Читать книгу Journey to the West - Wu Cheng'en - Страница 10

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Monkey Visits the Dragon King

THE MONKEY KING RETURNED HOME with honors. Having killed the Disturber of the World’s Peace, he took away his great sword and daily practiced with it. He taught the monkeys how to use it, how to make wooden swords to cut bananas and thistles, and how to build a camp. They played at this for a long time. One day when sitting quietly he suddenly thought, “Perhaps this sham fight may become a real one. We may excite the fear of a human king, or of a king of the birds, or of the king of beasts, and they may say that we are practicing military affairs in order to rebel and lead forth an army to kill. How can we get something better than these wooden weapons?” On hearing this, all the monkeys were filled with fear. Then four great monkeys, two red tailed and two long armed, went up and said, “Great King, if you wish sharp instruments, that is easy. Two hundred li to the south of us, across the water, on the borders of Aolai, there is a city full of soldiers. They have workers in copper and iron. If you go there you can buy or have made weapons with which we can practice for the defense of our mountain, and then we shall have nothing to fear.”

On hearing this, the Seeker of Secrets was full of joy. He leaped to the clouds and was there in a minute. The city had streets and markets and business, both small and great, a very busy place. The Seeker of Secrets thought, “Here there must be plenty of ready made weapons. I will go down and buy them. But perhaps I had better use my magic power.” He pronounced an incantation and drew in his breath, and then blew it out. Then there arose a tremendous cyclone blowing sand and stones, and the people of Aolai were so terrified that they shut their doors, as none dare stay outside. The Seeker of Secrets then descended from the clouds, went to the armory and burst open the doors. Inside were eighteen kinds of weapons, all complete. He rejoiced greatly at the sight. “But I cannot take many alone. I had better call my monkeys by magic.” Then he plucked a hair, chewed it into bits, and blew them out with an incantation, and many thousands of monkeys appeared. They cleared the armory of all the weapons, took them through the air, and returned home with them.

Then the Monkey King shook his body, put back the hair and set up the weapons in a heap and called the monkeys together to choose their arms. They came and struggled to get knives and swords, hatchets and spears, bows and arrows, and with these they played all day. Next day they were called to drill as usual, and their king numbered them and found them to be over 47,000. This frightened all the beasts of the mountain. The elf chiefs of the 72 caves on the mountain came to do homage to the Monkey King, and brought their yearly tribute. They were drilled every season, and all paid their taxes regularly, till the Mountain Garden became an iron city, where they drilled daily for military purposes.

In the midst of this splendid success, however, the Monkey King said, “I am not satisfied. My sword is very blunt, what shall we do?” The four elder monkeys came forward and said, “Oh Great King, you are an Immortal Sage, and all human weapons are of no use to you. But we do not know if you can live under water.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “Since I discovered the secret of life I know seventy-two magic transformations. I can ride through the air like lightning; I can make myself invisible; I can ascend to high Heaven or descend into the depths of the earth; I can walk in sunlight or moonlight without throwing a shadow; I can go through metals or stones; water cannot drown me, fire cannot burn me. I am in possession of all these powers.” The four elder monkeys said, “Since the Great King has all these magic powers, and the water under our iron bridge flows to the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea, if you are willing to go down that water in search of the Venerable Dragon King, and ask him for a weapon, you may get what you want.” The Seeker of Secrets rejoiced on hearing this and said, “I will go.”

He jumped on the bridge, recited an incantation, dived and traveled to the Eastern Ocean under the water. As he went he met some water elves, who wished to stop him and asked him, “Tell us what Holy Sage you are, so that we may announce your arrival.” The Monkey King said, “I am Sun, the Seeker of Secrets, a natural Sage from the Mountain Garden, a neighbor of your Venerable Dragon King. How is it that you do not know me?” The water elves, on hearing this, quickly turned and announced him at the Crystal Palace saying, “Outside there is a natural Sage from the Mountain Garden, named Sun the Seeker of Secrets. He says he is your Majesty’s neighbor and comes to see you.” The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea hurried out to meet him and said, “Honored Sage, please enter.” They entered in and saluted each other. After being seated and served with tea, the Dragon King said, “Honored Sage, when did you find the Secret of Life? And what Magic Arts do you possess?” The Seeker of Secrets replied, “After I was born I left home to study religion and discovered secrets without beginning or end, and now I have returned to train my children to defend the Mountain Cave. But alas, I have no weapons. I have long heard that in your jeweled palace there must be abundance of splendid weapons; I have come to beg one of you.”

On hearing this, the Dragon King, unwilling to refuse, ordered one of his officers to bring one of the biggest swords and present it to him. The Seeker of Secrets said, “I am not used to swords, please let me have something else.” The Dragon King ordered another officer to carry out the nine-pronged fork for him. The Monkey King received it and tried its weight. He then put it down and said, “Too light, too light, I beg of you again to get me another.” The Dragon King laughed and said, “Do you not know that this is 3,600 catties in weight?” The Seeker of Secrets said, “It is no use for my arm, no use at all.” The Dragon King began to fear and ordered his general to carry out the spear that was 7,200 catties in weight. The Seeker of Secrets took it into his hand and made a few thrusts with it and said, “This is far too light.” The Dragon King now feared greatly and said, “This is the heaviest spear I have. I have no other weapons.” The Seeker of Secrets laughed and said, “The ancients had a saying that no one need trouble the Dragon Kings unless they bring precious things. Please search once more, and see if there be a suitable weapon, and I will buy it.” The Dragon King said, “Really there are no more.”

Just as he was speaking, two beautiful women came in at the back door saying, “Great King, this is a great Sage and not an ordinary being. In the sea storehouse there is that miraculous iron from the River of Heaven. Today it sparkles with light as if it desired to come forth to meet this Sage. It is the rod of the great Yu, who regulated the waters of the deluge and judged of the depth of the water.” “It is just a divining rod, of what use is that?” The women replied, “No matter whether it be of use or not, let him have it and do what he likes with it.” The Dragon King told the Seeker of Secrets, who said, “Let me see it.” The Dragon King shook his head and said, “It cannot be carried, it cannot even be moved, it is so heavy. Honored Sage, you must go and see it yourself.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “Lead me to it.”

The Dragon King took him to the ocean storehouse, and there were innumerable rays of light radiating from it in all directions. The Dragon King said, “That is it, lying there!’” The Seeker of Secrets went up close and touched it. It was an iron pillar as stout as a bushel measure and over 20 feet long. He stretched both his arms around it, then said, “It is a little too stout and too long. If shorter, it would do.” At the sound of these words the precious pillar became a few feet shorter and thinner. The Monkey King tried its weight again and said, “Still a little smaller, it would be better.” Then it became a fraction smaller. The Seeker of Secrets was greatly delighted at this. Then he took it out of the storehouse to look at it, and behold at each end were golden prongs, but in the middle between the prongs it was black iron, on which was engraved its name “As You Like It.” It weighed 13,500 catties. He rejoiced greatly in his heart and thought, “This is a precious thing, such as I wish!” As he walked away, he wished the pillar shorter and thinner, so as to be more convenient. He carried it away. When he arrived outside, it was only 12 feet long and about the diameter of a rice bowl. At the sight of him walking about the Crystal Palace with this magic power, the old Dragon King trembled with fear and the young dragons were frightened out of their wits, and all the reptiles and dwellers of the deep ran away to hide themselves.

The Seeker of Secrets sat in the Crystal Palace of the Dragon King, holding the precious weapon in his hand, and said to the Dragon King smiling, “Many thanks, neighbor, for your great kindness. I have one thing more to say. If there had been no such iron staff, I would have had nothing to ask. But since I have it, I have no armor to match it. Please let me have a suit of armor, and I shall be much obliged.” The Dragon King said, “I am sorry, I have nothing of the kind.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “A visitor does not trouble more than one host. If you cannot find one, I will never leave this place.” The Dragon King said, “Please look through another sea, perhaps you can find some armor there.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “It is better to remain in one quarter than to search in two quarters. I beg of you a million times to give me a suit.” The Dragon King said, “Truly I have none. If I had, I would give it you.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “Since you will not give it, let me try this weapon on you.” The Dragon King became much alarmed and said, “Worthy Sage, please do not. Wait till I find if my brother has any, then I will give you a suit.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “Where is your brother?” The King replied, “One brother, Aojin, is King of the Southern Ocean. Another, Aosun is King of the Northern Ocean, while the third, Aoyun is King of the Western Ocean.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “I will not go to them. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I hope you will find me one somewhere nearby.” “You, Worthy Sage, need not go so far,” said the Dragon King. “I have here an iron drum and a golden bell. When there is anything very urgent we beat the drum and strike the bell. Then my brothers come here at once.” The Monkey King then said, “Beat the drum and strike the bell immediately.”

True enough, as soon as the drum and bell sounded, the three Dragon brothers were alarmed and immediately appeared. Aojin asked, “Elder Brother, what is the matter? Why do you beat the drum and strike the bell?” The Old Dragon said, “I am afraid to tell you. There is a Sage from the Mountain Garden come to call on me as a neighbor, and he desires some weapons. I gave him the steel prong, but he said it was too small. When I gave him the carved lance, he said it was too light. Then I took from the bottom of our cave the wonderful iron staff. He was pleased with that, and he now sits in the palace and demands some armor. I have none here; therefore I beat the drum and the bell. My dear brothers, let him have a suit of armor, so that he may go.” The brother Aojin hearing this, got very angry and cried, “Let us get soldiers and arrest him.” The elder Dragon said, “Do not do that, do not do that! If he touches you with that iron beam, or if it falls upon you, you are dead.” The third brother, Aoyun said, “We must not fight with him. The best thing we can do is, to give him a suit of armor so that he may go. We will memorialize High Heaven about him and Heaven will punish him.” Then Aosun said, “That is right. I have here a pair of silk sandals for traveling in the air.” Aoyun said, “I have with me a chain coat with gold buckles.” Aojin said, “And I have a red gold helmet.” At this the elder Dragon King was greatly pleased, and led them to the crystal palace to be presented to his visitor.

The Seeker of Secrets took the gold helmet, and the gold buckled coat, and the silk sandals and put them all carefully on. Then he took up the magic beam and walked straight out. The four Sea Kings were greatly displeased at this and discussed how they might memorialize about the matter. But the Monkey King looked for his waterway in order to get back to the top of the iron bridge in his cave.

All the monkeys were there gathered, waiting for him. Suddenly their king jumped out of the water, with not a drop of water left on him, and landed on the iron bridge. At the sight all the monkeys were greatly frightened, and fell on their knees saying, “Great King, how beautifully dressed you are.” The Monkey King was mightily pleased and ascended a high throne. He took the iron beam and made it stand on end in their midst. The monkeys were all full of wonder and came round to feel that precious beam, but their strength was like that of flies, and they could not move it the least bit. They all put out their tongues and cried, “Aiyah! Aiyah! It is terribly heavy. How did you manage to bring it? Such a tremendous weight!”

The Seeker of Secrets came up, took it in his hand, and smiled at them. “Everything has a master, so has this precious beam. It has been lying in the storehouse of the sea, who knows for how many thousands of years. But just when I was there, it emitted light in all directions, and the Dragon King thought it only a bit of black iron. But it was called the Pearl of the River of Heaven. None of the people there could move it, so they asked me to go and take it. At that time this precious beam was more than twenty feet long, and stouter than a bushel measure. When I looked at it, I thought it was too big, then suddenly it became less. I thought it still too big, and again it became much less. On it are engraved a few words, “As You Like It.” All of you stand back and I will command it to change, so that you can see what it will do in my hand. When I say ‘Small, Small, Small,’ instantly it becomes the size of an embroidery needle, so that I can hide it in my ear.” And so it was.

All the monkeys were greatly astonished and said, “Oh Great King, show us how you handle it.” The Monkey King took it from his ear, put it on the palm of his hand and cried, “Big, Big, Big.” Instantly it became as a bushel measure in thickness and twenty feet long. He took it in his hand with great joy, jumped outside the cave with it, and then exercised his own magic on it. He doubled up his back and cried out, “High, High, High.” In an instant he was 100,000 feet tall, and his head was as high as the peak of Mount Tai. His loins were as great as mountain ridges, his eyes like lightning, his mouth like a bucket of blood, his teeth like sharp spears. He then took the magic lance in his hand, which reached up to the 33rd heaven and down to the 18 hells, frightening the 72 demon kings in hell, so that they all kowtowed to him in fear and trembling. In the twinkling of an eye, he took the precious lance, changed it by magic to the size of an embroidery needle, and hid it in his ear, and then returned to his cave.

After this, all the demon kings came to pay homage to him. Then according to previous arrangement they hoisted the flag and beat the drum. The Monkey King appointed the four elder monkeys to be strong guardian generals. The two red tailed ones, who were called the Horse-like Generals, and two long armed ones, who were called Palm Leaf Generals, regulated all the rewards and punishments in the camp. Since these matters were in the hands of the four generals, the Monkey King was at leisure to mount the clouds, and visit the seas in the four quarters of the world, and see the heroes of all lands.

During this time he met six brothers: the King of the Ox demons, the King of the Crocodile demons, the King of the Roc demons, the King of the Lion demons, the King of the Gorilla demons and the King of the Baboon demons, and daily discussed with them civil and military affairs, feasting and drinking from morning till eve, and enjoying unlimited pleasure.

One day, he invited the six kings to dine at his cave, and they drank until they were all incapable. After seeing his guests off, while leaning on the iron bridge in the shade of the pine trees, he suddenly fell asleep. The four generals at once surrounded him to protect him, but dared not speak in case they might wake him. The Monkey King dreamt he saw two men carrying a warrant, with the name of Sun the Seeker of Secrets on it, approach him, and without any words bind him with ropes, take his soul away, and carry him off to the gates of a city. The Monkey King saw above the gates of the city an iron tablet on which was written, “The World of Hell.” The King said, “Hell is the place where Yama the Judge of the Dead lives; how is it that I am here?” The two men replied, “Your days on earth are numbered, and we two have been ordered to fetch you here.” The Monkey King on hearing this said, “I have crossed over beyond the gates of death and am no longer to be counted among mortals and cannot be under the rule of the Judge of Hell. How have you so blundered and dared to bring me here?” The two who had so far dragged him along, were determined to drag him in. The King, getting angry, drew out from his ear his precious weapon. It shone forth as he caused it to grow large, and with it he beat the two men to a pulp. He then tore off the rope that bound him, cast off the handcuffs and making of them a weapon went into the city. He frightened the bull-headed and horse-headed demons, so that they flew in all directions towards the office of Yama. They reported the matter to the great chief crying, “A great calamity, a great calamity. Outside a bearded thunderer has come.” Thus they terrified the Ten Officers of the Lower Regions, so that they hurriedly donned their official robes and went to see. Finding the Monkey King so terrible, they cried out loudly, “Excellency, write down your name, write down your name!” The Monkey King said, “If you do not know me, how is it you sent to fetch me? I am from the Mountain Garden, from the Waterfall Cave, a natural Sage whose name is Sun the Seeker of Secrets. Tell me what offices you hold. Tell me quickly or I will thrash you.” The officers bowed and said, “We are:

Judge Yama, King of Hell

Judge Qinguang, Prince of Hell

Judge Chujiang

Judge Wuguan

Judge Songdi

Judge Pingdeng

Judge Taishan

Judge Dushi

Judge Biancheng

Judge Zhuanlun,

The Ten Judges of Hell.”