Journey to the West

77

The Demon Host Mistreats the Fundamental Nature

The One Body Pays His Respects to the Buddha

We will tell now not of the sufferings of the venerable Tang Elder but of the three demon chiefs in strenuous combat with the Great Sage and his two brother disciples in the low hills to the East outside the city. It was indeed a good hard battle, like an iron brush against a copper pan:

Six types of body, six types of weapon, Six physical forms, six feelings.

The six evils arise from the six sense organs and the six desires; The six gates to nirvana and the six ways of rebirth are struggling for victory. In the thirty−six divine palaces spring comes of itself; The six times six forms do not want to be named. This one holding a gold−banded cudgel Performs a thousand movements; That one wielding a heaven−square halberd Is exceptional in every way.

Pig is even more ferocious with his rake;

The second demon's spear−play is superb and effective. There is nothing commonplace about young Friar Sand's staff As he tries to inflict a blow that is fatal; Sharp is the senior demon's saber Which he raises without mercy.

These three are the true priest's invincible escorts; The other three are evil and rebellious spirits. At first the fight is not so bad, But later it becomes more murderous. All six weapons rise up by magic To twist and turn in the clouds above.

They belch out in an instant clouds that darken the sky, And the only sounds to be heard are roars and bellows.

After the six of them had been fighting for a long time evening was drawing in, and as the wind was also bringing clouds it became dark very quickly. Pig was finding it harder and harder to see as his big ears were covering his eyelids. His hands and feet were besides too slow for him to be able to hold off his opponent, so he fled from the fight, dragging his rake behind him. The senior demon chief took a swing at him with his sword that almost killed him. Luckily Pig moved his head out of the way, so that the blade only cut off a few of his bristles. The monster then caught up with Pig, opened his jaws, picked Pig up by the collar, carried him into the city and threw him to the junior demons to tie up and take to the throne hall. The senior demon chief then rose back into the air by cloud to help the other two.

Seeing that things were going badly Friar Sand feinted with his staff and turned to flee only to be caught, hands and all, when the second demon unraveled his trunk and noisily wrapped it round him. The demon took him too into the city, ordering the junior demons to tie him up in the palace before rising up into the sky again to tell the others how to catch Monkey. Seeing that both his brother disciples had been captured Monkey realized that it was going to be impossible for him to hold out single−handed. Indeed:

A couple of fists can defeat a good hand, But cannot a competent foursome withstand.

With a shout Brother Monkey pushed the three demons' weapons aside, set off his somersault cloud and fled. When the third demon chief saw Monkey ride off by somersault he shook himself, resumed his real form, spread his wings and caught up with the Great Sage. You may well ask how the demon could possibly catch up with him. When Monkey made havoc in heaven all that time ago a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers had failed to capture him. Because he could cover 36,000 miles in a single somersault of his cloud, none of the gods had been able to catch up with him. But this evil spirit could cover 30,000 miles with one beat of his wings, so that with two beats he caught up with Monkey and seized him. Monkey could not get out of the demon's talons no matter how hard he struggled or how desperately he longed to escape. Even when he used his transformation magic he still could not move. If he made himself grow the demon opened his grip but still held firmly to him; and if he shrank the demon tightened his clutch. The demon took him back inside the city, released his talons, dropped him into the dust, and told the fiendish hordes to tie him up and put him with Pig and Friar Sand. The senior and the second demon chiefs both came out to greet the third chief, who went back up into the throne hall with them. Alas! This time they were not tying Monkey up but sending him on his way.