Chapter 30: Evil Magic Invades the Right Law; the Mind-Horse Remembers the Mind-Monkey

Now then: after the monster had trapped Sha Wujing, he did not at once kill him or beat him, nor did he even curse him once. He took up his steel knife and thought to himself, "Tripitaka is a man from the upper kingdom and must know propriety and righteousness. Surely he would not let me spare his life and then have his disciples come here to capture me? Ah, this must be because my wife sent some letter into that kingdom, and the wind has carried the news. Let me go and question her first."

His savage temper rose, and he wanted to kill the princess.

The princess did not know any of this. She had just finished dressing and had only taken a step forward when she saw him with glaring eyes and knitted brows, grinding his teeth. She greeted him with a forced smile. "Husband, what is making you so angry?"

The monster cursed her. "You dog-hearted, worthless woman! You have no sense of human decency. When I brought you here in the first place, I never gave you the least hardship. I dressed you in brocade, put gold on your head, and sent out for anything you lacked. You have had fine food and a loving home every season and every day. How can you think only of your parents and show no feeling at all for your husband?"

The princess was so frightened that she fell to her knees. "Husband, why are you suddenly speaking of parting now?"

The monster said, "It is not I who am parting. It is you who are parting. I captured that Tang monk and meant to enjoy him myself. Why did you not tell me first and let him go? So you secretly wrote a letter and had him carry it back for you. Otherwise why would these two monks have come knocking at my door and demanding that I send you back? Was that not your doing?"

The princess said, "Husband, you have wronged me. When did I ever send any letter?"

The old monster said, "You are still arguing? I have caught a witness right here. Is that not proof?"

The princess asked, "Who is it?"

The old demon said, "It is Tripitaka's second disciple, Sha Wujing."

When a person is at the edge of death, who is willing to admit it? She could only deny it.

The princess said, "Husband, calm your anger. Let me go and ask him. If there really was a letter, then even if he is beaten to death, I will accept it. If there was not, then you would be killing me for nothing."

The monster heard this and, without another word, swung one basket-sized blue-black hand, seized the princess by her cloudlike hair, and dragged her forward, throwing her to the ground. Then he took up the steel knife and came to question Sha Wujing.

"Sha Wujing, why did you two dare attack my gate? Was it because this woman sent a letter to her kingdom and the king ordered you to come?"

Sha Wujing was already trapped there. Seeing the monster so fierce, and seeing him throw the princess to the ground and lift his knife as if to kill her, he thought to himself, "It is plain that she did send a letter and saved my master. That is a great kindness. If I say so out loud, he will kill the princess. Would that not be to repay kindness with enmity? Very well. I have followed my master all this way and have not yet done a single thing to repay him. Since I am already bound today, let me use this life to repay my master's debt of gratitude."

He shouted back, "You monster, do not be rude. What letter have you been imagining? Why would we come here just to harm her? We came because you captured my master and kept him in your cave. My master once saw the princess's face and manner there. When we reached the Precious Elephant Kingdom and exchanged the travel document, the king had the princess's likeness drawn and inquired about her everywhere. Because my master had seen her form on the road, he spoke of the princess. The king then understood that she was his daughter and gave us imperial wine, telling us to come and seize you so the princess could be sent back to the palace. That is the truth. What letter are you talking about? Kill me if you must, old demon, but do not wrongly hurt an innocent person. You would be grieving Heaven."

The monster saw that Sha Wujing spoke with great spirit, so he dropped the knife, picked up the princess in both hands, and said, "It was I who was rough and crude. I offended you. Forgive me, forgive me."

He combed out her black hair, pinned it back into its jeweled bun, and then coaxed her gently inside, soft and warm, with a pleased smile. He also invited her to sit and made apologies. The princess, being a woman of easy feelings, saw him soften and changed her heart.

"Husband," she said, "if you still remember our marriage, could you loosen Sha Wujing's ropes a little?"

The old demon immediately ordered the little ones to untie Sha Wujing and lock him up instead. When Sha Wujing found himself released from one binding and put into another, he stood up and thought happily, "The ancients said, 'Do another man a kindness and you do yourself a kindness.' If I had not done him that kindness, how would he have let me off a little?"

The old demon then had wine set out and made apologies to the princess to calm her shock. Half drunk, he suddenly changed into a bright new garment, took up a precious sword, fastened it at his waist, and then turned to stroke the princess.

"My wife, stay home and drink. Keep watch over the two children and do not let Sha Wujing go. While Tripitaka is still in that kingdom, I will make an early trip to meet my father-in-law."

The princess said, "Whom are you going to meet?"

The old demon said, "I am going to meet your father, the king. I am his son-in-law, and he is my father-in-law. Why should I not go and pay my respects?"

The princess said, "You cannot go."

The old demon said, "Why not?"

The princess said, "My father is not a kingdom won by horse and spear. It is the ancestral realm passed down through generations. He came to the throne as crown prince and has never once gone far beyond the city gates. He has never seen a fierce fellow like you. Your face is so ugly that if he saw you, you might frighten him. It would be better not to go."

The old demon said, "If that is all, then I will change into a handsome one and go."

The princess said, "Then change and let me see."

The monster shook himself in the banquet hall and changed at once into a handsome man. Truly he was made with distinction:

His features were refined, his bearing imposing.
His speech had all the polish of a court official, and his manner was that of a man in his prime.
His talent was like Zian composing verse with ease;
his looks were like Pan An, whose beauty made fruit fly to him.
On his head he wore a Magpie-Tail Cap, with black cloud gathered close.
On his body he wore a jade gauze robe with broad sleeves drifting wide.
His black boots were flower-folded, and at his waist a bright luan belt shone.
His spirit and grace were truly that of a rare man, lifted and handsome above the crowd.

The princess was delighted when she saw him.

"Has the change gone well?" the monster asked.

"It has gone well, it has gone well," she said. "If you go to court like that, my father will not fail to recognize you. He will surely keep you and the civil and military officers to a banquet. But when you are drinking, keep yourself very, very careful. Do not show your true face and make a slip. If the wind leaks out, it will be most unseemly."

The old demon said, "You need not instruct me. I know what to do."

He mounted a cloud and soon reached the Precious Elephant Kingdom. He lowered the cloud and went to the gate. Outside the court gate he said to the gate official, "The Third Son-in-Law has come to pay his respects. Please report me."

The court herald went to the white jade steps and announced, "Your Majesty, the Third Son-in-Law has come to pay court. He is now outside the gate waiting for orders."

The king was still speaking with Tripitaka when he heard "Third Son-in-Law." He turned to the ministers and asked, "I only have two sons-in-law. How can there be a third?"

The ministers said, "The Third Son-in-Law must certainly be the monster."

The king said, "Should he be admitted?"

Tripitaka's heart sank. "Your Majesty, that monster is no ordinary creature. He knows the past and the future, and he can ride cloud and mist. Whether you summon him or not, he will still come in. It is better to summon him and save a little face."

The king agreed and ordered him admitted. The monster was brought to the golden steps. He too performed the usual bows and formal greetings. The ministers saw that he was handsome and refined, and none of them dared think he was a monster.

They were all flesh-and-blood mortals and took him for a good man. The king saw that he was lofty and handsome, fit to be a pillar of the state, and asked him:

"Son-in-law, where do you live? What is your home? When did you marry my princess? Why have you only come today to pay your respects?"

The old demon bowed and said, "Your Majesty, your humble son-in-law lives at Bowl Mountain's Wave-Moon Cave in the east of the city."

The king said, "How far is that mountain from here?"

"Only three hundred li," said the monster.

The king said, "Three hundred li? How did my princess ever get there and marry you?"

The demon answered with flowery lies and false sincerity. "Your Majesty, from childhood I loved archery and horsemanship, and I made my living by hunting. Thirteen years ago I led a household of several dozen servants, let out hawks and hounds, and suddenly saw a fierce striped tiger carrying a woman on its back down the mountainside. I drew my bow and shot the tiger down, then brought the woman back to my estate. I fed her warm water and hot broth and saved her life. When I asked where she was from, she never once mentioned the word 'princess.' Had she told me at the start that she was the Third Princess, how would I have dared deceive my heart and marry her without permission? I should have gone up to the golden hall and asked for an official rank and a place of honor. But because she said she was a commoner's daughter, I kept her in my estate.

"She was a beauty and I was a handsome fellow, and we were both willing, so we have been married all these years. After we were matched, I meant to butcher the tiger and invite the relatives, but it was the princess herself who told me not to kill it. Her words were very fine indeed. She said:

Heaven and earth made us husband and wife;
without go-between or witness were we joined.
In a former life a red cord had already bound our feet;
now let the tiger serve as our matchmaker.

"For that reason I untied the tiger and spared its life. It ran off with an arrow wound, trailing tail and paws. Little did I know it would survive in the mountains, cultivate for years, and refine its body into a demon, making a specialty of deceiving and harming people.

"I have heard that in past years there were also scripture-seekers who came through, and all of them were said to be monks from Great Tang. I think that tiger must have harmed Tripitaka, taken his travel pass, and transformed itself into a scripture-seeking monk. Now it is in court deceiving Your Majesty. Your Majesty, the one sitting on the embroidered stool is exactly that fierce tiger that carried off the princess thirteen years ago, not a true scripture-seeker."

You see, the water-loving king, with his foolish flesh-and-blood eyes, could not tell a demon from a man. He took that little stream of lies for truth.

"Good son-in-law," he said, "how do you know that this monk is the tiger that carried off the princess?"

The demon said, "Your Majesty, I live in the mountains eating tigers and wearing tigers. I sleep and wake with them. How could I not recognize one?"

The king said, "If you recognize him, can you make him show his true form?"

The monster said, "Give me half a bowl of clean water, and I will make it happen."

The king ordered an official to bring water and handed it to the son-in-law.

The monster took the water in his hand, sprang up, and went before Tripitaka. He used a black-eye binding spell, recited an incantation, spat the water at the elder, and cried, "Change!"

Tripitaka's true body, hidden there in the hall, really did change into a striped tiger. Under the eyes of king and court, that tiger looked like this:

White brow, round head, spotted body, eyes like lightning.
Four feet upright and fierce; twenty claws curved and sharp.
Saw-toothed jaws, pointed ears that joined the brows.
Savage in shape, like a great cat; fierce in might, like a yellow calf.
Stiff whiskers stood like silver wires;
the tongue shot out red and spat foul breath.
Truly it was a fierce striped beast,
its wild power blowing through the precious hall.

When the king saw it, his soul scattered and his spirit flew. The ministers were frightened and hid from the thing. A few brave generals led soldiers and officers rushing up together with all kinds of weapons, cutting at it wildly.

If Tripitaka had not been destined to live, even twenty monks could not have escaped being chopped into mincemeat. Luckily, the Ding and Jia, the Revealing Spirits, the Duty Officers, and the protective gods were all secretly guarding him in the air, so those weapons could not harm him. By nightfall the ministers had shouted themselves hoarse, and only then did they seize the tiger alive, bind it with iron ropes, and lock it in an iron cage in the court office.

The king then issued an order to the Imperial Kitchen to prepare a great banquet in thanks to the son-in-law for saving the palace, since otherwise the monk would have nearly brought disaster. That night the ministers withdrew, and the monster entered the Silver-Blue Hall. There he chose eighteen palace maidens and court ladies to sing, dance, and coax him to drink and enjoy himself.

The monster sat alone in the seat of honor, with beautiful women arrayed on both sides. He drank happily until the second watch, when drink rose in his head and he could no longer restrain himself. He sprang up with a great laugh, showed his true form, and suddenly let loose his savage heart. Stretching out a basket-sized hand, he seized a girl who was playing the pipa and bit off part of her head with a crunch. The other seventeen palace maids were so frightened they fled wildly in every direction and hid wherever they could.

Look at them:

The palace maids were terrified, the painted girls thrown into panic.
The palace maids were terrified like lotus blossoms shaken by night rain;
the painted girls fled like peonies swayed by a spring wind.
Some dropped their pipa and fled with their lives;
some fell on qin and se while trying to escape.
Some rushed out not knowing north from south,
some fled the hall not knowing east from west.
Their jade faces were bruised and broken, their lovely features battered.
Each one ran for her life, each one fled toward ruin.

They ran out, but dared not shout. It was late at night, and they dared not disturb the king. So they hid beneath the low eaves of the wall, trembling without end.

Meanwhile the monster sat above them, pouring his own drink and eating as he pleased. When he drank a cup, he would drag someone close and chew two bloody bites. Inside he was feasting; outside the people were spreading the word that "Tripitaka is a tiger demon."

The rumor flew and flew until it reached the Gold Pavilion Guest Lodge. By then there was no one at the lodge except the white horse eating grass and fodder in the stable. He had once been the little dragon prince of the Western Sea. Because he had broken heavenly law, his horns had been pared away and his scales stripped off, and he had changed into a white horse to carry Tripitaka west in search of the scriptures.

When he heard people saying that Tripitaka was a tiger demon, he thought to himself, "My master is plainly a good man. He has surely been transformed into a tiger demon by the monster. What can I do? What can I do? My eldest brother has been gone for a long time, and Bajie and Sha Wujing have had no word."

He waited until the second watch, and then he could bear it no longer. He sprang up and cried, "If I do not save Tripitaka now, my merit and fruit will be lost, lost!"

He could not help it. He snapped the reins, shook loose the saddle and bridle, and sprang up, showing his true form again. Once more he became a dragon. Rousing black clouds, he rose straight into the nine skies to look down. A poem bears witness:

Tripitaka came west to bow before the World-Honored One;
along the road, evil vapors kept rising to block him.
Tonight he is transformed into a tiger and cannot escape disaster;
the white horse drops its reins and goes to save its master.

The little dragon prince saw from the air that the Silver-Blue Hall was blazing with lamp and candle light. Eight red candle stands had been set in the hall, each bearing a wax taper. He lowered the cloud and looked closely. Sure enough, the monster was sitting there all alone, forcing drink and eating human flesh.

The little dragon laughed. "This fellow is no good. He has shown his feet and exposed his trick. He is finished. He eats people, but what good is that? I do not know what has become of my master, but here I have run into this filthy brute. Let me play with him a little. If I can get hold of him, I will capture the monster and then save my master."

The good Dragon Prince shook himself and changed into a palace maid. Truly her body was light and graceful, and her face was sweet and charming. She stepped quickly inside and said to the monster, "Son-in-law, do not take my life. I have come to pour your cup."

The monster said, "Pour the wine."

The little dragon took the wine jar and poured the wine into his cup. The wine stood three or four tenths of a cup above the rim and did not spill at all. That was the little dragon's water-driving art.

The monster saw it and did not recognize the trick. He was delighted.

"You have such skill?"

The little dragon said, "I can pour it even higher if you like."

"Pour more, pour more," said the monster.

He kept tilting the jar and pouring. The wine kept rising, until it was like a thirteen-story pagoda, pointed and full, and still not a drop spilled. The monster stretched out his mouth and drank one cup, then dragged a dead person over and took a bite.

"Can you sing?"

"I know a little," said the little dragon.

He sang a short tune in rhythm and then offered another cup.

"Can you dance?"

"I know a little," said the little dragon, "but I have only bare hands, so I do not dance well."

The monster lifted up his robe, drew the precious sword from his waist, pulled it from its sheath, and handed it to the little dragon.

The little dragon took the blade and, paying close attention, performed a flower-sword dance before the banquet table, moving up and down, left and right. The monster stared wide-eyed. Then the little dragon dropped the flower tricks and struck straight at the demon.

The monster was truly a monster. He slipped aside, panicked, and raised one of the great red candelabra to block the precious blade. That candelabrum had been forged of wrought iron and weighed eighty or ninety jin including the handle. The two of them rushed out of the Silver-Blue Hall, and the little dragon revealed his true form. He rode the clouds and fought the monster in the air.

This was a dark and savage battle. How did it look?

One was a monster born on Bowl Mountain; the other was a true dragon punished in the Western Sea. One cast out bright light like spurting white lightning; the other flared with sharp energy like bursting red cloud. One looked like an old elephant of white teeth trampling the world; the other like a golden-clawed civet cat springing down from heaven. One was a jade pillar holding up the sky; the other a golden beam spanning the sea. Silver dragon and yellow demon whirled together. Left and right the precious sword did not pause, and the great red candelabrum surged back and forth.

They fought in the clouds for eight or nine rounds. The little dragon's hands went weak and his sinews numbed, while the old demon was still strong as a bull. The little dragon could not hold him off, so he flung away the blade. The monster had a way of catching blades. He caught the precious sword with one hand and hurled the great red candelabrum with the other.

The little dragon had no time to brace himself. The blow landed on his rear leg. In panic he dropped to the clouds. Thanks to the Imperial Water River, he saved his life by diving straight into the water. The monster chased him but could not find him. He took the precious sword and the great red candelabrum, went back to the Silver-Blue Hall, and resumed his drinking and sleeping as before.

The little dragon stayed hidden under the water for half an hour without hearing any sound. Only then did he grit his teeth and bear the pain in his leg, leap up, and ride the black cloud back to the guest lodge. There he changed back into the horse he had been before and crouched in the stable. Alas, his whole body was wet, and his leg was wounded.

At that moment:

The will-horse and mind-monkey were all scattered;
Metal Lord and Wood Mother had all withered away.
Yellow Granny was injured, and clear distinction had no place;
how could the Way and righteousness now come to completion?

We need not speak of Tripitaka's suffering or the little dragon's defeat. As for Bajie, when he left Sha Wujing, he hid in the grass and made a pigsty of himself. He slept until the middle of the night before waking.

When he woke, he still did not know where he was. He rubbed his eyes and gathered his wits, then leaned an ear to listen. Ah! The mountain was deep and no dogs barked; the wild land was broad and there was little crowing of chickens.

Seeing the stars turn and the Dipper shift, he guessed it was about the third watch. He thought, "If I go back and save Sha Wujing, it is exactly as the saying goes: 'A single thread does not make a rope, and a single palm cannot make a sound.' No, no. I will go back into the city, see Master, report to the king, and ask for some brave troops. Then tomorrow old Pig can come back and save Sha Wujing."

He hurriedly rode the cloud back into the city. In no time at all he reached the guest lodge. It was silent there, the moon bright.

He searched the corridors and did not find his master. Only the white horse was sleeping in the other place, wet all over, with a blue bruise the size of a dish on its rear leg.

Bajie cried out, "Two layers of bad luck! This living corpse was not even walking the road, so why is he sweaty and why does he have a blue bruise on his leg? The villains must have robbed Master and crippled the horse."

The white horse recognized Bajie and suddenly spoke human words, calling out, "Brother."

Bajie leapt in fright and got up to run outside. But the white horse thrust its head forward and bit down on the black robe.

"Brother, do not fear me."

Bajie trembled. "Brother, how is it that you are speaking today? Whenever you speak, something terrible must have happened."

The little dragon said, "Do you know that Master is in trouble?"

Bajie said, "I do not know."

The little dragon said, "Of course you do not know. You and Sha Wujing showed off your skills before the king, thinking to capture the demon and earn merit and reward. But the monster's skill was too great, and your own methods were not enough to hold him. One of you came back to report, but after that there was not a word. The monster changed into a handsome scholar and went into court, where the king took him for a kinsman. Then he transformed Master into a striped tiger. The ministers saw it and seized him, and now he is locked in an iron cage in the court office. When I heard all this misery, it cut my heart like a knife.

"You two were not here and did not know. Fearing that Master might be harmed at any moment, I had no choice but to take my dragon body and go save him. Instead, when I got to court, I could not find him. At the Silver-Blue Hall I ran into the monster, so I changed into a palace maid and tricked the brute. He told me to dance his blade for him, so I watched my chance and cut him once.

"He dodged immediately. Then he raised a great red candelabrum with both hands and beat me back. I flung my blade at him, but he caught it and brought down the candelabrum on my rear leg. That is why I dove into the Imperial Water River to save my life.

"The blue mark on my leg is from that candelabrum."

Bajie said, "Is that really how it happened?"

The little dragon said, "Would I fool you?"

Bajie said, "What are we to do? Can you still move?"

The little dragon said, "What if I can still move?"

Bajie said, "If you can still move, then move down into the sea. I will take the luggage to Gao Village and go back to being a son-in-law."

At that the little dragon bit his robe and would not let go. Tears slipped from his eyes.

"Brother, please do not be lazy."

Bajie said, "If I am not lazy, then what? Sha Wujing has already been captured, and I cannot beat that monster. If I do not scatter the fire now, then what am I waiting for?"

The little dragon was silent for a long while and then said, with tears again, "Brother, do not speak of scattering the fire. If you want to save Master, you should go and invite one person."

Bajie said, "Whom am I to invite?"

The little dragon said, "Go quickly and ride the cloud back to Flower-Fruit Mountain to invite Senior Brother Sun Wukong. He still has the great power to subdue demons. He will surely save Master and also avenge our defeat."

Bajie said, "Brother, invite someone else if you wish. That monkey and I are not on the best of terms. The last time, on White Tiger Ridge, he killed that White Bone Demon, and he blamed me for urging Master to chant the Tightening Spell. I thought it was just for fun, but the old monk really did chant it, and then he drove me away. I do not know how much he hates me. He will never agree to come."

The little dragon said, "He will not strike you. He is a monkey king of kindness and justice. When you see him, do not say that Master is in trouble. Only say, 'Master misses you.' Lure him along. When he gets here and sees such a situation, he will certainly be angry and will surely fight that demon. He will certainly capture the monster and save Master."

Bajie said, "Very well, very well. Since you are so earnest, if I do not go, I will look as if I am not earnest either. If I go and Wukong truly agrees, I will bring him back with me. If he will not come, then do not look to me; I will not come back either."

The little dragon said, "Go, go. He will surely come."

So the idiot gathered up his nine-toothed rake, straightened his robe, leaped upward, and rode the cloud eastward. On this trip, too, fate was still on Tripitaka's side. The fool met a fair wind. Spreading out his two ears like sails, he crossed the Eastern Sea in no time, lowered his cloud, and entered the mountains to find the way.

As he traveled, he suddenly heard voices. When he looked carefully, he saw that Wukong was in a mountain hollow, gathering a troop of demons. He sat on a stone ledge, and before him stood more than twelve hundred monkeys in neat ranks, all calling, "Long live the Great Sage!"

Bajie thought, "What a comfortable life. So this is why he would not become a monk and only wanted to go home. He has all this estate and all these little monkeys to wait on him. If old Pig had this mountain kingdom, I would not be a monk either."

Now that he had come this far, he could not help wanting to see him. But he was still afraid of him and dared not show himself openly. So he slipped along the edge of the grass and rocks, squeezed himself among the twelve or thirteen hundred monkeys, and bowed along with them.

But the Great Sage sat high and his eyes were keen. He saw him plainly and asked, "That one bowing among the ranks is a foreigner. Where did he come from? Bring him up."

Before he could finish speaking, the little monkeys swarmed over and pushed Bajie up, pinning him to the ground.

The Pilgrim said, "Where did you come from, stranger?"

Bajie lowered his head and said, "I dare not. Thank you for asking. I am not a stranger. I am an acquaintance, an acquaintance."

The Pilgrim said, "All the monkeys under my Great Sage command look alike. Your face is different, and it looks somewhat demonic. You must be from somewhere else.

"Since you are from somewhere else, if you want to join my troop, first hand in a written statement with your name. I can then keep you in the roster. If I do not keep you, how can you dare bow around here?"

Bajie kept his head down and pursed his mouth. "How shameless. You have put on that face again. We have been brothers for several years, and now you pretend not to recognize me and call me a stranger."

The Pilgrim laughed. "Lift your head and let me see."

The idiot stretched his mouth upward and said, "Look for yourself. You do not recognize me, but surely you recognize this mouth."

The Pilgrim could not help laughing. "Zhu Bajie."

Hearing his name called, he jumped up at once. "Yes, yes, I am Zhu Bajie."

Then he thought to himself, "Now that he knows me, this will be easy to talk about."

The Pilgrim said, "You did not follow Tripitaka to seek the scriptures. What are you doing here? Did you anger the master, and has the master dismissed you? Bring me the letter of dismissal so I can read it."

Bajie said, "I did not offend him, and he never gave me any dismissal letter. He did not drive me away either."

The Pilgrim said, "If there was no dismissal letter and you were not driven away, why are you here?"

Bajie said, "Master misses you, and he sent me to invite you."

The Pilgrim said, "He does not invite me, and he does not miss me. That day he swore before Heaven and wrote the dismissal letter with his own hand. How could he miss me now or send you so far to invite me? I am sure I cannot go."

Bajie quickly lied on the spot. "He truly misses you. Truly he misses you."

The Pilgrim said, "How does he miss me?"

Bajie said, "Master was riding along on horseback and called out, 'Disciples.' I did not hear him, and Brother Sha went and pretended to be deaf. Then Master thought of you and said that we were useless, while you are a clever and lively person who answers when called and can answer ten questions at once. Because he thought of you in this way, he specially told me to invite you. I beg you to go for a walk. First, do not fail his hopeful heart; second, do not fail my long journey."

The Pilgrim heard this, jumped down from the cliff, and took Bajie by the arm.

"Good brother, you have gone to such trouble coming all this way. Come and play with me for a while."

Bajie said, "Brother, this place is far from the road. I fear Master is waiting and we will be late. I will not play."

The Pilgrim said, "Since you are here already, why not look at my mountain scenery?"

Bajie dared not refuse too hard, so he had to follow along. The two of them went hand in hand, with all the little demons following after them, and climbed to the very peak of Flower-Fruit Mountain. What a mountain it was! Since the Great Sage had returned home, he had spent those days putting it back together until it looked fresh and new. What did they see?

Blue as if cut from emerald; high as if brushing the clouds.
All around were crouching tigers and coiling dragons; on every side were monkeys crying and cranes calling.
In the morning, clouds sealed the mountain top; at dusk, the sun seemed to hang among the trees.
Running water sang like jade pendants; spring streams dripped like the zither of jade.
Before the mountain were steep cliffs and sharp ridges; behind it were flowers and trees in lush profusion.
Above it reached the Jade Maiden's basin for washing hair; below it flowed the split current of the Heavenly River.
Heaven and earth joined in splendor, rivaling Penglai; clear and turbid things both gave birth to a true cave home.
No painted brush could finish the scene; no immortal maid could fully sketch it.
Strange rocks stood shimmering, and shimmering peaks gathered color.
When the sunlight moved, a thousand purple hues flashed; when the auspicious air shifted, ten thousand red clouds rose.
A cave heaven and blessed land truly existed in the human world, with new trees and new flowers all over the mountain.

Bajie could not take it all in and was full of delight.

"Brother, what a place. Truly the first famous mountain under heaven."

The Pilgrim said, "Good brother, can you live here comfortably?"

Bajie laughed. "Listen to what you are saying, Senior Brother. This is a cave heaven and blessed land. Why speak of living your days here?"

They talked and laughed for a long while, then came back down the mountain. At the roadside several little monkeys were kneeling there holding purple grapes, fragrant pears and dates, yellow loquats, and red bayberries.

"Great Sage," they said, "please come and take your morning meal."

The Pilgrim laughed. "My pig brother has a big stomach, but this is not what he calls a meal. Very well, very well. Do not mind the plainness. Take a few as a snack."

Bajie said, "My stomach is big, but I can still follow local custom. Bring them here, bring them here. I will taste a few too."

The two of them ate the fruit. The sun rose higher and higher. Bajie was afraid of delaying the rescue of Tripitaka, so he urged him on.

"Brother, Master is waiting for us. Please go with me quickly."

The Pilgrim said, "Good brother, why not go into Water-Curtain Cave and play a little?"

Bajie firmly refused. "Many thanks for your generous heart, Brother, but Master is waiting too long. There is no need to go into the cave."

The Pilgrim said, "Since that is so, I dare not keep you any longer. Let us part here."

Bajie said, "Brother, are you not going?"

The Pilgrim said, "Where would I go? Here Heaven does not collect me and Earth does not keep me. I am free and easy. If I am not here to play, what am I doing being a monk? I am not going. You go on. But tell Tripitaka: 'Since you drove me away, do not think of me again.'"

Bajie heard this and did not dare press him too hard, fearing that he might flare up and strike with the rod. So he could only bow and take his leave, then go back along the road.

When the Pilgrim saw that he had gone, he immediately sent two clever little monkeys to follow Bajie and listen to what he said.

Sure enough, once Bajie came down the mountain, not more than three or four li along the road, he looked back and pointed at the Pilgrim, cursing aloud:

"That monkey does not want to be a monk and has become a demon instead. That ape! I came in such good faith to invite him, and he would not come. If you will not come, then so be it."

He walked a few more steps and cursed again.

The two little monkeys hurried back and reported, "Great Sage, that Zhu Bajie is not very honest. He walks a little and curses a little."

The Pilgrim flew into a rage.

"Bring him here!"

The troop of monkeys came flying over the ground, chased after him, and turned Bajie upside down. They grabbed his mane and ears, pulled his tail and fur, and carried him back.

As for what became of him, whether he lived or died, that must wait for the next chapter.