The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 2 (75 page)

Just then, a houseboy came to invite them to breakfast. After they finished that in the front hall, they hardly had time to converse when lunch was served also. Troubled by the sight of the elaborately prepared meal, Tripitaka said in great earnestness, “If you are kind enough to take us in, you must treat us as ordinary members of the family.” “Venerable Father,” said elder Chen, “we are deeply indebted to you for saving our children’s lives. Even if we were to feast you every day, we could never repay you sufficiently.”

Thereafter the snow stopped, and people soon began to come and go once more. When the elder Chen saw how unhappy Tripitaka appeared to be, he asked that the garden be swept out. After a huge brazier with fire
was
sent for, he invited the whole party to spend some time in a snow cave. “This old fellow doesn’t quite use his head!” said Eight Rules, laughing. “One can admire the garden in the second or the third month during the time of spring. But after such a big snowfall, and it’s so cold now, what’s there for us to admire?” Pilgrim said, “Idiot, you
are
ignorant! The scenery of snow quite naturally has a mysterious calm, something which not only we can enjoy but which also can console our master.” “Exactly! Exactly!” said the elder Chen. Following his beckoning, they went to the garden and they saw

    
A scenery of late autumn,

    
When prospects of La
⁸
appeared.

    
Jadelike buds formed on hoary pines;

    
Silver blooms hung on lifeless willows.

    
Jade-moss beneath the steps heaped up powder;

    
Bamboos before the window sprouted jasper roots.

    
On artificial mountains—

    
In domestic fish ponds—

    
On artful rockeries

    
Pointed peaks were ranged like shoots of jade;

    
In garden fish ponds

    
The clear, running water became ice trays.

    
By the banks the color of hibiscus faded

    
And their tender twigs all drooped near the ridge.

    
Begonia plants

    
Were completely crushed;

    
Winter-plum trees

    
Brought forth new branches.

    
The peony arbor,

    
The pomegranate arbor,

    
And the cassia arbor—

    
Every arbor was piled high with goose down;

    
The place of enjoyment,

    
The place of entertainment,

    
The place of amusement—

    
Each place was covered with butterfly wings.

    
Two fences of chrysanthmum: white jade framed in gold;

    
A few maple trees: lovely red lined with white.

    
Since countless courtyards were too cold to reach,

    
You might admire the snow cave chilly as ice.

    
Inside sat a beast-face brazier with elephant legs,

    
In
which a hot charcoal fire had just begun.

    
All around were some lacquered armchairs draped with tiger skins

    
By the paper windows set so warm and soft.

Inside the cave, there were hung on walls several old paintings by famous hands, the themes of which all had to do with

    
Seven worthies going through the pass,
⁹

    
A cold river’s lonely fisher,
¹⁰

    
The scenes of snow-bound mountain plateaus;

    
Su Wu feeding on his blanket,

    
Breaking a plum-twig for the mailman,
¹¹

    
And frigid art wrought by trees and plants of jade.

    
You can’t begin to describe

    
The house by the waters where fishes are easily bought,

    
Or how scarce is wine when snow buries the roads.

    
Truly this is a place most worthy to linger in.

    
Think of it, and you needn’t visit Penghu.
¹²

After they had admired the scenery for a long while, they sat down in the snow cave and chatted with some of the aged neighbors on the matter of acquiring scriptures. When they finished drinking some fragrant tea, the elder Chen asked again, “Would the several Venerable Fathers take some wine?” “This humble cleric does not drink,” said Tripitaka, “but my disciples may drink a few cups of vegetarian wine.” Delighted, the elder Chen at once gave the order: “Bring fruits and vegetables, and warm the wine. We would like to help our guests ward off the chill.” The houseboys and servants brought forth tables and small braziers for heating the wine. The pilgrims and the neighbors each drank a few cups before the utensils were taken away.

Soon it was dusk, and they were taken back to the front hall again for dinner. Just then, someone walking on the street was heard saying, “What chilly weather! Even the Heaven-Reaching River is frozen!” On hearing this, Tripitaka said, “Wukong, if the river is frozen, what shall we do?” “This sudden cold,” said the elder Chen, “must have frozen only the shallow parts of the river near the bank.” But the man walking on the street was saying, “All eight hundred miles across the river are so solidly frozen that its surface is smooth like a mirror. Even people are walking on it.” When Tripitaka heard that there were people walking on the river, he immediately wanted to go and look. “Please be patient, Venerable Father,” said the elder Chen, “for it’s getting late now. We shall go tomorrow.” They took leave of the neighbors, and after dinner, they rested in the parlors as they had the night before.

When
they arose the next morning, Eight Rules said, “Elder Brother, last night was even colder. The river, I suppose, must be solidly frozen.” Facing the door, Tripitaka knelt down and bowed toward Heaven, saying, “All you great Guardians of the Faith, your disciple has with complete sincerity resolved to journey to the West to see Buddha. Throughout the bitter experience of traversing mountains and streams, I have never once complained. Having reached this place, I thank Heaven for providing assistance by freezing the river. Your disciples therefore wish to offer you our thanksgiving first. After we have acquired the scriptures, we shall inform the Tang emperor so that he may repay this favor of yours with all due reverence.” After he finished praying, he ordered Wujing immediately to saddle the horse so that they could walk on the ice to cross the river. “Please be patient,” said the elder Chen again. “Wait for a few days until the snow and ice melt away. This old moron will prepare a boat to take you across.” “I don’t think we should settle on staying or leaving,” said Sha Monk, “for what we hear is not as reliable as what we see. Let me saddle the horse, but Master should go personally to the river to have a look.” “You are right,” said the elder Chen. “Little ones, go and saddle six horses at once. But don’t saddle Father Tang’s horse yet.”

With six houseboys following, all of them went to the bank of the river to look. Truly there were

    
Snow piles rising up like hills,

    
As sunlight broke up the clouds of dawn.

    
The southern border froze to turn barren all peaks;

    
Ice formed to make lakes and rivers flat and smooth.

    
The wind was cold and biting;

    
The ground was hard and slippery.

    
Pond fishes cuddled dense weeds;

    
Wild birds hugged dead branches.

    
Travelers abroad all lost their fingers;

    
The river boatman’s teeth madly chattered.

    
Snake bellies split;

    
Bird feet snapped.

    
Truly the icebergs rose a thousand feet tall.

    
Cold silver floated in countless ravines;

    
The whole river seemed one cold piece of jade.

    
The East might think that they produced silkworms,

    
But the North in truth had their caves of rats.

    
Here Wang Xiang lay;
¹³

    
Here Guangwu crossed.
¹⁴

    
In one night e’en the river bottom all hardened!

    
The
winding stream formed jagged layers;

    
The deep river turned frozen blocks.

    
Not a ripple throughout the water’s width,

    
It seemed a road on land, just bright and smooth.

When Tripitaka and the others came up to the river’s edge, they stopped the horses to look, and true enough, there were people walking on to the ice from the main road. “Benefactor,” said Tripitaka, “where are those people going on the ice?” The elder Chen said, “On the far side of the river is the Western Kingdom of Women, and these people must be traders. Things worth a hundred pennies on our side can fetch a hundred times more over there, and their things worth a hundred pennies can similarly fetch a handsome price over here. In view of such heavy profits, it is understandable that people want to make this journey without regard for life or death. Usually, five or seven people, and the number may even swell to more than ten, will crowd into a boat to cross the river. When they see that the river is frozen now, they are risking everything to try to cross it on foot.” “Profit and fame,” said Tripitaka, “are regarded as most important in the affairs of the world; for profit, men would give up their own lives. But the fact that this disciple strives so hard to fulfill the imperial decree may also be taken as his quest for fame. Am I so different really from those people?” He turned around and said, “Wukong, go quickly back to our Benefactor’s home and pack. Saddle up the horse, too. Let’s make use of the ice and leave for the West at once.” Smiling broadly, Pilgrim obeyed.

“O Master,” said Sha Monk, “the proverb says, ‘In a thousand days, you only eat a thousand pecks of rice.’ You are already indebted to the hospitality of Mr. Chen. Why not stay a few more days and wait until the weather turns warmer, when we can cross with a boat? Otherwise, I fear that all this hurry may cause us to make mistakes.” “Wujing,” said Tripitaka, “how could you be so unthinking? If this were during the second month of the year, one might well expect the weather to warm up day by day and the snow to melt eventually. But this is after all the eighth month, and it will grow colder and colder from now on. How could you expect the ice to break so readily? If we were to wait, wouldn’t our trip be delayed, perhaps even up to half a year?”

Leaping down from the horse, Eight Rules said, “Stop arguing, all of you, and let old Hog test it to see what’s the thickness of the ice.” “Idiot,” said Pilgrim, “you threw a stone the other night and succeeded in testing the depth of the water. But the ice now is solid and heavy. How could you test it?” “Elder Brother,” said Eight Rules, “you don’t realize that I can give the ice a blow with my rake. If it breaks open, it will be too thin for us to walk on, but if it does not, it will be thick enough. There’s no reason for us not to want to
walk
on it.” “Yes,” said Tripitaka, “what you said is quite reasonable.” Hitching up his robe and walking forward in great strides, Idiot went to the edge of the river. He raised the muckrake high with both hands and brought it down with all his might. A loud thud could be heard and nine white marks were left on the ice, while Idiot’s hands were momentarily numbed by the impact. “You can walk on it! You can walk on it!” said he, laughing. “Even the bottom is solid!”

When Tripitaka heard this, he was very pleased. He went back hurriedly to the Chen household and all he could say was that they had to leave at once. When those two old men found that all their earnest pleas for him to remain fell only on deaf ears, they had no alternative but to prepare some such dried food as baked biscuits and breads to give to the pilgrims. As the whole family came out to kowtow to them, the old men also brought out a tray of gold and silver. Going to their knees, they said, “We thank you again, Venerable Fathers, for saving our children. Please take this, just for a meal on your way.” Shaking his head and waving his hand, Tripitaka refused to accept it, saying, “This humble monk is a person who has left the family. I have no need of money. Even if I were to keep it, I wouldn’t dare use it on our way, for begging is our proper means of livelihood. It is more than enough for us to take the dried goods.” The two old men pleaded with him again and again; so Pilgrim stuck his finger into the tray and lifted up a tiny piece, approximately as heavy as four or five drams, which he handed over to the Tang Monk, saying, “Master, keep it as their offering so that these two will not be too disappointed.”