Читать книгу Journey to the West - Wu Cheng'en - Страница 9

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Monkey Studies Magic

AFTER THE MONKEY HAD RECEIVED A NAME, he settled down to study and remained there over six years. Once the Master lectured and taught:

Mysterious are the three Religions

In essence and fruitage all complete

Now preaching, now praying

All unite in one essential

Repentance and sincerity

As the path of life for all.

The Seeker of Secrets, on hearing this, felt like dancing for very joy, and moved his hands in great excitement. The Master asked him what was the matter. He replied, “Please pardon me, it is nothing but inexpressible delight at hearing such joyful tidings from you.” The Master said, “You have now been here seven years. What more do you wish to study? There are hundreds of interesting subjects; which do you want to take up? Do you wish to study the inactive subject, such as the art of calling up genii and obtaining oracles from the gods to avert evil and secure happiness, or do you wish to learn the six Schools of Thought: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Dualism, the Universal Love of Mozi or the Principles of Medicine? Or do you wish to study Quietism, which means stillness, prayer, and meditation, silence and fasting, sleeping merit, standing merit, and trances? Or do you wish to study various objective activities, such as men and women, inward massage with the breath, the compounding of male and female essences, the use of human milk and such like?” The Monkey asked, “Will any of these show me how not to grow old?” The Master said, “No, not one.” The Monkey King replied, “Not one of them will I study then.” The Master jumped down from his platform and said, “You monkey, what will you learn since you will study none of these?” and he hit the king three times on his head and went inside. The Monkey King thought this was only the Master’s private hint for him to come and see him at the third watch that night, and he would tell him the secret. At the third watch the Monkey King went in and found his Master’s door half open. He went in and waked him. On waking the Master chanted:

Hard it is, hard it is,

Mystery of mysteries to solve.

The Golden Pill give out to man with care.

The faithless ne’er can prize the gift divine.

Your breath is spent, you preach in vain.

At this the Monkey King said, “Since you signaled to me to come and get the secret of religion at this time, I have come here and have been kneeling to receive it for some time.” The Master thought, “What a rare creature I have in this monkey!” He said, “I will tell you this great secret.”

To discover secret doctrine, perfect and profound,

One must train the spirit’s nature, only this the art,

This involves three primal forces, sex, mind, and spirit.

Secret keep this no divulging, fatal to reveal,

Preserve with care your body’s strength,

Your secret strength conserve, increase.

Obey my words, and Truth you’ll find.

Forget them not, the gain is great.

Put off all thoughts of evil lust.

Seek purity, shine bright.

Your secret chambers flood with light.

The moon protects the timid hare,

The sun grows trees for birds to roost.

Birds and rabbits join in revels,

So do dragons have their mates

Have their mates and new life follows.

E’en in fire grows a lily

Differing natures, all converted,

End their work as true Immortals.

The Seeker of Secrets, having learnt the three secrets of Immortality: mind and spirit and abstinence from sex, memorized these carefully, and went on studying alone for three years more. Then the Master again mounted the platform and preached on the Parable of the Great Judgment. Suddenly he asked, “Where is the Seeker of Secrets?” The Monkey King came forward, knelt and said, “I am here.” The Master asked, “What have you been learning all this time?” “Your disciple has mastered the study of the spiritual nature.” The Master said, “Then you know the origin of things. But you must be careful of three great dangers.” The Seeker of Secrets, after pondering over this for a long time said, “I have constantly heard it said that when one has found Truth and Virtue, then one becomes an Immortal and no sickness can befall him; how then do you speak of dangers to be avoided?” The Master said, “What I teach you is not an ordinary doctrine, for it controls the forces of Heaven and Earth and the secrets of the sun, moon, and stars. When one has arrived at this stage, then one is superior to the evil spirits and the ordinary gods. Still after a time there will come a thunderclap to try your soul and spirit. If unmoved and unshaken in the deluge, you will be like Heaven itself. If you doubt, then you perish. After a long practice of religion again, one is tried a second time. This danger does not come from Heaven, nor from man, but from one’s own passions. It burns one’s whole body to ashes, and all one’s long years of practice are in vain like a dream. After another long term of practice, one is tried a third time by the danger of environment, which blows on one like a typhoon and affects one’s whole being. This must be overcome.” When the Seeker of Secrets heard this his body shook and his hair stood on end. “Oh Master, have pity on me, and tell me how to overcome these three dangers, and I shall never forget your kindness.” The Master said, “That is not difficult. There are two ways to avoid them. One has 36 wonders, the other 72; which do you wish to know?” The Seeker of Secrets said, “I wish to know the 72 wonders.” “Come here then, and I will teach you the incantation.” Then he whispered it in his ear. The Monkey King felt influences going through every pore of his body, and began to practice the arts and to learn the whole 72 wonders. Afterwards when they were outside the door of the Three Star Cave, the Master said, “Seeker of Secrets, have you learnt all the arts?” He replied, “Thanks to your great kindness I have, and I can fly among the clouds.” The Master said, “Let me see what you can do.” At this, the Seeker of Secrets bent himself and jumped some 50 or 60 feet in the air and walked on the clouds for about the time it takes one to have a meal, walked for a mile and then descended amongst them. The Master said, “That is not much. It is only creeping on the clouds. The ancient Immortals are said to have mounted in the morning as far as the Northern Ocean, gone round the East, South, and West Ocean, and been back at night.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “This is not easy.” The Master said, “Easy enough if you have a mind to do it.” At this the Seeker of Secrets threw himself on his knees and, declaring he was in earnest, begged his master to be so kind as to show him how to do it again. The Master said, “You jumped when rising, you should only bow and rise. But if you wish I can teach you how to do it by somersaults.” The Seeker of Secrets knelt before him again and begged him to do so. The Master then taught him the incantation. Then with a clenched fist and a spring, the Monkey King was off 107,000 li. As it was late the Master and students retired, while the Seeker of Secrets went on mastering how to travel on the clouds, and for many days afterwards would do nothing else.

One day the students had a long talk together, and said, “Seeker of Secrets, you have studied the mysteries of Nature so deeply, that our Master has taught you how to perform many wonders; can we all do this?” The Seeker of Secrets laughed and said, “Truly if the Master teaches and you diligently learn, there is no reason why you should not learn all.” They replied, “Show us some of your wonderful arts.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “Tell me what you want and I will try.” They said, “Change yourself into a pine tree.” The Seeker of Secrets recited an incantation, shook his body and was transformed instantly into a pine tree.

Clouds come kissing virgin pine,

Wooded through the growth of years,

Showing monkey traces none,

Only hoarfrost on each branch.

At the sight the students clapped their hands and cried in great admiration. The Master hearing the commotion, came out and asked what the matter was. When he heard he said, “You pledged yourself not to divulge the secret, and now you play with great things before the unworthy. If you do not divulge the secret to the others, they will kill you.” The Seeker of Secrets wept and begged his pardon. But the Master said, “I cannot keep you any longer, you must go, for your life is in danger.” The Seeker of Secrets said, “What shall I do?” “Go back whence you came,” was the stern reply, “and never tell anyone that you are my disciple, or I will flay you alive.” With this, the Seeker of Secrets took leave of the Master and fellow students, recited an incantation, jumped over the clouds and was back in an instant in the East Continent of the Mighty Gods, the Mountain Garden and the Water Screen Cave, and was glad, saying,

Leaving home I lonely was,

Mortal frame and mortal seed.

When born again in spirit land,

The body light became as air.

In all the earth none have a mind

To seek the truth and gather light.

Finally the Seeker of Secrets descended safely from the clouds, arrived at the Mountain Garden and there heard the monkeys crying bitterly. He said, “My children, I have returned, what is the matter?” Ten thousand monkeys, great and small, ran towards him from all the rocks and trees about, knelt before him and cried, “Why did you leave us so long here without protection? We have been longing for your return like men who are hungry and thirsty. Of late we have been troubled by the Chief Disturber of the World’s Peace, who wanted to take possession of our cave by force. We fought him at the risk of our lives and many were killed. If you, Oh King, had not returned, there would soon have been no cave left us at all.” The Seeker of Secrets became very angry and asked what evil spirit it was that had dared do that. “We will soon have our revenge on him. Where does he live and how far away?” “We do not know. He came with the wind and went away in a fog.” At this the Seeker of Secrets said, “I will find him.” And with this the Monkey King made a spring and disappeared to the North. There he saw a high and steep mountain.

Mountain peaks like pencils pierced the sky,

Mountain streams like gouges carved the rocks.

There the fount of three worlds bubbled forth

Giving strength by watering the earth.

The Monkey King hearing voices in this mountain, descended from the clouds and found a cave from which flowed a river. About the entrance some small demons were at play. At the sight of the Seeker of Secrets they ran away. He cried out, “Do not run away. I am the Master of the Mountain Garden and Cave with the Water Curtain in the South. Your chief, the Disturber of the World’s Peace, has been frequently assaulting my children, and I have come to get an apology.” The little demons ran in and said, “Trouble has come, oh King,” and repeated the message of the Monkey King. The Demon King laughed and said, “I have often heard the monkeys say that they had a great chief, and that he had gone away to lead a religious life. I suppose it is he who has come. How is he dressed and how is he armed?” They replied, “He is not armed, but is hatless and dressed in a red gown and yellow girdle and black boots. He is not like an ordinary man, nor like a Buddhist monk or a Taoist priest, and he is waiting outside with no weapons in his hands.” On hearing this the Demon King put on his armor, took a sword in his hand and went out, followed by a crowd of little demons, and cried out, “Where is the Master of the Water Screen Cave?” The Seeker of Secrets opened his eyes and saw the Demon King.

Black helmet crowned his head,

Red coated was his back.

Black armor over all,

Black leather boots he wore.

His girdle ten times others round

His height was thirty feet.

His hand bore a huge sword,

All polished for the fight.

The Seeker of Secrets cried out, “You incorrigible demon! You have such big eyes but you cannot even see me.” The Demon King looked down and seeing him, said, “You are not five feet tall and not more than thirty years old, and have no weapons, how dare you be so mad as to talk to me about an apology?” The Seeker of Secrets cursed him and said, “You insolent demon, it is plain you cannot see. You think I am small, but if I wish to be big, I can easily become big. You think I have no weapons, but I can stretch my arms to reach the moon. Wait till you get a taste of my fists. Let us have a bout of boxing.” The Demon King took off his armor saying, “You are short and I am tall. If you use your fists and I use a sword and kill you, it will be ridiculous. Let me put down my sword and fight with my fists.” Having put down his armor, he then began fighting. The Seeker of Secrets got close to him and they fought each other hard, but the long fist beat the air while the short one hit the mark. After the Monkey King had given him several hard knocks, he began to swell. Suddenly the Demon King seized his great steel sword and made a rush to strike him down. The Monkey quickly evaded him, so that he struck the empty air. The Seeker of Secrets then used one of his wonderful arts. He pulled out one of his hairs, put it in his mouth and chewed it into minute bits, then blew them out of his mouth and said, “Transform!” and these bits were instantly changed into hundreds of small monkeys who gathered round him. The Monkey King, since he had discovered this supernatural gift, had 84,000 hairs on his body, and each of these could be transformed in like manner, as he pleased. The small monkeys were so lively that the demon could not hit them on the right or left. They went at him from behind and before, they seized him and pulled him and tripped him, played with his hair and eyes, as if he were a pincushion. The Seeker of Secrets then laid hold of his sword, went up amongst the monkeys, struck the top of the Demon King’s head till it split open, and went into the cave, killing as he went, leaving not one of the demons alive. Then he put back the hair in its place on his body again. Those who did not suffer in the cave were a few dozen monkeys, which the Demon King had carried captive before. He ordered them out to light a fire to burn all the demons. Then he told these monkeys to follow him home. “Shut your eyes tight.” He then uttered an incantation, and a strong wind carried them over the clouds. When he descended from the clouds he called on them to open their eyes. They then found they were at home again, and were very glad, and ran into the cave as of old. Then all the monkeys assembled in the cave to welcome the king and get ready a banquet. They asked him how he had vanquished the Demon King. The Seeker of Secrets told them the whole story. The monkeys’ praises were interminable, and they asked, “Where, Oh King, did you learn all these wonders?” He answered, “That year when I left you, I sailed across the China Sea till I reached the Southern Continent and there I learnt how to become human, and put on clothes and wear boots for some 8 or 9 years, but had not found the secret forces of nature. I then crossed over the great Western Ocean till I reached the Unicorn Continent in the West, and searched for this secret for a long time. Finally I met an old patriarch who taught me the true way of living eternal as the heavens, so as never to become old.” All the monkeys congratulated him on having discovered how to avoid all calamities. The Seeker of Secrets smiled on his followers and said, “You may congratulate me on one other thing. You all have a family name now.” They all cried, “Oh King, what is thy name?” The king said, “My surname is Sun, which means macaque, and my name is the Seeker of Secrets.” When they heard this, they clapped their hands with great joy and said, “The great King is the venerable Sun, we are his sons and grandsons, one family and one nation—all of the same name. Let us all honor our ancestor Sun with cups of coconut wine, grape wine, and fairest fruits, for this is a great joy to the whole family.”