Brother Monkey Makes Trouble on the Black Wind Mountain
Guanyin Subdues the Bear Spirit
孙行者大闹黑风山
观世音收伏熊罴怪
As Monkey leapt up with a somersault, the senior and junior monks, the novices, the page-boys, and the servants of the monastery all bowed low to the sky and said, “Master, you must be a cloud-riding Immortal come down from Heaven. No wonder that fire can't burn you. Damn that stupid old skinflint of ours: he destroyed himself with his own scheming.”
“Please rise, gentlemen,” replied Sanzang, “there's no need to hate him. If my disciple finds the cassock our troubles will all come to an end; but if he doesn't find it, he has rather a nasty temper and I'm afraid that none of you will escape with your lives.” When they heard this warning, the monks' hearts were in their mouths, and they implored Heaven to let him find the cassock and spare their lives.
话说孙行者一筋斗跳将起去，唬得那观音院大小和尚并头陀、幸童、道人等一个个朝天礼拜道：“爷爷呀！原来是腾云驾雾的神圣下界，怪道火不能伤！恨我那个不识人的老剥皮，使心用心，今日反害了自己！”三藏道：“列位请起，不须恨了。
这去寻着袈裟，万事皆休；但恐找寻不着，我那徒弟性子有些不好，汝等性命不知如何，恐一人不能脱也。”众僧闻得此言，一个个提心吊胆，告天许愿，只要寻得袈裟，各全性命不题。
Once in mid-air, the Great Sage Sun Wukong reached at the Black Wind Mountain with one twist of his waist. Stopping his cloud while he took a careful look around, he saw that it was indeed a fine mountain. It was a spring day:
却说孙大圣到空中，把腰儿扭了一扭，早来到黑风山上。住了云头，仔细看，果然是座好山。况正值春光时节，但见：
The myriad valleys' streams compete,
A thousand precipices vie in beauty.
Where the birds call, no man is;
When the blossoms fall, the trees are still fragrant.
After the rain, the sky and the lowering cliff are moist;
As the pines bend in the wind, they spread an emerald screen.
The mountain herbs grow,
The wild flowers blossom,
Hanging over beetling crags;
The wild fig thrives
And fine trees flourish
On craggy range and flat-topped hill.
You meet no hermits,
And can find no wood-cutters.
Beside the stream a pair of cranes drink,
And wild apes gambol on the rocks.
Peaks like mussel-shells, gleaming black,
Lofty and green as they shine through the mist.
万壑争流，千崖竞秀。
鸟啼人不见，花落树犹香。
雨过天连青壁润，风来松卷翠屏张。
山草发，野花开，悬崖峭嶂；
薛萝生，佳木丽，峻岭平岗。
不遇幽人，那寻樵子？
涧边双鹤饮，石上野猿狂。
矗矗堆螺排黛色，巍巍拥翠弄岚光。
As Monkey was looking at the mountain scenery he heard voices from in front of the grassy slope. He slipped off to conceal himself under the rock-face and take a discreet look. He saw three fiends sitting on the ground. At the head was a dark fellow, to his left was a Taoist, and to his right a white-robed scholar, and they were all talking about lofty and broad matters: about refining cinnabar and mercury with tripods and cauldrons; and about the white snow, mercury, the yellow sprout, lead, and other esoteric teachings.
In the middle of this the dark fellow said, “As it's my birthday tomorrow, I hope you two gentlemen will do me the honour of coming along.”
“We celebrate your birthday every year, Your Majesty,” the white-robed scholar replied, “so of course we shall come this year.”
“I came by a treasure last night,” the dark fellow went on, “a brocade cassock for a Buddha, and it's a wonderful thing. I'm going to give a big banquet for it the day after tomorrow and I'm inviting all you mountain officials to come and congratulate me, which is why I'm calling it a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet.'”
“Wonderful, wonderful,” the Taoist exclaimed with a smile. “Tomorrow I'll come to congratulate you on your birthday, and the day after I'll come again for the banquet.”
那行者正观山景，忽听得芳草坡前有人言语。他却轻步潜踪，闪在那石崖之下，偷睛观看。原来是三个妖魔，席地而坐：上首的是一条黑汉，左首下是一个道人，右首下是一个白衣秀士，都在那里高谈阔论。讲的是立鼎安炉，持砂炼汞，白雪黄芽，旁门外道。正说中间，那黑汉笑道：“后日是我母难之日，二公可光顾光顾？”白衣秀士道：“年年与大王上寺，今年岂有不来之理？”黑汉道：“我夜来得了一件宝贝，名唤锦襕佛衣，诚然是件玩好之物。我明日就以他为寿，大开筵宴，邀请各山道官，庆贺佛衣，就称为佛衣会如何？”道人笑道：“妙！妙！妙！我明日先来拜寿，后日再来赴宴。”
As soon as Monkey heard him mention the Buddha's robe he was sure it was their treasure, and unable to hold back his anger he leapt out from the cliff brandishing his gold-banded cudgel with both hands and shouting, “I'll get you, you gang of devils. You stole our cassock, and now you think you're going to have a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet'. Give it back to me at once.”
“Don't move,” he barked, swinging the cudgel and bringing it down towards the monster's head. The dark fellow turned into a wind to flee in terror, and the Taoist rode off on a cloud; so Monkey was only able to slay the white-robed scholar with a blow from the club. When he dragged the body over to look at it, he saw that it was a white-patterned snake spirit. In his anger he picked the corpse up and tore it to pieces, then went into the recesses of the mountain in search of the dark fellow. Rounding a sharp pinnacle and traversing a dizzy precipice, he saw a cave palace in the cliff:
行者闻得佛衣之言，定以为是他宝贝，他就忍不住怒气，跳出石崖，双手举起金箍棒，高叫道：“我把你这伙贼怪！你偷了我的袈裟，要做甚么佛衣会！趁早儿将来还我！”喝一声“休走！”轮起棒照头一下，慌得那黑汉化风而逃，道人驾云而走，只把个白衣秀士，一棒打死，拖将过来看处，却是一条白花蛇怪。索性提起来，捽做五七断，径入深山，找寻那个黑汉。转过尖峰，抹过峻岭，又见那壁陡崖前，耸出一座洞府，但见那：
Thick, misty clouds,
Dense with cypress and pine.
The thick and misty clouds fill the gates with color;
The dense stands of cypress and pine surround the door with green.
For a bridge there is a dried-out log,
And wild fig coils around the mountain peaks.
Birds carry red petals to the cloud-filled valley;
Deer tread on scented bushes as they climb the stone tower.
Before the gates the season brings out flowers,
As the wind wafts their fragrance.
Around the willows on the dike the golden orioles wheel;
Butterflies flit among the peach-trees on the bank.
This ordinary scene can yet compete
With lesser views in Fairyland.
烟霞渺渺，松柏森森。
烟霞渺渺采盈门，松柏森森青绕户。
桥踏枯槎木，峰巅绕薛萝。
鸟衔红蕊来云壑，鹿践芳丛上石台。
那门前时催花发，风送花香。
临堤绿柳转黄鹂，傍岸夭桃翻粉蝶。
虽然旷野不堪夸，却赛蓬莱山下景。
When he reached the gates Monkey saw that they were very strongly fastened, and above them was a stone tablet inscribed with the words Black Wind Cave of the Black Wind Mountain in large letters. He brandished his cudgel and shouted, “Open up!” at which the junior devil who was on the gates opened them and asked, “Who are you, and how dare you come and attack our Immortals' cave?”
“You damned cur,” Monkey railed at him. “How dare you call a place like this an 'Immortals' cave'? What right have you to use the word 'Immortal'? Go in and tell that dark fellow of yours that if he gives back my cassock at once, I'll spare your lives.”
The junior devil rushed in and reported, “The 'Buddha's Robe Banquet' is off, Your Majesty. There's hairy-faced thunder god outside the gates who's demanding the cassock.”
The dark fellow, who had barely had time to shut the gates and had not even sat down properly since Brother Monkey chased him, away from the grassy slope, thought on hearing this news, “This wretch has come from I don't know where, and now he has the effrontery to come yelling at my gates.” He called for his armour, tightened his belt, and strode out of the gates with a black-tasseled spear in his hands. Monkey appeared outside the gates holding his iron cudgel and glaring wide-eyed at that ferocious-looking monster.
行者到于门首，又见那两扇石门，关得甚紧，门上有一横石板，明书六个大字，乃“黑风山黑风洞”，即便轮棒，叫声“开门！”那里面有把门的小妖，开了门出来，问道：“你是何人，敢来击吾仙洞？”行者骂道：“你个作死的孽畜！甚么个去处，敢称仙洞！仙字是你称的？快进去报与你那黑汉，教他快送老爷的袈裟出来，饶你一窝性命！”小妖急急跑到里面，报道：“大王！佛衣会做不成了！门外有一个毛脸雷公嘴的和尚，来讨袈裟哩！”那黑汉被行者在芳草坡前赶将来，却才关了门，坐还未稳，又听得那话，心中暗想道：“这厮不知是那里来的，这般无礼，他敢嚷上我的门来！”教：“取披挂！”随结束了，绰一杆黑缨枪，走出门来。这行者闪在门外，执着铁棒，睁睛观看，只见那怪果生得凶险：
His bowl-shaped iron helmet shone like fire;
His black bronze armour gleamed.
A black silk gown with billowing sleeves,
A dark green silken sash with fringes.
In his hands a spear with black tassels,
On his feet a pair of dark leather boots.
Lightning flashed from his golden pupils;
He was indeed the Black Wind King of the mountains.
碗子铁盔火漆光，乌金铠甲亮辉煌。
皂罗袍罩风兜袖，黑绿丝绦軃穗长。
手执黑缨枪一杆，足踏乌皮靴一双。
眼幌金睛如掣电，正是山中黑风王。
“This wretch looks as though he's been a brick-burner or a coal-digger,” Monkey thought as he smiled to himself. “He's so black he must be the local soot-painter.”
“What gives you the nerve to act so big round here, monk, and what the hell are you?” shouted the monster at the top of his voice.
Monkey rushed him with his cudgel and roared, “Cut the cackle, and give me back the cassock at once, kid.”
“What monastery d'you come from? Where did you lose the cassock? Why come and ask for it here?”
“My cassock was in the rear abbot's lodgings at the Guanyin Monastery due North of here. When the monastery caught fire you made the most of the confusion to do a bit of looting and brought it back here, you wretch, and now you're planning to hold a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet'. Don't try to brazen it out. Give it back at once, and I'll spare your life, but if even a hint of a 'no' gets past your teeth I'll push the Black Wind Mountain over, trample your cave flat, and flatten every one of you fiends into noodles.”
The monster laughed evilly and replied, “You've got a nerve. You were the one who started the fire last night. You were sitting on the roof of the abbot's lodgings and calling up a wind to make it worse. What's it to you if I did take a cassock? Where are you from? Who are you? You must have a lot of tricks up your sleeve if you have the nerve to talk so big.”
“You can't recognize your own grandfather.” Brother Monkey replied. “I, your grandfather, am the disciple of His Highness the Patriarch Sanzang, the younger brother of the Emperor of the Great Tang. My name is Brother Sun Wukong. If you want to know about my tricks, just give me the word. I'll slaughter you here and now, and send your souls flying.”
“I've never heard of these tricks of yours, so you'd better tell me about them.”
“Stand still and listen to me, my child,” Monkey replied, and went on to say:
行者暗笑道：“这厮真个如烧窑的一般，筑煤的无二！想必是在此处刷炭为生，怎么这等一身乌黑？”那怪厉声高叫道：“你是个甚么和尚，敢在我这里大胆？”行者执铁棒，撞至面前，大咤一声道：“不要闲讲！快还你老外公的袈裟来！”那怪道：“你是那寺里和尚？你的袈裟在那里失落了，敢来我这里索取？”行者道：“我的袈裟，在直北观音院后方丈里放着。只因那院里失了火，你这厮，趁哄掳掠，盗了来，要做佛衣会庆寿，怎敢抵赖？快快还我，饶你性命！若牙迸半个不字，我推倒了黑风山，躧平了黑风洞，把你这一洞妖邪，都碾为齑粉！”那怪闻言，呵呵冷笑道：“你这个泼物！原来昨夜那火就是你放的！你在那方丈屋上，行凶招风，是我把一件袈裟拿来了，你待怎么！你是那里来的？姓甚名谁？有多大手段，敢那等海口浪言！”行者道：“是你也认不得你老外公哩！你老外公乃大唐上国驾前御弟三藏法师之徒弟，姓孙，名悟空行者。若问老孙的手段，说出来教你魂飞魄散，死在眼前！”那怪道：“我不曾会你，有甚么手段，说来我听。”行者笑道：“我儿子，你站稳着，仔细听了！我：
“Great have been my magic powers since childhood;
Changing with the wind, I show my might.
Nourishing my nature and cultivating the truth,
I have lived out the days and months,
Saving my life by jumping beyond the cycle of rebirth.
Once I searched sincerely for the Way
Climbing the Spirit Terrace Mountain to pick medicinal herbs.
On that mountain lives an ancient Immortal
One hundred and eight thousand years old.
I took him as my master,
Hoping that he would show me a road to immortality.
He said that the elixir is in one's own body—
It is a waste of effort to seek it outside.
I learned a great spell of immortality.
I could scarcely have survived without it.
Turning my gaze inwards, I sat and calmed my mind,
While the sun and moon in my body intermingled.
自小神通手段高，随风变化逞英豪。
养性修真熬日月，跳出轮回把命逃。
一点诚心曾访道，灵台山上采药苗。
那山有个老仙长，寿年十万八千高。
老孙拜他为师父，指我长生路一条。
他说身内有丹药，外边采取枉徒劳。
得传大品天仙诀，若无根本实难熬。
回光内照宁心坐，身中日月坎离交。
Ignoring the affairs of the world, I made my desires few,
When senses, body, and mind were purified, my body was firm.
Reversing the years and returning to youth is then easily done;
The road to immortality and sagehood was not long.
In three years I acquired a magic body,
That did not suffer like a common one.
I wandered around the Ten Continents and Three Islands,
The corners of the sea and the edge of the sky.
I was due to live over three hundred years
But could not yet fly up to the Nine Heavens.
I got a real treasure for subduing sea dragons:
An iron cudgel banded with gold.
On the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit
I was supreme commander;
In the Water Curtain Cave
I assembled the fiendish hosts.
The Great Jade Emperor sent me a decree
Conferring high rank and the title 'Equaling Heaven'.
万事不思全寡欲，六根清净体坚牢。
返老还童容易得，超凡入圣路非遥。
三年无漏成仙体，不同俗辈受煎熬。
十洲三岛还游戏，海角天涯转一遭。
活该三百多余岁，不得飞升上九霄。
下海降龙真宝贝，才有金箍棒一条。
花果山前为帅首，水帘洞里聚群妖。
玉皇大帝传宣诏，封我齐天极品高。
More than once I wrecked the Hall of Miraculous Mist,
And stole the Queen Mother's peaches several times.
A hundred thousand heavenly soldiers in serried ranks
Came with spears and swords to put me down.
I sent the heavenly kings back up there in defeat,
Made Nazha flee in pain at the head of his men.
The True Lord Erlang, skilled at transformations,
Lao Zi, Guanyin and the Jade Emperor
Watched me being subdued from the Southern Gate of Heaven.
As he was given some help by Lord Lao Zi,
Erlang captured me and took to Heaven.
I was tied to the Demon-subduing Pillar,
And divine soldiers were ordered to cut off my head.
Though hacked with swords and pounded with hammers
I remained unharmed.
So then I was struck with thunder and burned with fire.
几番大闹灵霄殿，数次曾偷王母桃。
天兵十万来降我，层层密密布枪刀。
战退天王归上界，哪吒负痛领兵逃。
显圣真君能变化，老孙硬赌跌平交。
道祖观音同玉帝，南天门上看降妖。
却被老君助一阵，二郎擒我到天曹。
将身绑在降妖柱，即命神兵把首枭。
刀砍锤敲不得坏，又教雷打火来烧。
As I really do have magic powers,
I was not in the slightest bit afraid.
They took me to Lao Zi's furnace to be refined.
The Six Dings roasted me slowly with divine fire.
When the time was up and the furnace opened, out I jumped,
And rushed round Heaven, my cudgel in my hand.
No one could stop me making trouble everywhere,
And I caused chaos in the thirty-three Heavens.
Then our Tathagata Buddha used his Dharma power
And dropped the Five Elements Mountain on my back.
There I was crushed for full five hundred years,
Until Sanzang came from the land of Tang.
Now I have reformed and am going to the West
To climb the Thunder Peak and see the Buddha.
Enquire throughout the Four Seas, Heaven and Earth:
You'll find that I'm the greatest monster ever.
老孙其实有手段，全然不怕半分毫。
送在老君炉里炼，六丁神火慢煎熬。
日满开炉我跳出，手持铁棒绕天跑。
纵横到处无遮挡，三十三天闹一遭。
我佛如来施法力，五行山压老孙腰。
整整压该五百载，幸逢三藏出唐朝。
吾今皈正西方去，转上雷音见玉毫。
你去乾坤四海问一问，我是历代驰名第一妖！”
On hearing this the fiend laughed and said, “So you're the Protector of the Horses who wrecked Heaven, are you?”
Monkey, who got angrier at being addressed by this title than at anything else, was furious. “You vicious monster. You steal the cassock and refuse to give it back, and on top of that you insult your lord and master. Just hold it, and see how you like my club.” The dark fellow dodged the blow and then riposted with his spear. The pair of them fought a fine battle.
那怪闻言笑道：“你原来是那闹天宫的弼马温么？”行者最恼的是人叫他弼马温，听见这一声，心中大怒，骂道：“你这贼怪！偷了袈裟不还，倒伤老爷！不要走！看棍！”那黑汉侧身躲过，绰长枪，劈手来迎。两家这场好杀：
An As-You-Will cudgel,
A black-tasseled spear,
And two men showing their toughness at the mouth of a cave.
One stabs at heart and face,
The other tries for arm and head.
This one strikes cunning sideswipes with a club,
That one brandishes his spear in three swift movements.
The white tiger climbs the mountain to sink in his claws;
The yellow dragon lying on the road turns round fast.
Snorting out coloured mists,
Disgorging rays of light,
The two immortal fiends are hard to choose between:
One is the Sage Equaling Heaven who has cultivated the truth;
The other is the Great Black King become a spirit.
On this battlefield in the mountains
The pair of them fight for the cassock.
分心劈脸刺，着臂照头伤。
这个横丢阴棍手，那个直拈急三枪。
白虎爬山来探爪，黄龙卧道转身忙。
喷彩雾，吐毫光，两个妖仙不可量：
一个是修正齐天圣，一个是成精黑大王。
这场山里相争处，只为袈裟各不良。
The fiend fought some ten inconclusive rounds with Monkey, and as the sun was now rising steadily towards the zenith, the dark fellow raised his halberd to block the iron cudgel and said, “Brother Monkey, let's lay down our arms. I'll come back and fight you again after I've eaten.”
“You accursed beast,” Monkey replied, “how can you call yourself a real man? If you were, you wouldn't be needing to eat after only half a day. I never even tasted water once in those five hundred years I spent under the mountain, but I wasn't hungry. Stop making excuses, and don't go. I'll let you have your meal if you give me back my cassock.” The fiend waved his halberd in a feint, withdrew into the cave, and shut the doors fast behind him. Summoning his junior goblins, he ordered that a banquet be spread and wrote invitations asking all the devil kings of the mountain to come to the celebratory feast.
那怪与行者斗了十数回合，不分胜负。渐渐红日当午，那黑汉举枪架住铁棒道：“孙行者，我两个且收兵，等我进了膳来，再与你赌斗。”行者道：“你这个孽畜，教做汉子？好汉子，半日儿就要吃饭？似老孙在山根下，整压了五百余年，也未曾尝些汤水，那里便饿哩？莫推故，休走！还我袈裟来，方让你去吃饭！”那怪虚幌一枪，撤身入洞，关了石门，收回小怪，且安排筵宴，书写请帖，邀请各山魔王庆会不题。
Monkey charged the gates but was unable to force them open, so he had to go back to the Guanyin Monastery, where the monks had buried the old patriarch and were now all in attendance on the Tang Priest in the abbot's quarters. Breakfast was over, and lunch was being brought in. Just as they were bringing soup and more hot water, Monkey descended from the sky. The monks all bowed low and took him into the abbot's room to see Sanzang.
“Ah, you're back, Wukong,” he said. “What about the cassock?”
“I've found the answer. We misjudged these monks. It was in fact stolen by a fiend from the Black Wind Mountain. I went to have a quiet look for him and found him sitting in front of grassy slope talking to a white-gowned scholar and an old Taoist. He's a self-confessed monster, and he said with his own mouth that he was inviting all the evil spirits to come and celebrate his birthday tomorrow, and that as he had come by a brocade Buddha's robe last night he wanted to celebrate that too, so he was going to give a great feast that he called an 'Assembly for the Celebration and Admiration of the Buddha's Robe'. I rushed him and took a swipe at him with my club, but the dark fellow turned into a puff of wind and fled. The Taoist disappeared too, and I was only able to kill the white-clad scholar, who was a white snake turned spirit. I went to the mouth of his cave as fast as I could and told him to come out and fight me. He admitted that he had carried it off. We fought for half a day without either of us winning, and then the monster went back to his cave for lunch and shut the stone gates behind him. He was too scared to come out again, so I came back to give you this news, master. Now we know where the cassock is, there's no need to worry that he won't give it back.”
On hearing this, the monks put their hands together or kowtowed as they invoked Amitabha Buddha and exclaimed, “He's found where it is—we're saved.”
“Don't be so happy about it,” Monkey warned, “I haven't got it yet, and my master hasn't left your monastery yet. You'll have to wait till I've recovered the cassock and my master has been seen off properly from here before you can consider yourselves safe. And if there is the slightest mistake, remember that I'm a very quick-tempered boss. Have you given my master the best food and tea? Have you given my horse the best fodder?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” the monks hastened to assure him. “We haven't been remiss in any way while looking after his Reverence.”
却说行者攻门不开，也只得回观音院。那本寺僧人已葬埋了那老和尚，都在方丈里伏侍唐僧。早斋已毕，又摆上午斋，正那里添汤换水，只见行者从空降下，众僧礼拜，接入方丈，见了三藏。三藏道：“悟空你来了，袈裟如何？”行者道：“已有了根由。早是不曾冤了这些和尚，原来是那黑风山妖怪偷了。老孙去暗暗的寻他，只见他与一个白衣秀士，一个老道人，坐在那芳草坡前讲话。也是个不打自招的怪物，他忽然说出道：后日是他母难之日，邀请诸邪来做生日，夜来得了一件锦襕佛衣，要以此为寿，作一大宴，唤做庆赏佛衣会。是老孙抢到面前，打了一棍，那黑汉化风而走。道人也不见了，只把个白衣秀士打死，乃是一条白花蛇成精。我又急急赶到他洞口，叫他出来与他赌斗。他已承认了，是他拿回。战彀这半日，不分胜负。那怪回洞，却要吃饭，关了石门，惧战不出。老孙却来回看师父，先报此信，已是有了袈裟的下落，不怕他不还我。”众僧闻言，合掌的合掌，磕头的磕头，都念声“南无阿弥陀佛！今日寻着下落，我等方有了性命矣！”行者道：“你且休喜欢畅快，我还未曾到手，师父还未曾出门哩。只等有了袈裟，打发得我师父好好的出门，才是你们的安乐处；若稍有些须不虞，老孙可是好惹的主子！可曾有好茶饭与我师父吃？可曾有好草料喂马？”众僧俱满口答应道：“有！有！有！更不曾一毫有怠慢了老爷。”
“While you were away all morning I've drunk tea three times and eaten twice, and they have not been at all offhand with me,” Sanzang explained. “You'd better go back and do everything possible to recover that cassock.”
三藏道：“自你去了这半日，我已吃过了三次茶汤，两餐斋供了，他俱不曾敢慢我。但只是你还尽心竭力去寻取袈裟回来。”
“Don't be in such a hurry,” Monkey replied. “I know where it is, and I guarantee that I'll capture this wretch and return the cassock to you. There's no need to worry.”
行者道：“莫忙！既有下落，管情拿住这厮，还你原物。放心，放心！”
As he was talking the senior abbot came in, set out the vegetarian meal, and invited Lord Monkey to eat. After swallowing a few mouthfuls Monkey mounted his magic cloud once more and went off on his hunt. On his way he saw a junior goblin going along the main path with a rosewood box under his left arm. Guessing that there must be some kind of letter in the box Monkey raised his cudgel and brought it down on his head. The blow did not just kill the goblin: it left him looking like a hamburger. Throwing his remains aside, Brother Monkey wrenched open the box and saw that it contained an invitation:
Your pupil Bear presents his humble greetings to Your Excellency, the Supreme and Venerable One of the Golden Pool:
I am deeply grateful for the magnificent kindness that I have so frequently received from you. When I saw the fire last night I failed to put it out, but I am sure that your divine intelligence will have suffered no harm from it. As your pupil has been lucky enough to obtain a Buddha's robe, I am giving a banquet, to which I hope you will come to appreciate the robe. I would be profoundly grateful if you would honour me with your presence at the appointed time. Written two days beforehand.
On reading this, Monkey roared with laughter and said, “That crooked old monk. He thoroughly deserved to be killed. He'd been ganging up with evil spirits, had he? It's odd that he should have lived to be two hundred and seventy. I suppose that evil spirit must have taught him a few tricks about controlling his vital essence, which was why he lived so long. I can remember what he looked like, so I think I'll make myself look like him and go into that cave. This way I can see where he's put that cassock, and if I'm lucky I'll be able to get back and save a lot of trouble.
正说处，那上房院主，又整治素供，请孙老爷吃斋。行者却吃了些须，复驾祥云，又去找寻。正行间，只见一个小怪，左胁下夹着一个花梨木匣儿，从大路而来。行者度他匣内必有甚么柬札，举起棒，劈头一下，可怜不禁打，就打得似个肉饼一般，却拖在路旁，揭开匣儿观看，果然是一封请帖。帖上写着：“侍生熊罴顿首拜，启上大阐金池老上人丹房：屡承佳惠，感激渊深。夜观回禄之难，有失救护，谅仙机必无他害。生偶得佛衣一件，欲作雅会，谨具花酌，奉扳清赏。至期，千乞仙驾过临一叙。是荷。先二日具。”行者见了，呵呵大笑道：“那个老剥皮，死得他一毫儿也不亏！他原来与妖精结党！怪道他也活了二百七十岁。想是那个妖精，传他些甚么服气的小法儿，故有此寿。老孙还记得他的模样，等我就变做那和尚，往他洞里走走，看我那袈裟放在何处。假若得手，即便拿回，却也省力。”
The splendid Great Sage recited a spell, faced the wind, and made himself look just like the old monk. He hid his cudgel, walked straight to the entrance of the cave, and shouted, “Open up.”
The junior goblin opened up, and as soon as he saw him he rushed back to report, “Your Majesty, the Elder of the Golden Pool is here.” The monster was astounded.
好大圣，念动咒语，迎着风一变，果然就象那老和尚一般，藏了铁棒，拽开步，径来洞口，叫声开门。那小妖开了门，见是这般模样，急转身报道：“大王，金池长老来了。”那怪大惊道：
“I've only just sent a youngster with an invitation for him, and the message can't have reached him yet. How could he possibly have got here so fast? The youngster can't even have met him. Obviously Brother Monkey has sent him here to ask for the cassock. Steward, hide that cassock somewhere where he won't see it.”
As he came to the front gates Monkey saw that the courtyard was green with bamboo and cypress, while peach and plum trees vied in beauty amid blossoming shrubs and fragrant orchids. It was a cave paradise. He also saw a couplet inscribed on the gates that read:
In peaceful retirement deep in the hills, one is free of vulgar worries;
Dwelling quietly in a magic cave, happy in divine simplicity.
“This wretch has escaped from the dirt and dust of the world,” thought Monkey, “and is a fiend who understands life.” Going through the gates he went further inside and passed through a triple gate. Here were carved and painted beams, light windows and coloured doors. He saw that the dark fellow was wearing a dark green silken tunic over which was slung a black patterned silk cloak; on his head was a soft black hat, and on his feet a pair of dusky deerskin boots.
When he saw Monkey approaching he straightened his clothes and came down the steps to greet him with the words, “I've been looking forward to seeing you for days, Golden Pool. Please take a seat.” Monkey returned his courtesies, and when they had finished greeting each other they sat down and drank tea. Then the evil spirit bowed and said, “I sent you a note just now asking you to come over the day after tomorrow. Why is it that you've come to see me today, old friend?”
“刚才差了小的去下简帖请他，这时候还未到那里哩，如何他就来得这等迅速？想是小的不曾撞着他，断是孙行者呼他来讨袈裟的。管事的，可把佛衣藏了，莫教他看见。”行者进了前门，但见那天井中，松篁交翠，桃李争妍，丛丛花发，簇簇兰香，却也是个洞天之处。又见那二门上有一联对子，写着：“静隐深山无俗虑，幽居仙洞乐天真。”行者暗道：“这厮也是个脱垢离尘、知命的怪物。”入门里，往前又进，到于三层门里，都是些画栋雕梁，明窗彩户。只见那黑汉子，穿的是黑绿纻丝袢袄，罩一领鸦青花绫披风，戴一顶乌角软巾，穿一双麂皮皂靴，见行者进来，整顿衣巾，降阶迎接道：“金池老友，连日欠亲。请坐，请坐。”行者以礼相见，见毕而坐，坐定而茶。茶罢，妖精欠身道：“适有小简奉启，后日一叙，何老友今日就下顾也？”
“I was on my way here to visit you when I happened to see your message that you were giving a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet,' so I hurried over to ask you to let me have a look.”
“You've misunderstood, old friend,” replied the evil monster with a smile. “It's the Tang Priest's cassock, and as he's been staying at your place you must have seen it there. Why come here to see it?”
“When I borrowed it,” Monkey said, “it was too late at night for me to be able to look at it. Since then, to my great surprise, it has been taken by Your Majesty. On top of that, the monastery has been burnt down and I have lost everything I own. That disciple of the Tang Priest's is quite a bold fellow, but he could not find it anywhere. I have come here to look at it as Your Majesty has had the great good fortune to recover it.”
行者道：“正来进拜，不期路遇华翰，见有佛衣雅会，故此急急奔来，愿求见见。”那怪笑道：“老友差矣。这袈裟本是唐僧的，他在你处住札，你岂不曾看见，反来就我看看？”行者道：“贫僧借来，因夜晚还不曾展看，不期被大王取来，又被火烧了荒山，失落了家私。那唐僧的徒弟，又有些骁勇，乱忙中，四下里都寻觅不见。原来是大王的洪福收来，故特来一见。”
As they were talking, a junior goblin came in from patrolling the mountain to announce, “Your Majesty, a terrible thing's happened. Brother Monkey has killed the lieutenant who is taking the invitation by the main path, and taken the chance of making himself look like the Elder of the Golden Pool to come here and trick the Buddha's robe out of you.”
“I wondered why the elder came today,” the monster thought, “and why he came so soon, and now I see that it's really him.” He leapt to his feet, grabbed his halberd, and thrust at Monkey. Monkey pulled the cudgel from his ear in a flash, reverted to his true form, parried the halberd's blade, jumped out from the main room into the courtyard, and fought his way back out through the front gates. This terrified all the fiends in the cave, scaring the wits out of young and old alike. The fine combat on the mountain that ensued was even better than the previous one.
正讲处，只见有一个巡山的小妖来报道：“大王！祸事了！下请书的小校，被孙行者打死在大路旁边，他绰着经儿变化做金池长老，来骗佛衣也！”那怪闻言，暗道：“我说那长老怎么今日就来，又来得迅速，果然是他！”急纵身，拿过枪来，就刺行者。行者耳朵里急掣出棍子，现了本相，架住枪尖，就在他那中厅里跳出，自天井中，斗到前门外，唬得那洞里群魔都丧胆，家间老幼尽无魂。这场在山头好赌斗，比前番更是不同。好杀：
The courageous Monkey King was now a monk,
The cunning dark fellow had hidden the Buddha's robe.
At matching words they were both masters;
In making the most of chances there was nothing between them.
The cassock could not be seen, whatever one wished;
A hidden treasure is a true wonder.
When the junior demon on mountain patrol announced a disaster,
The old fiend in his fury showed his might.
Monkey transformed himself and fought his way out of the cave,
As halberd and cudgel strove to decide the issue.
The club blocked the lengthy halberd with resounding clangs;
The halberd gleamed as it parried the iron club.
Sun Wukong's transformations were rare on earth;
Few could rival the foul fiend's magic.
One wanted to take the robe to bring himself long life;
One had to have the cassock to return with honour.
This bitter struggle was not to be broken up;
Even a Living Buddha could not have resolved it.
那猴王胆大充和尚，这黑汉心灵隐佛衣。
语去言来机会巧，随机应变不差池。
袈裟欲见无由见，宝贝玄微真妙微。
小怪寻山言祸事，老妖发怒显神威。
翻身打出黑风洞，枪棒争持辨是非。
棒架长枪声响亮，枪迎铁棒放光辉。
悟空变化人间少，妖怪神通世上稀。
这个要把佛衣来庆寿，那个不得袈裟肯善归？
这番苦战难分手，就是活佛临凡也解不得围。
From the mouth of the cave the pair of them fought to the top of the mountain, and from the top of the mountain they battled their way beyond the clouds. They breathed out wind and mist, set sand and stones flying, and struggled till the red sun set in the West, but the contest was still undecided. Then the monster said, “Stop for the moment, Monkey. It's too late to go on fighting tonight. Go away, go away. Come back tomorrow, and we'll see which of us is to live and which to die.”
“Don't go, my child,” Monkey shouted back. “If you want to fight, fight properly. Don't use the time of day as an excuse to get out of it.” With that he struck wildly at the dark fellow, who changed himself into a puff of wind, went back to his cave, and fastened the stone gates tightly shut.
他两个从洞口打上山头，自山头杀在云外，吐雾喷风，飞砂走石，只斗到红日沉西，不分胜败。那怪道：“姓孙的，你且住了手。今日天晚，不好相持。你去，你去！待明早来，与你定个死活。”行者叫道：“儿子莫走！要战便象个战的，不可以天晚相推。”看他没头没脸的，只情使棍子打来，这黑汉又化阵清风，转回本洞，紧闭石门不出。
Monkey could think of no alternative to going back to the Guanyin Monastery. Bringing his cloud down, he called to his master, who had been waiting for him anxiously until he appeared suddenly before his eyes. Sanzang was very glad, until seeing that there was no cassock in Monkey's hands his happiness turned to fear. “Why haven't you got the cassock this time either?” he asked.
行者却无计策奈何，只得也回观音院里，按落云头，道声“师父”。那三藏眼儿巴巴的，正望他哩，忽见到了面前，甚喜；又见他手里没有袈裟，又惧。问道：“怎么这番还不曾有袈裟来？”
Brother Monkey produced the invitation from his sleeve, and as he handed it to Sanzang he said, “Master, that fiend was friends with that dead crook. He sent a junior goblin with this invitation asking him to go to a 'Buddha's Robe Banquet'. I killed the goblin, made myself look like the old monk, went into the cave, and tricked a cup of tea out of them. I asked him to let me see the cassock, but he wouldn't bring it out. Then as we were sitting there a mountain patrolman of some sort gave the game away, so he started to fight me. We fought till just now, and neither of us was on top, when he saw that it was late, shot back to his cave and shut the stone doors behind him. This meant that I had to come back for the moment.”
“How do your tricks compare with his?” Sanzang asked.
“I'm not much better than him,” Monkey replied, “and I can only keep my end up.” Sanzang read the invitation and handed it to the prelate.
“Can it be that your Patriarch was an evil spirit?” he said.
The prelate fell to knees as fast as he could and said, “My lord, he was human. But because that Great Black King was cultivating the ways of humanity he often came to our temple to discuss the scriptures with our Patriarch, and taught him some of the arts of nourishing the divine and controlling the vital essence. That was why they were on friendly terms.”
“None of these monks have anything satanic about them,” Monkey said. “They all have their heads in the air and their feet on the ground, and are taller and fatter than I am. They're not evil spirits. Do you see where it says 'Your pupil Bear' on the invitation? He must be a black bear who has become a spirit.”
To this Sanzang said, “There's an old saying that 'Bears and baboons are alike'. If they are all animals, how can they become spirits?” Monkey laughed and replied, “I'm an animal too, but I became the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. I'm just the same as him. All the creatures on heaven and earth that have nine openings to their bodies can cultivate their conduct and become Immortals.”
行者袖中取出个简帖儿来，递与三藏道：“师父，那怪物与这死的老剥皮，原是朋友。他着一个小妖送此帖来，还请他去赴佛衣会。是老孙就把那小妖打死，变做那老和尚，进他洞去，骗了一钟茶吃，欲问他讨袈裟看看，他不肯拿出。正坐间，忽被一个甚么巡山的，走了风信，他就与我打将起来。只斗到这早晚，不分上下。他见天晚，闪回洞去，紧闭石门。老孙无奈，也暂回来。”三藏道：“你手段比他何如？”行者道：“我也硬不多儿，只战个手平。”三藏才看了简帖，又递与那院主道：“你师父敢莫也是妖精么？”那院主慌忙跪下道：“老爷，我师父是人。只因那黑大王修成人道，常来寺里与我师父讲经，他传了我师父些养神服气之术，故以朋友相称。”行者道：“这伙和尚没甚妖气，他一个个头圆顶天，足方履地，但比老孙肥胖长大些儿，非妖精也。你看那帖儿上写着侍生熊罴，此物必定是个黑熊成精。”三藏道：“我闻得古人云，熊与猩猩相类，都是兽类，他却怎么成精？”行者笑道：“老孙是兽类，见做了齐天大圣，与他何异？大抵世间之物，凡有九窍者，皆可以修行成仙。”
“Just now you said his abilities were the same as yours, so how are you going to beat him and get the cassock back?” Sanzang went on to ask. “Don't worry, don't worry,” Monkey replied, “I can manage.”
三藏又道：“你才说他本事与你手平，你却怎生得胜，取我袈裟回来？”行者道：“莫管，莫管，我有处治。”
As they were talking, the monks brought their evening meal and invited them to eat. The Sanzang asked for a lamp and went to bed in the front meditation hall as before. The monks all slept under thatched shelters rigged up against the walls, leaving the abbot's quarters at the back for the senior and junior prelate. It was a peaceful night.
正商议间，众僧摆上晚斋，请他师徒们吃了。三藏教掌灯，仍去前面禅堂安歇。众僧都挨墙倚壁，苫搭窝棚，各各睡下，只把个后方丈让与那上下院主安身。此时夜静，但见：
The Milky Way was clear,
The jade firmament free of dust.
The sky was full of coruscating stars,
A single wave wiped out the traces.
Stilled were all sounds,
And the birds were silent on a thousand hills.
The fisherman's light beside the bank was out,
The Buddha-lamp in the pagoda dimmed.
Last night the abbot's bell and drum had sounded;
This evening the air was filled with weeping.
银河现影，玉宇无尘。
满天星灿烂，一水浪收痕。
万籁声宁，千山鸟绝。
溪边渔火息，塔上佛灯昏。
昨夜阇黎钟鼓响，今宵一遍哭声闻。
This night he spent asleep in the monastery. Sanzang, however, could not sleep for thinking about the cassock. He turned over, and seeing that the sky was growing light outside the window, got straight out of bed and said, “Monkey, it's light, go and get the cassock.” Brother Monkey bounded out of bed, and in an instant a host of monks was in attendance, offering hot water.
“Look after my master properly,” he said. “I'm off.”
Sanzang got out of bed and seized hold of him. “Where are you going?” he asked.
“I've been thinking,” said Monkey, “that this whole business is the Bodhisattva Guanyin's fault. Although this is her monastery and she receives the worship of all these monks, she allows that evil spirit to live in the neighbourhood. I'm going to the Southern Sea to find her and ask her to come here herself to make that evil spirit give us back the cassock.”
“When will you come back?” Sanzang asked.
“After you've finished breakfast at the earliest, and by midday at latest, I'll have done the job. Those monks had better look after you well. I'm off now.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he had disappeared without a trace and reached the Southern Sea. Stopping his cloud to take a look, he saw:
是夜在禅堂歇宿。那三藏想着袈裟，那里得稳睡？忽翻身见窗外透白，急起叫道：“悟空，天明了，快寻袈裟去。”行者一骨鲁跳将起来，早见众僧侍立，供奉汤水，行者道：“你等用心伏侍我师父，老孙去也。”三藏下床扯住道：“你往那里去？”行者道“我想这桩事都是观音菩萨没理，他有这个禅院在此，受了这里人家香火，又容那妖精邻住。我去南海寻他，与他讲一讲，教他亲来问妖精讨袈裟还我。”三藏道：“你这去，几时回来？”行者道：“时少只在饭罢，时多只在晌午就成功了。那些和尚，可好伏侍，老孙去也。”说声去，早已无踪。须臾间，到了南海，停云观看，但见那：
A vast expanse of ocean,
Waters stretching till they joined the sky.
Propitious light filled the firmament,
Auspicious vapours shone over mountains and rivers.
A thousand snow-capped breakers roared at the azure vault,
A myriad misty waves reared at the sky.
Water flew in all directions,
Torrents poured everywhere.
As the water flew in all directions it echoed like thunder;
As the torrents poured everywhere they crashed and roared.
Let us leave the sea,
And consider what lay in it:
A precious mountain in many a misty color—
Red, yellow, purple, black, green, and blue.
Then did he see the beautiful land of Guanyin,
Potaraka Island in the Southern Sea.
汪洋海远，水势连天。
祥光笼宇宙，瑞气照山川。
千层雪浪吼青霄，万迭烟波滔白昼。
水飞四野，浪滚周遭。
水飞四野振轰雷，浪滚周遭鸣霹雳。
休言水势，且看中间。
五色朦胧宝迭山，红黄紫皂绿和蓝。
才见观音真胜境，试看南海落伽山。
What a wonderful place to go—
Towering peaks
Cutting through the sky,
With a thousand kinds of exotic flowers below them,
And every type of magical herb.
The wind shook priceless trees,
The sun shone on golden lotus.
Guanyin's palace was roofed with glazed tiles,
The gates of the Tide Cave were set with tortoise shell.
In the shade of green willows parrots talked,
While peacocks called amid purple bamboo.
On the marbled stone
The protecting gods are majestically severe; .
Before the agate strand
Stands the mighty Moksa.
好去处！山峰高耸，顶透虚空。
中间有千样奇花，百般瑞草。
风摇宝树，日映金莲。
观音殿瓦盖琉璃，潮音洞门铺玳瑁。
绿杨影里语鹦哥，紫竹林中啼孔雀。
罗纹石上，护法威严；
玛瑙滩前，木叉雄壮。
Not pausing to take in the whole of this exotic scene, Monkey brought his cloud straight down to land under the bamboo grove. A number of devas were already there to meet him, and they said, “The Bodhisattva told us some time ago that you had been converted, Great Sage, and praised you very warmly. But if you are now protecting the Tang Priest, how have you found the time to come here?”
“Because something has happened while I've been escorting him on his journey. Please go and tell the Bodhisattva that I'd like an audience with her.” When the devas went into the cave to report this, Guanyin summoned him inside. Monkey did as he was told and bowed to her beneath the lotus throne.
“What have you come for?” the Bodhisattva asked.
“My master's journey has brought him to a monastery of yours,” Monkey replied, “and I find that although you accept incense from its monks, you allow a black bear spirit to live in the neighbourhood, and have let him steal my master's cassock. I've tried to take it off him a number of times but got nowhere, so now I've come to ask you to demand it from him.”
“What nonsense, you ape,” the Bodhisattva retorted. “Even if a bear spirit has stolen your cassock, what business have you to ask me to go and demand it for you? It all happened because you wanted to show it off, you big-headed and evil baboon, in front of petty-minded people. On top of that, in your wickedness you called up the wind to spread the fire that burnt down my monastery. And now you have the nerve to try your tricks here.”
These words from the Bodhisattva made Monkey realize that she knew all about the past and the future, so he hastily bowed down in reverence and pleaded, “Bodhisattva, forgive your disciple his sins, everything you say is true. All the same, my master will recite that spell again because that monster won't give back the cassock, and I couldn't bear the agonizing headache. That's why I came to bother you, Bodhisattva. I beg you in your mercy to help me catch that evil spirit, get the cassock back, and carry on towards the West.”
“That monster's magical powers are certainly no weaker than yours,” the Bodhisattva said. “Very well then, out of consideration for the Tang Priest I'll go there with you.” Monkey thanked her and bowed again, asked her to come out, and rode on the same magic cloud as her. In next to no time they reached the Black Wind Mountain, where they landed the cloud and headed for the cave on foot.
这行者观不尽那异景非常，径直按云头，到竹林之下。早有诸天迎接道：“菩萨前者对众言大圣归善，甚是宣扬。今保唐僧，如何得暇到此？”行者道：“因保唐僧，路逢一事，特见菩萨，烦为通报。”诸天遂来洞口报知。菩萨唤入，行者遵法而行，至宝莲台下拜了。菩萨问曰：“你来何干？”行者道：“我师父路遇你的禅院，你受了人间香火，容一个黑熊精在那里邻住，着他偷了我师父袈裟，屡次取讨不与，今特来问你要的。”菩萨道：“这猴子说话，这等无状！既是熊精偷了你的袈裟，你怎来问我取讨？都是你这个孽猴大胆，将宝贝卖弄，拿与小人看见，你却又行凶，唤风发火，烧了我的留云下院，反来我处放刁！”行者见菩萨说出这话，知他晓得过去未来之事，慌忙礼拜道：“菩萨，乞恕弟子之罪，果是这般这等。但恨那怪物不肯与我袈裟，师父又要念那话儿咒语，老孙忍不得头疼，故此来拜烦菩萨。望菩萨慈悲之心，助我去拿那妖精，取衣西进也。”菩萨道：“那怪物有许多神通，却也不亚于你。也罢，我看唐僧面上，和你去走一遭。”行者闻言，谢恩再拜。即请菩萨出门，遂同驾祥云，早到黑风山，坠落云头，依路找洞。
As they were on their way, a Taoist priest appeared on the mountain slope. He was carrying a glass salver on which were two pills of the elixir of immortality. Monkey was immediately suspicious of him, so he struck straight at his head with the iron cudgel, sending blood splattering out from brain and chest.
正行处，只见那山坡前，走出一个道人，手拿着一个玻璃盘儿，盘内安着两粒仙丹，往前正走，被行者撞个满怀，掣出棒，就照头一下，打得脑里浆流出，腔中血进撺。菩萨大惊道：
“Are you still as wild as this, you ape?” the shocked Bodhisattva asked. “He didn't steal your cassock, you didn't even know him, and he was no enemy of yours. Why kill him?”
“You may not know him, Bodhisattva,” Monkey replied, “but he was a friend of the Black Bear Spirit. Yesterday they and a white-clad scholar were sitting talking in front of the grassy mountainside. Today is the Black Spirit's birthday, and tomorrow he was coming to the 'Buddha's Robe Banquet'. That's why I recognized him. I'm sure that he was coming to greet that monster on his birthday.”
“If that's the way it is, very well then,” said the Bodhisattva. Monkey then went to lift up the Taoist to take a look at him, and he saw that he had been a grey wolf. There was an inscription under the glass salver that lay beside him. It read, “Made by Master Emptiness-reached” .
Brother Monkey laughed and sand, “What luck, what luck. This helps me and will save you trouble too, Bodhisattva. This monster has confessed of his own free will, and the other monster there can be finished off today.”
“你这个猴子，还是这等放泼！他又不曾偷你袈裟，又不与你相识，又无甚冤仇，你怎么就将他打死？”行者道：“菩萨，你认他不得。他是那黑熊精的朋友。他昨日和一个白衣秀士，都在芳草坡前坐讲。后日是黑精的生日，请他们来庆佛衣会。今日他先来拜寿，明日来庆佛衣会，所以我认得，定是今日替那妖去上寿。”菩萨说：“既是这等说来，也罢。”行者才去把那道人提起来看，却是一只苍狼。旁边那个盘儿底下却有字，刻道：凌虚子制。行者见了，笑道：“造化！造化！”老孙也是便益，菩萨也是省力。这怪叫做不打自招，那怪教他今日了劣。”菩萨说道：
“What do you mean?” the Bodhisattva asked.
“I have a saying,” he replied, “that goes 'beat him at his own game'. Are you willing to let me do things my way?”
“Tell me about it,” the Bodhisattva said.
“悟空，这教怎么说？”行者道：“菩萨，我悟空有一句话儿，叫做将计就计，不知菩萨可肯依我？”菩萨道：“你说。”
“The two pills of immortality you see on that salver will be the present we take to visit him with,” said Monkey, “and the words inscribed underneath—'Made by Master Emptiness-reached'—are the bait we'll set for him. If you do as I say, I have a plan for you that does not call for force or fighting. The fiend will collapse before our eyes, and the cassock will appear. If you won't let me have my way, then you go West, I'll go East, we can say good-bye to the Buddha's robe, and Sanzang will be up the creek.”
“You've got a cheek, you ape,” replied the Bodhisattva with a smile.
“No, no, I really have got a plan,” Monkey protested.
行者说道：“菩萨，你看这盘儿中是两粒仙丹，便是我们与那妖魔的贽见；这盘儿后面刻的四个字，说凌虚子制，便是我们与那妖魔的勾头。菩萨若要依得我时，我好替你作个计较，也就不须动得干戈，也不须劳得征战，妖魔眼下遭瘟，佛衣眼下出现；菩萨要不依我时，菩萨往西，我悟空往东，佛衣只当相送，唐三藏只当落空。”菩萨笑道：“这猴熟嘴！”行者道：“不敢，倒是一个计较。”
“Tell me about it then,” said Guanyin.
“You know it says on the salver, 'Made by Master Emptiness-reached,' Well, Master Emptiness-reached must be his name. Bodhisattva, if you're prepared to let me have my way, then change yourself into that Taoist. I shall eat one of those pills and then change myself into a pill, though I'll be a bit on the big side. You are to take the tray with the two pills on it and go to wish the fiend many happy returns. Give him the bigger of the pills, and when he's swallowed me, I'll take over inside him. If he doesn't hand the cassock over then, I'll weave a substitute out of his guts.”
菩萨说：“你这计较怎说？”行者道：这盘上刻那凌虚子制，想这道人就叫做凌虚子。菩萨，你要依我时，可就变做这个道人，我把这丹吃了一粒，变上一粒，略大些儿。菩萨你就捧了这个盘儿两颗仙丹，去与那妖上寿，把这丸大些的让与那妖。待那妖一口吞之，老孙便于中取事，他若不肯献出佛衣，老孙将他肚肠，就也织将一件出来。”
The Bodhisattva could only nod her agreement.
“What about it then?” said the laughing Monkey, and at this the Bodhisattva in her great mercy used her unbounded divine power and her infinite capacity for transformation to control her will with her heart and her body with her will—in an instant she turned into Master Emptiness-reached.
The wind of immortality blew around his gown,
As he hovered, about to rise to emptiness.
His dark features were as ancient as a cypress,
His elegant expression unmatched in time.
Going and yet staying nowhere,
Similar but unique.
In the last resort all comes down to a single law,
From which he is only separated by an evil body.
“Great, great,” exclaimed Brother Monkey at the sight. “Are you a Bodhisattva disguised as an evil spirit, or a Bodhisattva who really is an evil spirit?”
“Monkey,” she replied with a laugh, “evil spirit and Bodhisattva are all the same in the last analysis—they both belong to non-being.” Suddenly enlightened by this, Monkey curled up and turned himself into a pill of immortality:
Rolling across the plate but not unstable,
Round and bright without any corners.
The double three was compounded by Ge Hong,
The double six was worked out by Shao Weng.
Pebbles of golden flame,
Pearls that shone in the daylight.
On the outside were lead and mercury,
But I cannot reveal the formula.
The pill he changed himself into was indeed a little larger than the other one. The Bodhisattva noted this and went with the glass salver to the entrance of the fiend's cave. Here she saw
Towering crags and lofty precipices,
Where clouds grow on the peaks;
Blue cypresses and green pines
Where the wind soughs in the forest.
On towering crags and lofty precipices
The devils come and go, and few men live.
The blue cypresses and green pines
Inspire Immortals to cultivate the hidden Way.
The mountains have gullies,
The gullies have springs,
Whose gurgling waters sing like a guitar,
Refreshing the ear.
Deer on its banks,
Cranes in the woods,
Where the reticent Immortal's pipe is casually played
To delight the heart.
Here an evil spirit can attain enlightenment,
And the boundless vow of the Buddha extends its mercy.
When the Bodhisattva saw this she thought, “If the beast has chosen this cave, there must be some hope for him.” And from then on she felt compassion for him.
菩萨没法，只得也点点头儿。行者笑道：“如何？”尔时菩萨乃以广大慈悲，无边法力，亿万化身，以心会意，以意会身，恍惚之间，变作凌虚仙子：鹤氅仙风飒，飘飖欲步虚。苍颜松柏老，秀色古今无。去去还无住，如如自有殊。总来归一法，只是隔邪躯。行者看道：“妙啊！妙啊！还是妖精菩萨，还是菩萨妖精？”菩萨笑道：“悟空，菩萨妖精，总是一念。若论本来，皆属无有。”行者心下顿悟，转身却就变做一粒仙丹：走盘无不定，圆明未有方。三三勾漏合，六六少翁商。瓦铄黄金焰，牟尼白昼光。外边铅与汞，未许易论量。行者变了那颗丹，终是略大些儿。菩萨认定，拿了那个玻璃盘儿，径到妖洞门口看时，果然是：崖深岫险，云生岭上；柏苍松翠，风飒林间。崖深岫险，果是妖邪出没人烟少；柏苍松翠，也可仙真修隐道情多。山有涧，涧有泉，潺潺流水咽鸣琴，便堪洗耳；崖有鹿，林有鹤，幽幽仙籁动间岑，亦可赏心。这是妖仙有分降菩提，弘誓无边垂恻隐。菩萨看了，心中暗喜道：“这孽畜占了这座山洞，却是也有些道分。”因此心中已是有个慈悲。
When she reached the entrance of the cave, the junior goblins at the gates greeted her with the words, “Welcome, Immortal Elder Emptiness-reached.” As some of them ran in to announce her, the monster came out of the gates to meet her and say, “Master Emptiness-reached, how good of you to put yourself to this trouble. This is an honour for me.”
“Allow me to present you with this magic pill that, I venture to say, will confer immortality on you,” the Bodhisattva replied. When the two of them had finished exchanging greetings they sat down, and the monster started to talk about the events of the previous day. The Bodhisattva quickly changed the subject by passing the salver to him and saying, “Please accept this token of my regard for you.” She observed which was the bigger one and handed it to him with the words, “I wish Your Majesty eternal life.”
The monster handed the other pill to her and said, “I hope, Master Emptiness-reached, that you will share it with me.” When they had finished declining politely, the fiend picked up the pill and was on the point of swallowing it when it went rolling into his mouth. Then Monkey resumed his true form and struck up some acrobatic postures, at which the fiend fell to the ground. The Bodhisattva too resumed her true form and asked the monster for the Buddha's cassock. As Monkey had now emerged through the monster's nostrils, she was worried that the evil spirit might misbehave again, so she threw a band over his head. He rose to his feet, ready to run them through with his spear, but Monkey and the Bodhisattva were already up in mid-air, where she began to recite the spell. As the monster's head began to ache, he dropped the spear and writhed in agony on the ground. The Handsome Monkey King collapsed with laughter in the sky, while the Black Bear Spirit rolled in torment on the earth.
“Beast, will you return to the truth now?” asked the Bodhisattva.
“I swear to, I swear to, if only you spare my life,” the monster repeated over and over again.
Monkey wanted to finish him off with no more ado, but the Bodhisattva stopped him at once: “Don't kill him—I've got a use for him.”
“What's the point in keeping that beast alive instead of killing him?” Monkey asked.
“I've got nobody to look after the back of my Potaraka Island,” she replied, “so I shall take him back with me to be an island-guarding deity.”
走到洞口，只见守洞小妖，都有些认得道：凌虚仙长来了。”一边传报，一边接引。那妖早已迎出二门道：“凌虚，有劳仙驾珍顾，蓬荜有辉。”菩萨道：“小道敬献一粒仙丹，敢称千寿。”他二人拜毕，方才坐定，又叙起他昨日之事。菩萨不答，连忙拿丹盘道：“大王，且见小道鄙意。”觑定一粒大的，推与那妖道：“愿大王千寿！”那妖亦推一粒，递与菩萨道：“愿与凌虚子同之。”让毕，那妖才待要咽，那药顺口儿一直滚下。现了本相，理起四平，那妖滚倒在地。菩萨现相，问妖取了佛衣，行者早已从鼻孔中出去。菩萨又怕那妖无礼，却把一个箍儿，丢在那妖头上。那妖起来，提枪要刺，行者、菩萨早已起在空中，菩萨将真言念起。那怪依旧头疼，丢了枪，满地乱滚。半空里笑倒个美猴王，平地下滚坏个黑熊怪。菩萨道：“孽畜！你如今可皈依么？”那怪满口道：“心愿皈依，只望饶命！”行者恐耽搁了工夫，意欲就打，菩萨急止住道：“休伤他命，我有用他处哩。”行者道：“这样怪物，不打死他，反留他在何处用哩？”菩萨道：“我那落伽山后，无人看管，我要带他去做个守山大神。”行者笑道：
“You certainly are the all-merciful deliverer who doesn't allow a single soul to perish,” said Monkey with a laugh. “If I knew a spell like that one of yours, I'd say it a thousand times over and finish off all the black bears I could find.”
Although the bear spirit had come round and the spell had stopped, he was still in great pain as he knelt on the ground and begged pitifully, “Spare my life and I promise I'll return to the truth.” The Bodhisattva descended in a ray of light, placed her hands on his head, and administered the monastic discipline to him; then she told him to take up his spear and accompany her. The black bear's evil intentions ceased from that day on, and his unbounded perversity came to an end.
“Sun Wukong,” ordered the Bodhisattva, “go back now. Serve the Tang Priest well, don't be lazy, and don't start trouble.”
“诚然是个救苦慈尊，一灵不损。若是老孙有这样咒语，就念上他娘千遍！这回儿就有许多黑熊，都教他了帐！”却说那怪苏醒多时，公道难禁疼痛，只得跪在地下哀告道：“但饶性命，愿皈正果！”菩萨方坠落祥光，又与他摩顶受戒，教他执了长枪，跟随左右。那黑熊才一片野心今日定，无穷顽性此时收。菩萨吩咐道：“悟空，你回去罢。好生伏侍唐僧，以后再休懈惰生事。”
“I'm very grateful to you for coming so far, Bodhisattva, and I must see you home,” Monkey said. “That will not be necessary,” she replied. Monkey took the cassock kowtowed to her, and departed. The Bodhisattva took Bear back to the sea, and there is a poem to prove it:
行者道：“深感菩萨远来，弟子还当回送回送。”菩萨道：“免送。”行者才捧着袈裟，叩头而别。菩萨亦带了熊罴，径回大海。有诗为证，诗曰：
A magic glow shines round the golden image,
The thousand rays of glorious light.
She saves all men, giving of her pity,
Surveying the whole universe and revealing the golden lotus.
Many shall now preach the scriptures' meaning,
Nor shall there be any flaw therein.
Subduing a demon and bringing him to truth, she returns to the sea;
The religion of Emptiness has recovered the brocade cassock.
祥光霭霭凝金象，万道缤纷实可夸。
普济世人垂悯恤，遍观法界现金莲。
今来多为传经意，此去原无落点瑕。
降怪成真归大海，空门复得锦袈裟。
If you don't know how things developed, listen to the explanation in the next chapter.
毕竟不知向后事情如何，且听下回分解。