Chapter 1 - Part 2
"We're in luck, we're in luck," he said with a chuckle. All the other monkeys crowded round him asking, "What's it like in there? How deep is the water?"
"There's no water, none at all," replied the stone monkey. "There's an iron bridge, and on the other side of the bridge there's a house that must have been made by Heaven and Earth."
"How ever could you see a house there?" the other monkeys asked. The stone monkey chuckled again.
"The water here comes under the bridge and through the rocks, and it hides the gateway to the bridge from view. There are flowers and trees by the bridge, and a stone house too. Inside the house are stone rooms, a stone stove, stone bowls, stone plates, stone beds, and even stone benches. In the middle of it all is a tablet which says 'Happy Land of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, Cave Heaven of the Water Curtain'. It's just the place for us to settle down in−−there's room there for thousands. Let's all move in, then we won't have to put up with any more nonsense from heaven. In there
We can hide there from the wind,
And shelter from the rain,
With nothing to fear from frost and snow,
And never a rumble of thunder.
The coloured mists glow bright
And the place smells lucky.
The pine and bamboo will always be beautiful,
And rare flowers blossom every day."
The other monkeys were all so delighted to hear this that they said, "You go first and take us with you."
The stone monkey shut his eyes, crouched, and leapt in again, shouting, "Follow me in, follow me in." The braver monkeys all jumped through. The more timid ones peered forward, shrank back, rubbed their ears, scratched their cheeks, shouted, and yelled at the top of their voices, before going in, all clinging to each other. After rushing across the bridge they all grabbed plates and snatched bowls, bagged stoves and fought over beds, and moved everything around. Monkeys are born naughty and they could not keep quiet for a single moment until they had worn themselves out moving things around.
The stone monkey sat himself in the main seat and said, "Gentlemen, A man who breaks his word is worthless. Just now you said that if anyone was clever enough to come in here and get out again in one piece, you'd make him king. Well, then. I've come in and gone out, and gone out and come in. I've found you gentlemen a cave heaven where you can sleep in peace and all settle down to live in bliss. Why haven't you made me king?" On hearing this all the monkeys bowed and prostrated themselves, not daring to disobey.
They lined up in groups in order of age and paid their homage as at court, all acclaiming him as the "Great King of a Thousand Years." The stone monkey then took the throne, made the word "stone" taboo, and called himself Handsome Monkey King. There is a poem to prove it that goes:
All things are born from the Three positives;
The magic stone was quick with the essence of sun and moon.
An egg was turned into a monkey to complete the Great Way;
He was lent a name so that the elixir would be complete.
Looking inside he perceives nothing because it has no form,
Outside he uses his intelligence to create visible things.
Men have always been like this:
Those who are called kings and sages do just as they wish.
Taking control of his host of monkeys, apes, gibbons and others, the Handsome Monkey King divided them into rulers and subjects, assistants and officers. In the morning they roamed the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit and in the evening they settled down for the night in the Water Curtain Cave. They made a compact that they would not join the ranks of the birds or go with the running beasts. They had their own king, and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
In spring they picked flowers for food and drink,
In summer they lived off fruit.
In autumn they gathered tares and chestnuts,
They got through the winter on Solomon's−seal.
The Handsome Monkey King's innocent high spirits could not, of course, last three or four hundred years. One day he suddenly felt depressed during a banquet with his monkey host, and he started to weep. The startled monkeys crowded round, bowed to him and asked, "What's the matter, Your Majesty?"
"Although I'm happy now," the Monkey King replied, "I'm worried about the future. That's what's getting me down."
The other monkeys laughed and said, "Your Majesty is being greedy. We have parties every day; we live in a mountain paradise, in an ancient cave in a divine continent. We are spared the rule of unicorns, the domination of phoenixes, and the restraints of human kings. We are free to do just as we like−−we are infinitely lucky. Why make yourself miserable worrying about the future?"
To this the Monkey King replied, "Yes, we don't have to submit to the laws and regulations of human kings, and we don't live in terror of the power of birds and beasts. But the time will come when we are old and weak, and the underworld is controlled by the King of Hell. When the time comes for us to die, we won't be able to go on living among the Blessed, and our lives will have been in vain." All the monkeys covered their faces and wept as everyone of them thought about death.
Suddenly a gibbon jumped out from their ranks and shrieked in a piercing voice, "If Your Majesty is thinking so far ahead, this is the beginning of enlightenment. Now of the Five Creatures, there are only three that do not come under the jurisdiction of the King of Hell."
"Do you know which they are?" asked the Monkey King.
"Yes," the ape replied. "They are the Buddhas, the Immortals and the Sages. They are free from the Wheel of Reincarnation. They are not born and they do not die. They are as eternal as Heaven and Earth, as the mountains and the rivers."
"Where do they live?" the Monkey King asked.
"Only in the human world," the ape replied, "in ancient caves on magic mountains." The Monkey King was delighted to hear this.
"I shall leave you all tomorrow," he said, "and go down the mountain. If I have to, I'll roam the corners of the oceans and go to the edge of the sky to find these three kinds of beings and discover the secret of eternal youth that will keep us out of the clutches of the King of Hell for ever." Goodness! Because of these words he was to learn how to be free from the Wheel of Reincarnation and become the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
All the monkeys clapped with approval and said, "Great! Great! Tomorrow we'll climb all over the mountain and get lots of fruit to give Your Majesty a really big banquet to send you off."
The next day the monkeys set out to pick magic peaches, gather rare fruits, dig out yams, and cut Solomon's−seal. Magic fungus and fragrant orchid were collected, and everything was set on the stone benches and the stone tables, with fairy wine and dishes. You could see
Golden pills and pearl pellets, Bursting red and plump yellow.
The golden pills and pearl pellets were winter cherries, beautiful and sweet;
The bursting red and plump yellow were ripe plums, tasty and sharp.
Fresh, sweet−fleshed longans with thin skins.
Fiery lichees with tiny stones in a red sack.
Branch after branch of crab−apples,
Yellow−skinned loquats with their leaves on.
Rabbit−head pears and chicken−heart jujubes
To quench your thirst, remove your cares, and sober you up.
Fragrant peaches and tender apricots,
As sweet and luscious as jade wine.
Crisp plums and arbutus,
As sharp as glistening yogurt.
Ripe melons with red coats and black seeds,
Big, four−sectioned persimmons with yellow skins.
Bursting pomegranates:
Cinnabar pips shining like fire−crystal pearls.
Opened water−chestnuts
With firm round flesh like golden agate.
Walnuts and gingko fruits to eat with tea;
Coconuts and grapes to make into wine.
Dishes loaded with pine cones, yew−nuts, filberts, and crab−apples;
Tangerines, sugar−cane and oranges covering the table.
Hot roast yams,
Tender boiled Solomon's−seal.
Pounded china−root and Job's tears.
Simmered in soup in a stone−pot.
Although we humans have rare delicacies to eat,
We are no happier than those monkeys in the mountains.
To be continue......(12)