Journey to the West

⋇⊰ Chapter 5 ⊱⋇

The Great Sage Equaling Heaven, a mere monkey devil, after all, was quite satisfied that his name was on the register of office without caring about the grading of his job and his rank, or the size of his salary. The immortal clerks in the two offices in his residence were in constant attendance on him, he had three meals a day and a bed to sleep on at night, and he lived a free and easy life without worries. In his spare time, he would visit the other palaces, get together with his old friends, and make new ones. When he saw the Three Pure Ones, he would address them as "venerable," and when he met the Four Emperors he called them "Your Majesty." He was on fraternal terms with the Nine Bright Shiners, the Generals of the Five Regions, the 28 Constellations, the Four Great Heavenly Kings, the Gods of the 12 Branches, the Five Ancients of the Five Regions, the star ministers of the whole sky, and the countless gods of the Milky Way. Today he would wander East, and tomorrow he would go West, coming and going by cloud, and never staying anywhere for long.

When the Jade Emperor was holding his morning court one day the Immortal Xu of Jingyang came forward from the body of officials, kowtowed, and suggested, "The Great Sage Equaling Heaven is spending his time in idle travel, and is making the acquaintance of all the stars in the sky, calling them all his friends irrespective of their rank. It would be as well to give him some responsibility, and prevent his idleness from leading to trouble later on."

The Jade Emperor's response to this suggestion was to send for the Monkey King at once. He came in a cheerful mood and asked, "What promotion and reward have you summoned me here to receive, Your Majesty?"

"Seeing that you are idle and have nothing to do," replied the Jade Emperor, "we are giving you a job. You are to administer the Peach Orchard, and you will give it your attention day and night." The Great Sage was overjoyed, and after expressing his thanks and chanting "na−a−aw" he withdrew.

In his eagerness to be at work he went straight to the Peach Orchard to have a look round. When he got there he was stopped by a local tutelary god who asked him, "Where are you going, Great Sage?"

"I've been put in charge of the Peach Orchard by the Jade Emperor, and I've come to inspect it." The local god hastened to greet him formally, and he called the men who weeded, brought water, looked after the trees, and swept the grounds to come and kowtow to the Great Sage.

Looking around, Sun Wukong was greeted by charming and luxurious trees. Every tree was weighed down by fruit and the branches hung like carding bows. Each tree was covered with powder and rouge, always blossoming, and abundant with ripe fruit for over 1,000 years. The early ripened fruit was red and tipsy, while the ones still growing were green in stalk and skin. As the dew formed, the fruit's skin had a touch of blue while the sun shone on their vermilion beauty. Below the trees grew exotic flowers, bright and seemingly unfading in color. On each side stood towers and pavilions, and a rainbow arched itself throughout the sky. These were not the common breeds of the Dark Earth Capital but were tended by the Queen Mother of the Jade Pool.

After taking a good look at this, the Great Sage asked the local god, "How many of these trees are there?"

"3,600 altogether," the local god replied. "The ones growing at the front have tiny blossoms and small fruits, and they ripen every 3,000 years. Anyone who eats them becomes an Immortal and understands The Way, and his body becomes both light and strong. The 1,200 in the middle have multiple blossoms and sweet fruits, and ripen every 6,000; whoever eats them can fly and enjoy eternal youth. The back 1,200 are streaked with purple and have pale yellow stones. They ripen once every 9,000 years, and anyone who eats them becomes as eternal as Heaven and Earth, as long−lived as the Sun and Moon."

The Great Sage was beside himself with joy on learning this, and that day he checked the number of the trees and looked over the buildings in the orchard before going back to his residence.