Monkey (9 page)

‘I hear,’ said the Emperor, ‘that you have nothing in particular to do, and I am going to give you a job. You are to look after the Peach Garden; I wish you to devote the greatest attention to this work.’

Monkey was in wild delight, and unable to wait for a moment he rushed off to take over his new duties in the Peach Garden. Here he found a Local Spirit, who cried out to him,’ Great Sage, where are you going ?’

‘To take charge of the Peach Garden,’ he said. ‘I’ve been appointed by his Majesty.’

The spirit bowed low, and called to Hoe-earth, Draw-water, Peach-tender, and Leaf-sweeper, the strong men who worked the garden, to come forward and kow-tow to Monkey.

‘How many trees are there?’ Monkey asked of the local
spirit. ‘Three thousand six hundred,’ he said. ‘On the outer side, one thousand two hundred, with inconspicuous flowers and small fruit. They ripen once in three thousand years. Whoever eats them becomes a fairy, all-wise; his limbs are strong and his body light. In the middle of the garden are one thousand two hundred trees, with double blossom and sweet fruit. They ripen once in six thousand years. Whoever eats them can levitate at will, and never grows old. At the back of the garden are one thousand two hundred trees. The fruit has purple markings and the stones are pale yellow. They ripen once in nine thousand years. Whoever eats them outlasts heaven and earth, and is the compeer of sun and moon.’ Monkey was delighted, and began at once inspecting the trees and listing the arbours and pagodas. Henceforward he amused himself only once a month, on the day of the full moon, but otherwise saw no friends and went nowhere. One day he saw that high up on some of the trees many of the peaches were ripe, and he made up his mind to eat them before anyone else got a chance. Unfortunately he was closely watched by his followers, and to shake them off he said, ‘I am feeling tired and am going to take a short rest in that arbour. Go and wait for me outside the gates.’ When they had retired, he took off his court hat and robes, and scrambled up on to a high tree, and began to pluck the ripest and largest fruit he could see. Sitting astride a bough, he regaled himself to his heart’s content, and then came down. He put on his hat and robes, and called to his followers to attend him while he returned in state to his lodging. After a few days, he did the same thing again.

One morning her Majesty the Queen of Heaven, having made up her mind to give a Peach Banquet, told the fairy maidens, Red Jacket, Blue Jacket, White Jacket, Black Jacket, Purple Jacket, Yellow Jacket, and Green Jacket to take their baskets and pick peaches in the Peach Garden. They found Monkey’s followers barring the gate.

‘We have come,’ they said, ‘by command of her Majesty to pick peaches for a banquet.’

‘Halt, my fairy beauties,’ said one of the guards. ‘Things have changed since last year. This garden has been put in
charge of the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, and we must get his permission, before we can let you in.’

‘Where is he ?’ they asked.

‘He’s feeling rather tired,’ a guardian spirit said, ‘and is having a nap in the arbour.’

‘Very well then,’ they said, ‘go and look for him, for we must get to work at once.’ They consented to go and tell him, but found the arbour empty, save for Monkey’s hat and robe. They began looking for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. The fact was that Monkey, after supping away and eating several peaches, had changed himself into a little fellow two inches long, and was curled up asleep under a thick leaf high up on the tree.

‘We must carry out our orders,’ said the fairy maidens, ‘whether you find him or not. We can’t go back empty-handed.’

‘Quite right, fairy beauties,’ said an officer, ‘we must not keep you waiting. Our master has been used to going about a great deal, and probably he has gone to look up some of his old friends. Just you go and pick your peaches, and we’ll tell him when he comes back.’

So they went into the garden, and first they picked three basketsful from the trees in the near part of the garden, then three from the trees in the middle. But when they came to the trees at the back, they found nothing but snapped stalks. All the peaches had been taken. However, when they had looked about for some time, they did succeed in finding one solitary peach that was not quite ripe, hanging on a southward-facing bough. Blue Jacket pulled the bough towards her and picked the peach, then let go. This was the very bough where Monkey was sleeping in his diminutive form. The jerk awoke him, and rapidly changing himself back again, he cried out, ‘Where have you come from, monsters, and how comes it that you have the audacity to pick my peaches?’

The terrified fairy maidens with one accord fell upon their knees, crying, ‘Great Sage, don’t be angry I We are not monsters; we are seven fairy maidens sent by the Queen of Heaven to pick peaches for her Peach Banquet When we
came to the gate, we found your officers on guard. They looked everywhere for you, but couldn’t find you. We were afraid to keep her Majesty waiting, so as you could not be found we came in and began to pick. We beseech you to forgive us!’

Monkey became all affability. ‘Rise from your knees, fairies,’ he said. ‘Tell me now, who is invited to this banquet?’

‘It is an official banquet,’ they said, ‘and certain deities are invited as a matter of course. The Buddha of the Western Heaven will be there, and the Bodhisattvas and Lo-hans; Kuan-yin too, and all the Immortals of the Ten Islands. Then there will be the five spirits of the Pole Star, the Emperors of the Four Quarters, the gods and immortals of the seas and hills – all of them will come to the banquet.’

‘Shall I be asked ?’ inquired Monkey.

‘I haven’t heard it suggested,’ one of them said.

‘But I am the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven,’ said Monkey. ‘I don’t see why I shouldn’t be invited.’

‘We can only tell you who is invited according to the rules,’ they said. ‘What will be done this time, we don’t know.’

‘Quite right, my dears,’ said Monkey. ‘I’m not blaming you. Just you wait here while I go off and scout round a little, to see whether I’m to be invited or not to be invited.’

Dear Monkey! He recited a magic formula and cried to the maidens, ‘Stay, stay, stay.’ This was a fixing magic, and the fairies in consequence of it remained rooted to the spot where they stood. Monkey set off on his magic cloud, sailed clear of the garden, and hastened towards the Pool of Green Jade. On the way he ran straight into the Red-legged Immortal. At once he thought of a plan by which he might trick the Immortal and attend the feast himself.

‘Old Wisdom, where are you going ?’ he asked.

‘I have been invited to the Peach Banquet,’ the Immortal answered.

‘You probably haven’t heard…’ said Monkey. ‘I’ve been asked by the Jade Emperor, because I get about so fast on my cloud, to go round to all the guests and tell them there’s going to be a rehearsal of ceremonies first, in the Hall of Penetrating Light.’

The Immortal was a guileless soul, and was completely taken in. ‘Other years we’ve always had the rehearsal at the same place as the banquet,’ he said. ‘However, I’m much obliged,’ and turning his cloud he made towards the Hall of Penetrating Light.

Then, reciting a spell, Monkey changed himself into the exact image of the Red-legged Immortal and went straight to the Green Jade Pool. After a little while he came to the Treasure Tower, and stepped softly in. Everything was set out for the feast, but no one had yet arrived. Monkey was gazing at the scene, when suddenly a smell of brewing assaulted him. He turned round and in a gallery on the right saw a number of fairy ministrants making wine. Some were carrying the mashed grain, others bringing water. Boys were keeping up the fire, jugs were being washed and jars swept. The wine that had already been made was exhaling a delicious perfume. Monkey’s mouth watered, and he would have gone and drunk some at once, had it not been for the presence of all these servants. He was obliged to employ his magic powers. Pulling out a handful of his finest down, he tossed it into his mouth and bit it into ever smaller pieces; then he spat it out, crying ‘Change!’ and the hairs changed into so many Drowsy Insects, which flew towards the servants and settled on their cheeks. Look at them, how their hands fall to their sides and their heads sink down, their eyes close and they fall asleep.

Monkey then snatched up some of the finest viands, the daintiest dishes, ran into the gallery, seized a jug, tilted a jar, set to, and drank deeply.

When he had been drinking for some time and was already pretty drunk, he thought to himself, ‘Bad! bad! The guests will soon be arriving, and I shall get into trouble. It’s no good staying here; I’d better go and have a sleep in my own quarters.’ Dear Monkey! Staggering and blundering along, very much the worse for liquor, he lost his way and instead of getting home he arrived at the Tushita Palace. Suddenly he came to himself and realized where he was. ‘Why, this is where Lao Tzu lives,’ he said to himself. ‘How did I get here ? Well, I’ve always wanted to meet that old man and have
never had the chance. It wouldn’t be a bad idea, as I
am
here, to go and have a look at him.’ So he tidied his clothes and went in. But there were no signs of Lao Tzu or any one else. Actually Lao Tzu was in an upper room with Dipankara, Buddha of the Past, expounding the Way to an audience of Immortal officers, pages and officials.

Monkey went straight into the alchemical laboratory. There was no one there, but a brazier at one side of the hearth was burning, with five gourds arranged round it, and in these gourds was finished elixir. ‘This,’ said Monkey to himself in high glee, ‘is the highest treasure of the Immortals. Since my Illumination I have solved the secret of the identity of Inside and Outside, and was on the verge of producing a little elixir on my own account, when unexpectedly I came home and was busy with other things. I think I’ll try a pill or two.’ He tilted the gourds and ate up the contents for all the world as though it had been a dish of fried beans.

After a while, full of elixir, and the effects of the wine now wearing off, he again took stock of the situation, and said to himself, ‘Bad! Bad! This escapade of mine is even more unfortunate than the last. If the Jade Emperor gets to hear of it, I am lost. Runl Run! Run! I was better off as a king in the world below.’

He rushed out of the Tushita Palace, not going his usual way, but making for the Western Gate of Heaven. Here he used a magic that made him invisible, and lowered his cloud till he was back on the borders of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. A flash of banners and gleam of spears told him that his followers were practising the arts of war.

‘Little ones, I am here,’ he cried aloud. They all flung down their weapons and fell upon their knees.

‘Great Sage,’ they said, ‘you’re very neglectful of your subjects. Fancy going off all this while without a thought about what becomes of us!’ However, they made a great banquet to welcome him, and brought him a huge stone bowl full of date-wine.

After drinking a mouthful, he made a very wry face, saying, ‘What horrible stuff! I can’t drink this.’

Two of his generals rushed forward. ‘Great Sage,’ they
said, ‘no doubt in the Palace of Heaven you have been drinking the wine of the Immortals, and for that reason cannot stomach this date-wine. But the proverb says: ‘There is no water like home water!”’

‘And it goes on: “There are no folk like home folk,”’ said Monkey. ‘When I was enjoying myself at the Pool of Green Jade I saw flagon after flagon of jade-juice and ruby-extract, such as you have never in your lives tasted. I’ll go back and steal some for you. Half a cup each, and you’ll none of you ever grow old.’

All the monkeys were delighted, and the Sage went out to the cave door, turned his somersault, made himself invisible and returned to Heaven. He found the makers of wine, carriers of dregs and water and lighters of fire all still snoring heavily. Taking a couple of large flagons, one under each arm, and two more, one in each hand, he turned his cloud and came back. A great assembly of monkeys was held and each got a cupful or two. There was a rapturous scene.

Meanwhile the seven fairy maidens remained spell-bound a whole day. When at last they could move, they took up their flower-baskets, and going back to the Queen of Heaven they told her that the Sage, Equal of Heaven had held them back by magic, that was why they were so late. ‘How many peaches did you pick ?’ she asked. ‘We got two baskets of small peaches and three baskets of middling peaches. But when we came to the back of the garden we found that half the big peaches were already gone. It seems that the Great Sage has eaten them. While he was being looked for, he suddenly appeared in our midst, made a fearful scene, and asked who had been invited to the banquet. We told him about the usual arrangements for such feasts, whereupon he bound us by a spell and went off we didn’t know where. We have only just managed to break the spell and come back.’

The Queen of Heaven went straight to the Jade Emperor, and was telling him what had happened, when a crowd of wine-makers and other celestial officials came pouring in, announcing that someone had made a mess of all the arrangements for the banquet, stolen the wine and eaten up all the dainties. At this moment the Supreme Patriarch of Tao was
announced. The Emperor and his consort went out to meet him. ‘I am sorry to have to report to your Majesties’ said Lao Tzu, ‘that the Elixir which I was concocting for the next Cinnabar Banquet has been stolen.’ Presently one of Monkey’s celestial attendants arrived, and reported that the Great Sage had been missing since the day before and no one knew what had become of him. The Jade Emperor’s suspicions were now confirmed. At this point the Red-legged Immortal appeared before the Throne.