Journey to the West

⋇⊰ Chapter 6 ⊱⋇

Having been invited by the Queen Mother to the Peach Banquet, the compassionate and merciful miraculous savior from suffering, Bodhisattva Guanyin of Mount Potaraka in the Southern Sea, went to the precious pavilions at the Jade Pool with her great disciple, Huian the Novice. She found the place deserted and the banquet ruined. The few Immortals present were not sitting at their places but holding confused discussions. When greetings were over the Immortals gave the Bodhisattva an account of what had happened.

"If there is to be no banquet and no drinking," said the Bodhisattva, "you had better all come with me to the Jade Emperor." The Immortals were delighted to follow her, and when they arrived before the Hall of Universal Brightness the Four Heavenly Teachers, the barefoot Immortal, and many others were all there to greet the Bodhisattva. They told her that the Jade Emperor had sent heavenly armies to capture the demon, but they had not yet returned.

"I wish to see the Jade Emperor," said the Bodhisattva, "so may I trouble you to inform him on my behalf?"

The heavenly teacher Qui Hongji then went to the Hall of Miraculous Mist, and the Bodhisattva was invited in. She found that Lord Lao Zi was there in the place of honor and that the Queen Mother was behind him. The Bodhisattva went in at the head of the others, and when she had done obeisance to the Jade Emperor she greeted Lao Zi and the Queen Mother. After they had all sat down she asked what had happened at the Peach Banquet.

"The banquet is held every year, and it is normally a very happy occasion," the Jade Emperor replied, "but this year that monkey fiend wrecked it so that your invitation was worth nothing."

"Where does this monkey fiend come from?" asked the Bodhisattva.

"He was born from a stone egg on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in the land of Aolai in the Eastern Continent of Superior Body," the Jade Emperor answered. "When he was born, golden beams flashed from his eyes that reached the star palace. At first, we paid no attention to him, but later on, he became a spirit, subduing dragons and tigers, and erasing his own name from the registers of death. The Dragon Kings and King Yama of the underworld informed us of this in memorials, and we wanted to capture him, but the Star of Longevity memorialized that in the Three Worlds all beings with nine orifices can become Immortals. We, therefore, extended education to the worthy by summoning him to the upper world and appointing him Protector of the Horses in the Imperial Stable. But this was not good enough for the scoundrel, who rebelled against Heaven. We sent Heavenly King Li and Prince Nezha to accept his surrender, extended him an amnesty, and summoned him back to the upper world. We made him a 'Great Sage Equaling Heaven,' though this carried no salary. As he had nothing to do he would go wandering all over the place, and for fear that this might lead to trouble, we had him look after the Peach Orchard. Once again he flouted the law by stealing and eating every single one of the big peaches from the old trees. When the banquet was to be held he was not invited as his position was purely an honorary one; so he played a trick on the Bare−foot Immortal, went to the banquet looking like him, ate all the immortal delicacies, and drank all the immortal liquor. On top of this, he stole Lord Lao Zi's pills of immortality and some imperial liquor, which he took to his mountain for the monkeys to enjoy. This made us very angry so we sent 100,000 heavenly troops to spread heaven−and−earth nets and subdue him. But we have received no reports today, so we do not know whether we have been victorious."

When the Bodhisattva heard this she said to Huian the Novice, "Hurry down from Heaven to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit and find out about the military situation. If you meet with any opposition you may do your bit to help, but the important thing is to bring an accurate report back."

Huian the Novice straightened his robes, took his iron staff, left the palace by cloud, and went straight to the mountain. He saw that with the layer upon layer of heaven−and−earth nets, and the men holding bells and shouting passwords at the gates of the camp, the cordon around the mountain was watertight.