Yellow with dust; the churning wind concealed the darkening sky: Reddish with clay, the rising fog o‟erlaid the dusky world. Because an impish monkey insulted the Highest Lord,
The saints of all Heaven descended to this mortal Earth.
Those Four Great Devarājas,
Those Fearless Guards of Five Quarters—
Those Four Great Deva Kings made up the main command; Those Fearless Guards of Five Quarters moved countless troops. Li, the Pagoda Bearer, gave orders from the army‟s center, With the fierce Naṭa as the captain of his vanward forces.
The Star of Rāhu, at the forefront, made the roll call; The Star of Ketu, noble and tall, brought up the rear: Sōma, the moon, displayed a spirit most eager; Āditya, the sun, was all shining and radiant.
Heroes of special talents were the Stars of Five Phases.
The Nine Luminaries most relished a good battle.
The Horary Branches of Zi , Wu , Mao , and Yao
They were all celestial guardians of titanic strength.
To the east and west, the Five Plagues and the Five Mountains!
To the left and right, the Six Gods of Darkness and the Six Gods of Light!
Above and below, the Dragon Gods of the Four Rivers!
And in tightest formation, the Twenty- Eight Constellations!
Citrā, Svātī, Viśākhā, and Anurādhā were the captains.
Revatī, Aśvinī, Apabharaṇī, and Kṛttikā knew combat well.
Uttara- Aṣādhā, Abhijit, Śravaṇā, Śraviṣṭha, Pūrva- Proṣṭhapada, Uttara-
Proṣṭhapada,
Rohiṇī, Mūlabarhaṇī, Pūrva- Aṣādhā—every one an able star!
Punarvasu, Tiṣya, Aśleṣā, Meghā, Pūrva- Phalgunī, Uttara- Phalgunī, and Hastā— All brandished swords and spears to show their power.
Stopping the cloud and lowering the mist they came to this mortal world And pitched their tents before the Mountain of Flower and Fruit.
The poem says:
The Heaven-born Monkey King who can change a lot Steals wine and elixir to joy in his mountain lair.
Since he spoiled the Feast of the Immortal Peach,
A hundred thousand Heaven troops spread the net of God.
Devarāja Li now gave the order for the celestial soldiers to pitch their tents and a cordon was drawn so tightly around the Flower- Fruit Mountain that not even water could escape! Moreover, eighteen sets of cosmic net were spread out above and below the region and the Nine Luminaries were then ordered to go into battle.
They led their troops and advanced to the cave, in front of which they found a troop of monkeys, both great and small, prancing about playfully.
"Little monsters over there," cried one of the Star Spirits in a severe voice, "where is your Great Sage? We are Heavenly deities sent here from the Region Above to subdue your rebellious Great Sage. Tell him to come here quickly and surrender. If he but utters half a 'No' all of you will be executed."
Hastily the little monsters reported inside, "Great Sage, disaster! Disaster! Outside there are nine savage deitiewho claim that they are sent from the Region Above to subdue the Great Sage." Our Great Sage was just sharing the Heavenly wine with the four mighty commanders and the monster kings of seventy-two caves. Hearing this announcement, he said in a most nonchalant manner,
"If you have wine today, get drunk today;
Mind not the troubles in front of your door!"
Scarcely had he uttered this proverb when another group of imps came leaping and said, "Those nine savage gods are trying to provoke battle with foul words and nasty language."
"Don't listen to them," said the Great Sage, laughing.
"Let us seek today's pleasure in poetry and wine,
And cease asking when we may achieve glory or fame."
Hardly had he finished speaking when still another flock of imps arrived to report, "Father, those nine savage gods have broken down the door and are about to fight their way in!"
"These reckless, witless gods!" said the Great Sage angrily. "They really have no manners! I was not about to quarrel with them. Why are they abusing me to my face?" He gave the order for the One-Horn Demon King to lead the monster kings of seventy-two caves to battle, adding that old Monkey and the four mighty commanders would follow in the rear.
The Demon King swiftly led his troops of ogres to go out to fight, but they were ambushed by the Nine Luminaries and pinned down right at the head of the sheet iron bridge.
At the height of the melee, the Great Sage arrived. "Make way!" he yelled, whipping out his iron rod. One wave of it and it was as thick as a rice bowl and about twelve feet long. The Great Sage plunged into battle, and none of the Nine Luminaries dared oppose him.
In a moment, they were all beaten back.When they regrouped themselves again in battle formation, the Nine Luminaries stood still and said, "You senseless Ban-Horse-Plague! You are guilty of the ten evils. You first stole peaches and then wine, utterly disrupting the Grand Festival of Immortal Peaches. You also robbed Laozi of his immortal elixir and then you had the gall to plunder the imperial winery for your personal enjoyment. Don't you realize that you have piled up sin upon sin?"
"Indeed," said the Great Sage, "these several incidents did occur! But what do you intend to do now?"
The Nine Luminaries said, "We received the golden decree of the Jade Emperor to lead our troops here to subdue you. Submit at once, and spare these creatures from being slaughtered. If not, we shall level this mountain and overturn this cave!"
"How great is your magical power, silly gods," retorted the Great Sage angrily, "that you dare to mouth such foolhardy words? Don't go away! Have a taste of old Monkey's rod!"
The Nine Luminaries mounted a joint attack, but the Handsome Monkey King was not in the least intimidated. He wielded his golden-hooped rod, parrying left and right and fought the Nine Luminaries until they were thoroughly exhausted.
Every one of them turned around and fled, his weapons trailing behind him. Running into the tent at the center of their army, they said to the Pagoda Bearer Devarāja, "That Monkey King is indeed an intrepid warrior! We cannot withstand him and have returned defeated."
Devarāja Li then ordered the Four Great Devarājas and the Twenty-Eight Constellations to go out together to do battle. Without displaying the slightest panic, the Great Sage also ordered the One-Horn Demon King, the monster kings of seventy-two caves and the four mighty commanders to range themselves in battle formation in front of the cave. Look at this all-out battle! It was truly terrifying with
The cold, soughing wind,
The dark, dreadful fog.
On one side, the colorful banners fluttered;
On the other, lances and halberds glimmered.
There were row upon row of shining helmets,
And coat upon coat of gleaming armor.
Row upon row of helmets shining in the sunlight
Resembled silver bells whose chimes echoed in the sky;
Coat upon coat of gleaming armor rising clifflike in layers
Seemed like glaciers crushing the earth.
The giant scimitars
Flew and flashed like lightning;
The mulberry-white spears,
Could pierce even mist and cloud!
The crosslike halberds
And tiger-eye lashes
Were arranged like thick rows of hemp;
The green swords of bronze
And four-sided shovels
Crowded together like trees in a dense forest.
Curved bows, crossbows, and stout arrows with eagle plumes,
Short staffs and snakelike lances—all could kill or maim.
That compliant rod, which the Great Sage owned,
Kept tossing and turning in this battle with gods.
They fought till the air was rid of birds flying by;
Wolves and tigers were driven from within the mount;
The planet was darkened by hurtling rocks and stones,
And the cosmos bedimmed by flying dust and dirt.
The clamor and clangor disturbed Heaven and Earth;
The scrap and scuffle alarmed both demons and gods.
Beginning with the battle formation at dawn, they fought until the sun sank down behind the western hills. The One-Horn Demon King and the monster kings of seventy-two caves were all taken captive by the forces of Heaven. Those who escaped were the four mighty commanders and the troop of monkeys, who hid themselves deep inside the Water-Curtain Cave.
With his single rod, the Great Sage withstood in midair the Four Great Devarājas, Li the Pagoda Bearer, and Prince Naṭa, and battled with them for a long time. When he saw that evening was approaching, the Great Sage plucked a handful of hairs, threw them into his mouth, and chewed them to pieces.
He spat them out, crying, "Change!" They changed at once into many thousands of Great Sages, each employing a golden-hooped rod! They beat back Prince Naṭa and defeated the Five Devarājas.
In triumph the Great Sage collected back his hairs and hurried back to his cave. Soon, at the head of the sheet iron bridge, he was met by the four mighty commanders leading the rest of the monkeys. As they kowtowed to receive him they cried three times, sobbing aloud, and then they laughed three times, hee-heeing and ho-hoing. The Great Sage said, "Why do you all laugh and cry when you see me?"
"When we fought with the Deva Kings this morning," said the four mighty commanders, "the monster kings of seventy-two caves and the One-Horn Demon King were all taken captive by the gods. We were the only ones who managed to escape alive and that is why we cried. Now we see that the Great Sage has returned unharmed and triumphant, and so we laugh as well."
"Victory and defeat," said the Great Sage, "are the common experiences of a soldier. The ancient proverb says,
You may kill ten thousand of your enemies,
But you will lose three thousand of your allies!
Moreover, those chieftains who have been captured are tigers and leopards, wolves and insects, badgers and foxes, and the like. Not a single member of our own kind has been hurt. Why then should we be disconsolate? Although our adversaries have been beaten back by my magic of body division, they are still encamped at the foot of our mountain. Let us be most vigilant, therefore, in our defense.
Have a good meal, rest well, and conserve your energy. When morning comes, watch me perform a great magic and capture some of these generals from Heaven, so that our comrades may be avenged."
The four mighty commanders drank a few bowls of coconut wine with the host of monkeys and went to sleep peacefully. We shall speak no more of them.
When those Four Devarājas retired their troops and stopped their fighting, each one of the Heavenly commanders came to report his accomplishment.
There were those who had captured lions and elephants and those who had apprehended wolves, crawling creatures, and foxes. Not a single monkey monster, however, had been seized. The camp was then secured, a great tent was pitched, and those commanders with meritorious services were rewarded.
The soldiers in charge of the cosmic nets were ordered to carry bells and were given passwords. They encircled the Flower-Fruit Mountain to await the great battle of the next day and each soldier everywhere diligently kept his watch. So this is the situation:
The fiendish monkey riots through Heaven and Earth,
But the net spreads open, ready night and day.
We do not know what took place after the next morning; let's listen to the explanation in the next chapter.