing the Tathagata speak out its stock, trembled to the marrow; it sprang up in haste and leaped away to run. The Tathagata, seeing it flee, at once ordered the assembly to strike. Already the four bodhisattvas, the eight vajras, the five hundred arhats, the three thousand revealers, the monks and nuns, the laymen and laywomen, Guanyin and Moksa closed round it in a ring. The Great Sage Sun would have pressed forward too, but the Tathagata said: "Wukong, stay your hand; I will take him for you." The macaque's hair stood and its bones chilled; knowing it could not escape, it shook itself in haste and changed into a bee, and flew upward. The Tathagata tossed up the golden alms bowl, and it came down squarely over the bee and fell to the ground. The assembly, not knowing, thought it had escaped. The Tathagata laughed: "Say nothing, all of you. The fiend is not gone: it is under my bowl this moment." The whole assembly pressed forward, lifted the bowl, and there indeed was its true form — a Macaque of Six Ears. The Great Sage Sun could not contain himself: swinging the iron staff he dealt it one blow on the head and killed it — and to this day that kind is no more. The Tathagata, in pity, murmured: "Good indeed! Good indeed!" The Great Sage said: "The Tathagata should not pity it. It wounded my master and robbed my bundles; by the law it should be tried for taking goods and wounding men, for robbery in broad daylight — the axe would be its desert." The Tathagata said: "Go quickly now and guard the Tang monk, and come here to seek the scriptures." The Great Sage kowtowed in thanks: "I report to the Tathagata: that master will certainly not have me. If I go and he will not take me back, shall I have wearied myself for nothing again? I beg the Tathagata's grace: chant the Loosening-the-Fillet Spell, take off this gold fillet, return it to you, and let me leave the cloth and go home a layman." The Tathagata said: "Do not let your thoughts run wild, and no slyness. I will have Guanyin take you back; he dare not refuse you. Guard him well, and when the work is done you will reach the Utmost Bliss, and you too shall sit on a lotus throne."

Guanyin, hearing this at hand, joined her palms, thanked the holy grace, took Wukong, and rode away on a cloud; behind them Moksa the Pilgrim and the white parrot followed at speed. In no time they were at the farmhouse on the road. Sha Monk saw them and hastily begged the master to come to the gate in welcome. The Bodhisattva said: "Tang monk — the one who struck you was the false Pilgrim, the Macaque of Six Ears. Happily the Tathagata knew it, and Wukong has beaten it dead. You must take Wukong back now: the impediments on the road are not yet spent, and you need his guarding to reach Vulture Peak, see the Buddha, and fetch the scriptures. Blame him no more." Tripitaka kowtowed: "I obey your holy command."

As they bowed in thanks, they heard a wild wind rolling in from the due east: Zhu Bajie, two bundles on his back, came riding the wind. The Idiot, seeing the Bodhisattva, flung himself down in worship: "Your disciple, the other day, left the master and went to Water Curtain Cave on Mount Flower-Fruit for the bundles, and truly found a false Tang monk and a false Bajie — both beaten dead by your disciple: monkeys' bodies both. Then I went inside and found the bundles; I counted them over, and not one thing missing, and rode the wind back here. But what has become of the two Pilgrims, I do not know." The Bodhisattva told how the Tathagata had known the fiend, and the Idiot was overjoyed and thanked her without end. Master and disciples bowed their thanks, and the Bodhisattva returned to the sea. Then all as before, one in heart and mind, they washed away the grudge and laid aside the anger. They thanked the household too, packed the bags and readied the horse, and took the great road west. Truly:

Parted in mid-course, the five elements were in disarray; the fiend subdued, they meet again, and the primal light is whole.The spirit returns to the heart's chamber, and only then is Chan at rest; the six senses driven out and down, the elixir forms of itself.

But when Tripitaka would come face to face with the Buddha and gain the scriptures on this journey — who could say? Listen to the next chapter to find out.

Two hearts in turmoil confound the great universe; One body can hardly cultivate the true peace

This Pilgrim and Sha Monk took leave of the Bodhisattva with bows and rose on two streams of auspicious light, leaving the Southern Sea. Now Pilgrim's somersault cloud was faster than Sha Monk's immortal cloud, and Pilgrim meant to go first. Sha Monk caught him: "Big brother, none of your sneaking ahead to plant your flag. Let us go together, little brother and you." The Great Sage's heart was true, but Sha Monk had his doubts. Truly the two rode the clouds together. In no time they saw Flower-Fruit Mountain. They pressed down the clouds and looked carefully outside the cave, and there truly was a Pilgrim sitting high on the stone platform, drinking and making merry with the troop of monkeys. His looks were the Great Sage's own: yellow hair and a gold fillet, golden eyes and fiery pupils; on his body a padded cloth robe, at his waist a tiger-skin skirt; in his hand a gold-banded iron staff; on his feet a pair of deerskin boots; the same hairy face and thunder-god snout, hollow cheeks and low nose, sticking-out ears and broad forehead, with tusks growing outward.

The Great Sage flared up, let go of Sha Monk, drew the iron staff, rushed up, and cursed: "What kind of demon are you, to dare change into my shape, dare take over my children and grandchildren, sit in my immortal cave without leave, and lord it there?" That Pilgrim saw him and made no answer at all, but met him with the iron staff too. The two Pilgrims together, truly indistinguishable. What a fight:

Two staffs, two monkey spirits: this match-up is no light matter.Both would guard the royal brother of Tang, each showing his merit to win heroic fame.The true monkey truly received the teaching of the Buddhist order; the false monster vainly claims a child of Buddha's heart.Because his powers are many and transforming, there is no true and no false, and the two are even.One is the Great Sage Equal to Heaven of the first breath of chaos; one is a spirit long-smelted, with a thousand wiles, that shrinks the earth.This one has the As-You-Will Gold-Banded Staff; that one an iron-barred weapon that follows the heart.Guard and parry, no victory or defeat; hold and withstand, no loss or win.First they clashed outside the cave; a moment later the struggle rose into midair.

The two, each treading his cloud-light, leaped fighting up into the ninth heaven.

Sha Monk, standing by, dared not strike. He saw them fight this round and truly could not tell the true from the false. To draw his blade and help—he feared wounding the true one. He bore it a long while, then leaped down the cliff, and with his demon-taming precious staff broke into the Water Curtain Cave, scattering the demons, overturning the stone benches, and smashing every drinking and eating vessel. He hunted for the blue-felt bags, and nowhere in any quarter could he find them. The Water Curtain Cave is a waterfall of falling spring water that hangs over the cave mouth; from afar it looks like a curtain of white cloth, up close it is a stream of running water; hence the name Water Curtain Cave. Sha Monk did not know the trick of getting in, so he could not find it. So he leaped on his cloud, hurried up into the ninth heaven, and swung his precious staff—yet still could not bring himself to strike. The Great Sage said: "Sha Monk, since you cannot help, go back and tell the master all this: Old Sun will fight this demon up to the Southern Sea, to the Bodhisattva on Potalaka Mountain, and settle true from false before her." No sooner had he spoken than that Pilgrim said the same. Sha Monk, seeing that the two were alike in face and voice, without a hair's difference, black and white beyond telling, could only do as he was told, turn his cloud, and go back to tell the Tang monk—and no more of that.

See those two Pilgrims, fighting as they went, straight to the Southern Sea, right to Potalaka Mountain, striking and cursing, their shouts unending. The guardian devas of heaven were alarmed at once and reported into the Tide-Sound Cave: "Bodhisattva, truly two Sun Wukongs have come fighting." The Bodhisattva came down from the lotus throne with Muzha the Pilgrim, the boy Good Wealth, and the dragon girl, came out the door, and called: "You beasts, where are you running?" The two grabbed hold of each other and said: "Bodhisattva, this fellow truly looks like your disciple. We fought from the Water Curtain Cave, a long time, with no winner. Sha Wujing's fleshly eyes are dim and cannot tell us apart, and his strength could not help, so it was I who told him to go back west and report to the master. I have fought this fellow to your precious mountain, to borrow the Bodhisattva's wise eye, and have her tell me true from false, evil from right." When he finished, that Pilgrim said the same all over again. The devas and the Bodhisattva looked a long while and could not tell them apart. The Bodhisattva said: "Let go of each other; stand on either side, and let me look again." They truly let go and stood on either side. One said: "I am the true one." The other said: "He is the false one."

The Bodhisattva called Muzha and Good Wealth forward and gave them secret orders: "One of you hold one of them, while I recite the Tight-Fillet Spell in secret. The one who feels pain is the true one; the one who feels nothing is the false one." The two did each hold one. The Bodhisattva recited the spell in secret, and both cried out in pain at once, hugging their heads, rolling on the ground, crying: "Do not recite, do not recite." When she stopped, they grabbed each other again and went on shouting and fighting as before. The Bodhisattva, at her wits' end, ordered the devas and Muzha forward to help. The gods, fearing to wound the true one, dared not strike either. The Bodhisattva called "Sun Wukong," and both answered at once. The Bodhisattva said: "In the old days you held the office of Bimawen. When you wrecked the Heavenly Palace, the gods all knew you. Go up to Heaven, settle it there, and report back." This Great Sage thanked her grace, and that Pilgrim thanked her too.

The two, tugging and pulling, shouting and fighting without pause, came to outside the South Gate of Heaven. The Heavenly King of Wide Vision, alarmed, led the four great generals Ma, Zhao, Wen, and Guan, with all the gate gods great and small, weapons out, to block them: "Where are you running? Is this a place for brawling?" The Great Sage said: "I was protecting the Tang monk westward to fetch the scriptures, and on the road I beat some robbers to death. That Tripitaka drove me home, and I went straight to the cliff of Potalaka to tell my grief to the Bodhisattva Guanyin. Who would have thought this demon had long since changed into my shape, beaten the Tang monk down, and stolen the bags? Sha Monk came to Flower-Fruit Mountain to demand them, and found this demon sitting in my lair. Later he went to the cliff of Potalaka to beg the Bodhisattva, and saw me standing at the foot of the terrace; Sha Monk swore that I had ridden the somersault cloud there first to cover myself. But the Bodhisattva is truly just, and would not take Sha Monk's word: she ordered me to go with him to Flower-Fruit Mountain to see for ourselves. This demon truly looks like Old Sun; we fought from the Water Curtain Cave to Potalaka, and the Bodhisattva could not tell us apart either. So we fought our way here, to trouble the gods' eyes to tell me true from false." When he finished, that Pilgrim told the same tale all over. The gods looked a long while and could not tell either. The two shouted: "Since you cannot tell us apart, clear the road! We are going to see the Jade Emperor!"

The gods could not hold them and opened the gate of heaven, and they came straight to the Hall of Divine Mists. Marshal Ma and the four celestial teachers Zhang, Ge, Xu, and Qiu reported: "From the world below two Sun Wukongs have fought their way into the gate of heaven, calling to see the Emperor." Before the words were done, the two came brawling in. The Jade Emperor, startled, came down from his throne and asked: "What business have you two, to raise a row in the Heavenly Palace and come bawling before Us, hunting death?" The Great Sage said: "Ten thousand years, ten thousand years! Your servant has given his life to the faith and taken the vows of the order, and will never again presume or deceive his sovereign. Only this demon changed into your servant's shape…" In this way and that he told the whole story from the beginning—"I beg you to tell my true from my false." That Pilgrim told the same tale over. The Jade Emperor at once gave the word to summon the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li: "Bring the demon-revealing mirror and shine it on these two, that we may see who is true and who is false, and let the false perish and the true live." The Heavenly King took the mirror and shone it on them, and asked the Jade Emperor and the gods to look. In the mirror were the shadows of two Sun Wukongs, fillet, clothes, every hair the same. The Jade Emperor could not tell them apart either and drove them out of the hall.

This Great Sage laughed coldly, ha ha; that Pilgrim laughed merrily, ha ha. Gripping each other by the hair and neck, they fought back out of the gate of heaven and dropped onto the westward road, crying: "Let us go see the master, let us go see the master!"

Sha Monk, since leaving the two of them on Flower-Fruit Mountain, traveled three days and nights more, came back to the farmhouse, and told the Tang monk the whole story. The Tang monk repented to himself: "At the time I only said that Sun Wukong struck me with his staff and stole the bags. Who knew it was a monster changed into Pilgrim's shape?" Sha Monk reported further: "The monster also changed himself into an elder, and a white horse; and there was a Bajie carrying our bags, and another changed into me. I could not hold in my anger and beat that one to death with my staff—it was a monkey spirit. So I fled, and went to tell my grief to the Bodhisattva. She ordered me and big brother to go back and identify him, and the monster truly looked just like big brother. I could not help in the fight, so I came back first to report to the master." Tripitaka, hearing, turned pale with shock. Bajie laughed loud and long: "Good, good, good! It has come true, the old wife's word at the patron's house: she said there were several parties of scripture-seekers. Is not this another party?"

The whole household, old and young, came and asked Sha Monk: "Where have you been these days, hunting your rice?" Sha Monk laughed: "I went to Flower-Fruit Mountain in the East-Victory Continent to demand the luggage from big brother, then to Potalaka Mountain in the Southern Sea to pay my respects to the Bodhisattva Guanyin, then back to Flower-Fruit Mountain, and only then turned and came here." The old man asked: "How far is it, there and back?" Sha Monk said: "Something over two hundred thousand li." The old man said: "Oh my! To walk so far in these few days—only riding a cloud could do it!" Bajie said: "Without riding a cloud, how would we cross the sea?" Sha Monk said: "Ours is nothing for walking. If it were big brother, one or two days would do, there and back." Hearing this, the household said they must be immortals. Bajie said: "We are no immortals—but the immortals are our juniors!"

As they talked, there was a clamor of shouting in mid-air. In alarm they all came out to look: it was the two Pilgrims, come fighting. Bajie, seeing them, could not stop his hands from itching: "Let me go tell them apart." Good Idiot! He leaped up at once and called into the air: "Big brothers, stop shouting! Here comes your old pig!" The two answered together: "Brother, come beat the monster, come beat the monster!" The household, startled and delighted both, said: "Cloud-riding arhats lodging at our house! Even one vowed to feed monks could never feed such good men." They made no counting of tea and rice, and served them all the more. And they said: "I fear these two Pilgrims will fight their way into something terrible, heaven toppling and earth overturning, and the mischief will fall on us!" The Tang monk, seeing the old man smiling to his face and brooding behind his back, spoke up: "Old patron, be at ease, and do not brood. When I have subdued my disciple, turned him from evil to good, I will thank you properly." The old man answered over and over: "Dare not, dare not." Sha Monk said: "Patron, say no more. Master, you may sit here while my second brother and I go, each of us pulling one of them before you; then recite the spell, and the one who feels pain is the true one, the one who feels nothing the false." Tripitaka said: "Well said."

Sha Monk rose into midair: "You two, stop your hands. Come with me before the master, and let us tell the true from the false." This Great Sage let go, and that Pilgrim let go too. Sha Monk took hold of one and called: "Second brother, you take hold of the other." They truly took hold, came down from the clouds, and landed outside the thatched cottage. Tripitaka saw them and began reciting the Tight-Fillet Spell. The two cried out together: "We fight this bitter fight for you, and still you recite the spell over us? Do not recite, do not recite." The elder, kind at heart, stopped and did not recite—but he could not tell true from false either. The two twisted free and fell to fighting again. This Great Sage said: "Brothers, guard the master. Let me take him before King Yama and settle it there." That Pilgrim said the same. The two, grappling and wriggling, were gone in a moment.

Bajie said: "Sha Monk, since you were at the Water Curtain Cave and saw the false Bajie carrying our bags, why did you not snatch them back?" Sha Monk said: "When the monster saw me strike his false Sha Monk with my precious staff, he ringed in on me to seize me, and I ran for my life. Then I told the Bodhisattva, and went with Pilgrim to the cave mouth, where the two of them fought in midair. It was I who overturned the stone benches and scattered his little demons. But there was only that waterfall of falling water, and I never learned where the cave door opens, so I could not find the bags, and I came back empty-handed to report to the master." Bajie said: "So that is what you did not know. When I fetched him back two years ago, we met outside the cave door. Then I talked him over, and he jumped down to go into the cave and change his clothes, and I saw him dive into the water. That waterfall of falling water is the cave door. No doubt the monster has stowed our bags inside there." Tripitaka said: "If you know that door, then, while neither of them is there, go first into his cave, take out the bags, and let us be off to the Western Heaven. Let him come—I have no more use for him." Bajie said: "I will go." Sha Monk said: "Second brother, there are a thousand little monkeys before his cave. Alone, I fear you cannot handle them; it would end badly." Bajie laughed: "No fear, no fear." He hurried out the door, leaped into the clouds and mist, and made straight for Flower-Fruit Mountain to hunt for the bags—and no more of that.

The two Pilgrims fought and brawled their way to the back of the Dark Mountain, scaring the ghosts of the whole hillside into trembling and hiding. Some who ran ahead crashed into the gates of the netherworld and reported up to the jewel hall of King Yama: "Your Majesty, two Great Sages Equal to Heaven are fighting their way up Dark Mountain." In alarm, the king of the first hall, Qin Guang, passed word to the king of the second hall, Chu Jiang; the third hall, King Song Di; the fourth hall, King Biancheng; the fifth hall, King Yama; the sixth hall, the Equal King; the seventh hall, the Taishan King; the eighth hall, the Capital King; the ninth hall, the Officer-Bearing King; and the tenth hall, the Wheel-Turning King. Hall passed word to hall, and in a moment the ten kings were assembled; they also sent men flying to tell the Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha. All gathered on the Hall of King Yama, mustered the ghost troops, and waited to seize the true and the false. Then they heard a strong wind rolling and a bleak mist spreading, and the two Pilgrims came tumbling and rolling, fighting, down before the hall.

The kings of the dead came near and barred the way: "Great Sage, what business brings this uproar to our dark realm?" This Great Sage said: "I was protecting the Tang monk westward to fetch the scriptures. Passing the Kingdom of West Liang, we came to a mountain, where strong robbers waylaid my master. Old Sun beat several to death; the master blamed me and drove me home. I went to the Bodhisattva in the Southern Sea to tell my grief, and who knew how this demon had caught the tone of my words and changed into my shape, beaten my master down on the road, and stolen the luggage. My brother disciple Sha Monk came to my mountain to demand the bags, and this monster set himself up in my master's name, meaning to go west and fetch the scriptures. Sha Monk escaped to the Southern Sea to see the Bodhisattva, and I was standing at her side. He told the whole story, and the Bodhisattva ordered me to go with him to Flower-Fruit Mountain to see, and the fellow had truly taken my lair. I fought him back to the Bodhisattva, but in face and speech we were entirely alike, and even she could hardly tell true from false. Then we fought up to Heaven, and the gods truly could not tell us apart. Then I saw my master, and my master recited the Tight-Fillet Spell to test us, and I felt the same pain as he. So we have brought the row to your dark realm. I beg the kings of the dead to check the Book of Life and Death and see what stock this false Pilgrim comes of, and seize his soul quickly, and stop these two hearts from muddling everything." That monster said the same, all over. The kings heard, called the record-keeping judge, and had him check from beginning to end: there was no name of any false Pilgrim. They looked again in the ledger of the hairy creatures: of the monkeys, one hundred thirty names; but in the days when the Great Sage Sun won the Way in his youth, he had thrown the dark courts into an uproar and crossed out the names of the dead; from then on, all of the monkey kind were without names. The check done, they reported back before the hall. The kings, tablets in hand, said to Pilgrim: "Great Sage, there is no name here in the dark realm to check. Go back to the world of light and settle it there."

As they spoke, the Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha said: "Wait, wait. Let my Truth-Hearing listen for you, and tell you true from false." This Truth-Hearing is a beast that crouches beneath the sutra desk of the Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha. If he lies flat on the ground, in a moment he can see through all the mountains and rivers and altars of the four great continents, and all between the caves of heaven and the lands of bliss—shell-covered creatures, scaled creatures, hairy creatures, feathered creatures, insects, immortals of heaven, immortals of earth, spirits, human immortals, ghost immortals—and can mirror good and evil and hear out the wise and the foolish. The beast took Ksitigarbha's command, lay flat on the ground in the courtyard of the hall, and in a moment raised his head and said to Ksitigarbha: "The monster's name is known, but it must not be spoken out before his face, nor can we lend strength to seize him." Ksitigarbha said: "What if it is spoken out before his face?" Truth-Hearing said: "Spoken to his face, I fear the monster would fly into a rage and wreck this precious hall, and the dark realm would have no peace." He asked again: "And why can you not help to seize him?" Truth-Hearing said: "The monster's powers are the Great Sage Sun's own. How much magic could the gods of the dark realm have? That is why we cannot seize him." Ksitigarbha said: "If it is so, how shall he be driven out?" Truth-Hearing said: "The Buddha's Law is boundless." Ksitigarbha saw at once, and said to Pilgrim: "You two are alike in face and equal in power. To settle it you must go to the Tathagata Shakyamuni at the Thunderclap Monastery; only there will it be made clear." The two shouted together: "Right, right! Let us go settle it before the Buddha of the Western Heaven!" The ten kings of the dead saw them out, thanked Ksitigarbha, went back up to the Emerald Cloud Palace, and had the ghost runners shut the passes of the dark realm—and no more of that.

See those two Pilgrims, riding the clouds and racing the mist, fighting up to the Western Heaven. There is a poem to prove it. The poem says:

When a man has two hearts, calamity is bred; at the sky's edge, the sea's corner, doubt and suspicion arise.He dreams of the precious horse and the seats of the three excellencies, then hankers for the gold bell hall and the first-rank terrace.Campaigning south and fighting north without rest; blocking east and sweeping west, never settled.The gate of meditation must learn the art of no-mind: nurse the infant quietly, and the sacred embryo will form.

The two of them, up in midair, tugging and pulling, grappling and wriggling, traveling and fighting, brawled right to the bounds of the Thunderclap Monastery on the immortal mount Vulture Peak of the far Western Heaven. There already were the four great Bodhisattvas, the eight great vajra-warriors, the five hundred arhats, the three thousand guardians, the nuns and monks, the laymen and laywomen, all the great assembly of saints, gathered beneath the seven-treasure lotus throne, listening quietly while the Tathagata preached. And the Tathagata was just at this passage:

"Not being, there is being within not-being; not nothing, there is nothing within nothing. Not form, there is form within not-form; not emptiness, there is emptiness within not-emptiness. Not-being taken as being; not-nothing taken as nothing. Not-form taken as form; not-emptiness taken as emptiness. Emptiness is itself emptiness; form is itself form. Form has no fixed form: form is emptiness. Emptiness has no fixed emptiness: emptiness is form. To know emptiness as not-empty, to know form as not-form—this is called clear seeing, and only then does one reach the wondrous sound."

The whole assembly bowed their heads in devotion; while the words were being handed round and recited, the Tathagata let heaven's flowers fall and scatter everywhere, left his precious throne, and said to the assembly: "You are all of one mind. Now watch two minds come contending."

The assembly raised their eyes: truly two Pilgrims, shouting at heaven and bawling at earth, fighting their way to the holy ground of Thunderclap. In alarm the eight great vajra-warriors stepped up to block them: "Where are you going?" This Great Sage said: "A monster has changed into my shape. We have come to the foot of the precious lotus throne to beg the Tathagata to tell me true from false." The vajra-warriors could not hold them, and the two brawled right to the foot of the throne, knelt before the Buddha, and pleaded: "Your disciples were protecting the Tang monk, and came to this precious mountain to seek the true scriptures. All the way we smelted demons and bound monsters, spending who knows what pains. Partway along we met with robbers lying in wait, and truly your disciple wounded several a second time. The master blamed me and drove me home, and would not let me bow with him before the Buddha's golden body. Helpless, your disciple could only flee to the Southern Sea and tell my grief to Guanyin. Who knew this monster would counterfeit my voice and face, strike the master down, and steal the luggage? My brother disciple Wujing hunted him to my mountain, and the monster plied his smooth words, saying he had a true monk to fetch the scriptures. Wujing got free and reached the Southern Sea and told it all in detail. Guanyin learned of it, and sent your disciple back to my mountain with Wujing. So the two of us, matched for true and false, have fought to the Southern Sea, fought to the heavenly palace, fought before the Tang monk, fought before the courts of the dead—and none could tell us apart. So we have dared to come boldly and humbly beg you: open wide the gate of mercy, let fall your pity, and tell your disciple evil from right, so that I may go back and guard the Tang monk to bow in person before the golden body, fetch the scriptures home to the Land of the East, and spread the great teaching forever." The assembly heard the two mouths, one voice, each telling the story over, and they too could not tell them apart. The Tathagata alone knew them through, and was about to say so—when suddenly, out of the colored clouds to the south, came Guanyin, to bow before the Buddha.

The Buddha pressed his palms: "Honored Guanyin, look at those two Pilgrims: which is true, which false?" The Bodhisattva said: "In your disciple's poor realm the other day I truly could not tell. They went on to the heavenly palace and the courts of the dead, and none could tell them there either. I have come specially to beg the Tathagata to settle it for them, once and for all." The Tathagata laughed: "Your powers are vast, but they can only survey all that happens under the sky; they cannot know all things under the sky, nor meet all the kinds under the sky." The Bodhisattva begged to be told the kinds under the sky. The Tathagata said: "Within the sky there are five kinds of immortals: heavenly, earthly, divine, human, and ghost. And five kinds of creatures: shell-covered, scaled, hairy, feathered, and insects. This fellow is not heavenly, not earthly, not divine, not human, not ghost; nor shell-covered, nor scaled, nor hairy, nor feathered, nor insect. And there are four monkeys who mix with the world, outside the ten kinds." The Bodhisattva said: "Which four monkeys, may I ask?" The Tathagata said: "First, the Stone Monkey of Numinous Wisdom: master of transformations, knowing the seasons of heaven and the lay of the land, who can shift the stars and turn the Dipper. Second, the Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey: knowing dark and light, skilled in affairs, adept at going out and in, who avoids death and extends life. Third, the Brachiate Ape: grasping sun and moon, shrinking a thousand mountains, telling fortune from misfortune, toying with the universe. Fourth, the Six-Eared Macaque: skilled at listening, able to read reason, knowing past and future, clear about the ten thousand things. These four monkeys are outside the ten kinds and reach not the names of the two worlds. I see this false Wukong is a Six-Eared Macaque. Set down in any one place, this monkey knows what happens a thousand li away; whatever men say, he knows it too. Hence he is skilled at listening, able to read reason, knowing past and future, clear about the ten thousand things. The one who shares face and voice with the true Wukong is the Six-Eared Macaque."

The macaque, hearing the Tathagata tell his true nature, shook with terror and sprang up to run. Seeing him run, the Tathagata at once ordered the assembly to move. Soon the four Bodhisattvas, eight vajra-warriors, five hundred arhats, three thousand guardians, monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen, with Guanyin and Muzha, had him ringed about. The Great Sage Sun would have rushed in too, but the Tathagata said: "Wukong, do not stir. I will take him for you." The macaque's hair stood on end and his bones chilled; knowing he could not escape, he shook himself, changed into a bee, and flew upward. The Tathagata tossed up his gold alms bowl, and it came down squarely over the bee. The assembly, not knowing, thought he had escaped. The Tathagata laughed: "Say nothing, all of you. The monster has not gone; he is under my bowl this moment." The assembly pressed forward together, lifted the bowl, and there truly was his true shape: a Six-Eared Macaque. The Great Sage Sun could not contain himself: he swung the iron staff and dashed out his brains with one blow—and to this day that kind is extinct. The Tathagata could not bear it, and murmured: "Blessings, blessings." The Great Sage said: "Tathagata, you should not pity him. He wounded my master and stole my bags. By the law he should be tried for robbing and wounding men, for theft in broad daylight—his sentence was beheading in any case." The Tathagata said: "Go quickly now and protect the Tang monk on his way here to seek the scriptures." The Great Sage knocked his head and gave thanks: "I report to the Tathagata: that master will never take me back. If I go and he refuses me, would that not be toil and trouble all over again? I beg the Tathagata's mercy: recite the Loosening-Fillet Spell, take off this gold fillet, hand it back to you, and let me leave the order and go home." The Tathagata said: "No wild thoughts, and none of your tricks. I will have Guanyin take you back; he cannot refuse you. Guard him well, and when the work is done and you reach Highest Joy, you too shall have your lotus seat."

Guanyin, standing by, heard, pressed her palms, thanked the holy grace, took Wukong, and rode off on the clouds at once. Behind them Muzha the Pilgrim and the white parrot hurried to catch up. In no time they were at the thatched cottage halfway along. Sha Monk saw them and hurried the master out to bow at the gate in welcome. The Bodhisattva said: "Tang monk, the one who beat you the other day was the false Pilgrim, the Six-Eared Macaque. Luckily the Tathagata knew him, and Wukong has beaten him to death. Now you must take Wukong back. The demon troubles are not yet done on this road; only with his protection can you reach Vulture Peak, see the Buddha, and fetch the scriptures. Blame him no more." Tripitaka knocked his head: "I obey your holy teaching."

As they bowed their thanks, they heard a wild wind rolling up from due east: Zhu Bajie came riding the wind, two bags on his back. The Idiot, seeing the Bodhisattva, threw himself down in worship: "Your disciple left the master the other day, went to the Water Curtain Cave on Flower-Fruit Mountain to hunt the bags, found a false Tang monk and a false Bajie, and beat them both to death—they were two monkey spirits. Going inside, I found the bags, counted them, and not one thing was missing; then I rode the wind back here. But where have the two Pilgrims got to?" The Bodhisattva told how the Tathagata had identified the monster. The Idiot was overjoyed and could not thank her enough. Master and disciples bowed their thanks, and the Bodhisattva returned to the sea. And they were all again of one heart and one mind, washing away grudges and laying anger to rest. They thanked the farmhouse household too, packed the bags, readied the horse, and took the high road west. Truly:

Parting midway threw the five elements into disorder; subduing the monster and meeting again, the primal light is whole.When the spirit comes home to the house of the heart, meditation is settled; when the six senses are driven out, the elixir forms of itself.

But when Tripitaka would at last see the Buddha and seek the scriptures, who can say? Listen to the next chapter to find out.