Journey 040: Treasure Hunters
Zhu Bajie goes diving for treasure, and comes away with more than he bargained for.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Chinese Lore Podcast, where I retell classic Chinese stories in English. This is episode 40 of Journey to the West.
Last time, Sun Wukong and San Zang told the prince of the Wuji (1,1) Kingdom that his father had been murdered and that the Daoist wizard who killed him had been posing as him for the last three years. The prince was a bit skeptical, so Wukong told him to go see his mother, the queen, whom the prince had been barred from seeing for the last three years, and ask her, “Hey how’s your love life lately?”
The prince did as Wukong suggested and snuck into the queen’s palace. After paying his respects at her pagoda, he asked, “Mother, tell me: Who is that sitting on the throne? Who is that calling himself the king?”
“Child, have you gone mad? The king is your father. Why are you asking these questions?”
The prince kowtowed again and said, “Mother, I hope you will pardon my offense. If you do, then I will dare to ask another question. If not, I won’t dare.”
“What offense is there between mother and son? Of course I’ll pardon you. What do you want to ask?”
“Mother, I want to ask: How has the love between you and father been these past three years compared to before?”
The queen nearly lost her mind when she heard that. She descended her pagoda, helped him to his feet, hugged him tight, and asked, with tears in her eyes, “Child, we haven’t seen each other for so long. Why are you coming here and asking about this today?”
The prince, however, was getting impatient. “Mother, if you have something to say, then say it! Otherwise, it will ruin important affairs!”
The queen now dismissed her attendants and told him in a low voice while weeping, “If you hadn’t asked about this, I would be wondering about it even after I die. Since you asked, three years ago, he was all warmth. But these last three years, he has been cold as ice. When I whisper to him warmly on the pillow, he pleads old age and says the urge is gone.”
When the prince heard that, he let go of her hands, turned, and leaped back onto his horse. The queen stopped him and asked, “Child, what is it? Why are you leaving before we’re done talking?”
The prince kneeled and said, “Mother, I didn’t dare to tell you. But this morning, I went out hunting and ran into a sage monk from the East. His senior disciple, a Sun Wukong, is adept at taming demons. Turns out, my father died in the octagon well in the royal garden. That Daoist wizard took his form and usurped his throne. Last night, my father appeared to the monk in his dream and asked him to tame the demon. I didn’t dare to believe it wholeheartedly, so I came to ask you. Based on what you told me just now, he must be a demon.”
“But child, how can you believe the words of an outsider?”
“I didn’t dare to believe it, but father left proof.”
The queen asked what kind of proof, and the prince showed her the jade scepter that the ghost of the dead king had left with San Zang. When she saw that, her tears started flowing like a spring, and she shouted, “My lord! You’ve been dead for three years! Why did you go to see the monk before you came to see me?”
“Mother, what do you mean?”
“Oh my child. Last night, around 2 a.m., I also had a dream. I saw your father, dripping with water, standing in front me. He said he’s dead, and that his spirit had asked the Tang monk to tame the fake king and rescue his body. I just remembered half of what he said. I was just sitting here thinking about that. Who knew you would come and tell me all this, and show me the jade scepter. I’ll keep that here for now. You go ask that sage monk to hurry and cleanse the demonic presence, so as to repay your father for raising you.”
So the prince hurriedly got back on his horse, went out through the backdoor and left the city again. Around dusk, he was back at the monastery. His hunting party welcomed him, and he ordered them to stay encamped. He then went into the monastery alone, tidied up his clothes, and asked to see Sun Wukong.
Wukong waddled out from the main hall. The prince kneeled and said, “Master, I have come.”
Wukong helped him up and asked how his little fact-finding mission went. The prince recounted what the queen had told him. Wukong smiled and said, “If things are that cold, then that demon must be something icy. Well, no matter. I’ll clean it up for you. But it’s getting late today, so it’s not convenient. You go on back first. Wait for me to come tomorrow morning.”
The prince kneeled again and insisted on staying and accompanying Wukong tomorrow. But Wukong said, “That won’t do. If we enter the city with you, that demon is going to be suspicious. He will think that you invited me instead of running into me by chance. That’s going to point his ire to you.”
“His ire will be on me anyway if I return to the city now,” the prince said.
“Why?”
“I had left this morning to go hunting. And yet I haven’t caught anything all day. So how can I go back to see him? He will scold me for being untalented and might even put me in jail. Then who will you turn to tomorrow when you enter the city? No one else at court will know you.”
“That’s no problem,” Wukong said. “You should’ve told me earlier, and I could’ve found some game for you.”
Wukong now soared into the clouds, uttered an incantation, and summoned all the local mountain and earth spirits. They greeted him in the air and asked what he wanted. He told them, “The Tang monk and I were passing through here, and now I’m trying to tame a demon. But that prince dares not to return to court without having something to show for his hunting trip. Do me a favor and find some deer, rabbits, or birds for him.”
The mountain and earth spirits snapped to, and soon produced a thousand wild birds, deer, foxes, rabbits, tigers, leopards, and wolves, which feels like just a bit of overkill. They presented this bounty to Wukong, but he said, “I don’t want any of this. Give them all to the prince. Hamstring them and set them out one by one along the road between here and the city. Those hunters can catch them without needing their hunting hounds or hawks. Then you would’ve done me a service.”
So the spirits did as he instructed. Wukong flew back down and told the prince, “Your highness, please head on back. There is game waiting for you along the way, and you can collect them yourself.”
The prince kowtowed and took his leave. He left the monastery and led his hunting party back toward the city. Sure enough, along the way, they saw countless animals, and the soldiers were able to just pick them up by hand without needing to use their hounds or hawks. They all cheered and credited their prince’s blessings for their good fortune. In this way, they returned to the city.
Meanwhile, Wukong stayed at the monastery with San Zang. The monks at the monastery were now even more attentive to their guest, seeing how he seemed to have a special connection with the crown prince. They prepared meals for San Zang and company, and the pilgrims spent another night at the monastery.
That night, around 7 p.m., Sun Wukong had something on his mind and couldn’t sleep. He got up, went to San Zang’s bed, and said, “Master.”
Now, San Zang was still awake, but he didn’t answer, because he knew that Wukong had a tendency to stir up stuff. But when Wukong got no answer, he started rubbing San Zang’s bald head and jested, “Master, you’re asleep?”
San Zang got angry and scolded him, “You miscreant! Why aren’t you sleeping? What are you making a ruckus about?”
“Master, there’s something I need to discuss with you. Today, I bragged to the prince that my skills are higher than the mountains and more vast than the oceans, and that capturing that demon would be as easy as taking something from a sack, that I would just need to reach in and get it. But now that I’m thinking about it, there are some difficulties. That’s why I couldn’t sleep.”
“Well, if you think it’s too difficult, then we shouldn’t try to capture the demon.”
“Oh no, we still need to get him. It’s just hard to justify.”
“What? You’re not making any sense! That demon stole the real king’s throne. How can you say capturing him would be unjustified?”
“You only know how to read scripture, bow to the Buddha, and meditate. What do you know about the law? As the old saying goes, ‘To catch a thief, you must find the loot.’ That demon has been impersonating the king for three years and hasn’t slipped up. He sleeps with the women in his harem and gets along with the officials and officers of his court. Even if I have the skills to capture him, I can’t make any accusations against him stick.”
“Why not?”
“Even if he usually keeps his mouth shut like an unopened gourd, he would defend himself. If he were to say, ‘I’m the ruler of the Wuji Kingdom. What wrong have I committed that would justify you coming to apprehend me?’ What would we say then?”
“So how would you deal with it?” San Zang asked.
Wukong chuckled, “I already have a plan. But the only problem is you, because you harbor a bit of favoritism.”
“How so?”
“Zhu Bajie is a bit slow-witted, so you always protected him.”
“How have I protected him?”
“Well, if he’s not your favorite, then let Sha Zeng stay here with you right now. Let me and Bajie slip into the Wuji Kingdom, go to the royal garden, open up the octagon well, recover the king’s corpse, and wrap it in our luggage. Tomorrow when we go into the city, nevermind getting our passports. If I see that demon, I’ll beat him with my rod. If he tries to talk his way out of it, then we can show the corpse and accuse him of murder. And then the prince can come cry about his father, the queen can come out and cry about her husband, and the officials will recognize their true king. Then my brothers and I can do our thing. Only then can our charges stick.”
San Zang liked the idea, but he said, “I worry Bajie won’t be willing to go.”
“See? Just like I said: You’re protecting him. How can you know that he won’t want to go? Just don’t answer when I call out to you. Just keep that up for an hour. I’ll go and talk him into it.”
“Alright, you can go convince him,” San Zang agreed.
So Sun Wukong went over to Bajie’s bed and called out his name. Zhu Bajie was sound asleep and won’t wake up, so Wukong grabbed his ear and his mane and yanked him up. As Bajie startled awake, Wukong called out his name again.
“Let me sleep!” Bajie grumbled. “Don’t tease me. We have to travel tomorrow!”
“I’m not teasing,” Wukong said. “There’s a bit of business that I want you to help me with.”
“What kind of business?”
“Did you hear what the prince said?”
“I didn’t see him face-to-face, so no.”
“That prince told me that the demon has a magical treasure that’s unstoppable. When we go into the court tomorrow, we’ll have to fight him. If he has that treasure, he might beat us. That won’t look good. So I figure if we can’t beat him, let’s stage a preemptive strike. Why don’t you and I go steal that treasure?”
“Brother, you’re trying to trick me into being a thief. Alright, I can go help with this business. But let’s be clear: After we steal the treasure and tame the demon, I don’t want any petty talk about dividing up the treasure; it’s all mine!”
“Why do you want it?”
“I’m not slick-tongued like you guys, able to convince people to give you food. I’m clumsy and no good with words, and I can’t recite scripture. So I want to have that treasure so I can swap it for food if I’m ever in a pinch.”
“Look, I just want the fame; I don’t care about the treasure,” Wukong said. “You can have it.”
That satisfied Bajie, so he happily got to his feet, got dressed, and followed Wukong. The two discreetly opened their door, sneaked past San Zang, and flew toward the city.
It was around 9 p.m. when they arrived above the city. Instead of going to the front door of the palace, they went to the back door instead, although I don’t really know why doors matter when you can fly.
“Brother, both doors are well-guarded; how can we get in?” Wukong asked.
“Thieves never use the door,” Bajie scoffed. “We can just jump the wall.”
So Wukong leaped over the wall, and Bajie followed suit. The two then looked around for the royal garden. They came upon a gate tower with triple eaves and white ornaments. On it were giant characters that said, “Royal Garden.” The gates were covered with several layers of seals and chained with several rusted locks.
Wukong told Bajie to open the gates. Bajie took out his rake, brought it down on the door, and smashed the locks to smithereens. Wukong stepped inside and immediately was seized by the urge to jump and shout.
Bajie grabbed him and said, “Brother, you’re about to kill me! What thief would make such a racket?! If you wake people up and they catch us and deliver us to the authorities, even if we don’t get executed, we would be exiled as convicts.”
“But brother, look at this garden!” Wukong said.
“Painted corridors and carved railings lie in utter ruin;
Ornate pavilions and jeweled kiosks sag and lean askew.
Reedy banks and sandy shores are buried deep in dust;
Peonies and wild roses alike are wholly destroyed.
The fragrance of jasmine and roses has faded into darkness;
Peonies and lilies bloom in vain.
Lotus, hibiscus, and mallow spread rank upon the ground,
Rare and marvelous blossoms choked and spoiled together.
Ingenious rocks and mountain peaks have all collapsed;
Ponds have dried up, and fish waste away.
Green pines and purple bamboo resemble withered firewood;
Along every path, mugwort and wormwood grow thick.
Cinnamon and jade-peach branches are broken and maimed;
Pomegranate and crabapple roots twist awry.
At bridgeheads and winding paths, pale moss spreads—
A desolate garden realm, cold and forsaken.”
“Oh why lament over this?!” Bajie scoffed. “Let’s get on with our business.”
Wukong remembered that San Zang said he learned from his dream that the well was buried under a banana tree. He looked around and indeed found a banana tree. It looked lush and stout, standing out from the rest of the vegetation.
“Bajie, go to work!” Wukong said. “The treasure is buried under that banana tree.”
Bajie used his rake to knock over the tree, and then used his snout to dig three or four feet deep into the soil There, he found a flag stone covering something.
“Brother, what great luck! There really is a treasure! It’s covered by a flag stone. It might be inside a jar or a box.”
Wukong told him to lift up the flag stone, so Bajie used his snout to dig some more. He pushed aside the flag stone and saw a bright glow coming from beneath.
“We’re in luck!” he exclaimed. “The treasure is glowing!”
But then he took a closer look and saw that it was just the reflection of the moon in the water in the well.
“Brother, you ought to think ahead!” Bajie lamented.
“What do you mean?”
“Back at the monastery, if you had told me that the treasure was in a well, I would’ve brought a couple ropes so you can lower me down. But right now, we don’t have anything, so how can we get down or back up?”
“You want to go down there?”
“Yes, but we don’t have a rope.”
“Just take off your clothes; I have a plan.”
“What clothes? All I’ve got is this tunic.”
Wukong now pulled out his golden rod, pulled on both ends, and shouted, “Grow!” The rod immediately grew to about 80 feet long.
“Bajie, grab on to one end, and I’ll lower you down,” Wukong said.
“Brother, make sure you stop lowering it when I reach the water.”
“I know, I know.”
So dum-dum grabbed hold of one of the rod, and Wukong lowered him into the well. Soon, Bajie was right above the surface of the water, and he called out to let Wukong know. But when Wukong heard that, he plunged the rod down, dunking dum-dum into the water. Bajie let go of the rod, splashed around in the water, and grumbled, “Damn that monkey! I said to stop when I reached the water, and yet he dunked me!”
Wukong pulled up his rod and said while laughing, “Hey brother, any treasure down there?”
“What treasure? It’s just well water!”
“The treasure is under the water. Dive down and feel around.”
Well, Bajie was pretty at home in the water, given his prior job as the Marshal of the Celestial Stream in command of the navy of heaven. So he dived down toward the bottom. Even though the well was really deep, he just kept going down. Then suddenly, he saw an ornamental arch that bore the characters “Water Crystal Palace.”
“What?! I must’ve taken a wrong turn!” Bajie said with surprise. “Did I end up in the ocean? I know there’s a Water Crystal Palace in the ocean, but how come there’s one in a well?”
So, unbeknownst to him, THIS crystal palace was the abode of the dragon king in charge of this well. We’ve previously mentioned that there are dragon kings overseeing oceans, seas, and rivers. Well, there are dragons kings in wells as well.
While Bajie was talking to himself, a yaksha, one of those undersea spirits that serve the dragon kings, opened the door to the palace and saw him. The yaksha quickly ducked back inside and reported to the dragon king, “My lord, there’s trouble! A long-snout, big-ear monk has come down from above. He’s half-undressed and hasn’t drowned yet. Instead, he’s talking up a storm.”
The dragon king thought to himself, “This must be the Marshal of the Celestial Stream! Last night, the Night Patroller came and delivered a celestial edict to fetch the spirit of the king of the Wuji Kingdom to go see the Tang monk and ask the Great Sage to tame the demon. The Great Sage and the Marshal of the Celestial Stream must have arrived. I must not neglect them.”
So the dragon king hurriedly tidied up his outfit and led his men outside to invite Bajie to come in and sit down. Bajie rejoiced, “Turns out it’s an old acquaintance.” He didn’t stand on ceremony, and just marched into the palace and sat down in the seat for the guest of honor.
The dragon king said, “Marshal, I recently heard that you were given a reprieve and are protecting the Tang monk to the West to fetch scriptures. How did you come to be here?”
Bajie replied, “My brother Sun Wukong sends his regards. He sent me to ask you about some treasure.”
“Alas, alas. What treasure could I have here? I can’t compare to the dragon kings of rivers or seas. They can change form and fly, and they have treasures. I’ve been stuck here forever and can’t even see the sun or the moon. What treasure would I have?”
“No need to be so humble. If you have something, just show me.”
“Well, I do have one thing, but I can’t bring it out. You must go see it for yourself.”
“Great! Great! I’ll go take a look!”
So dum-dum followed the dragon king as they wound their way through the crystal palace. In a corridor, they saw a six-foot-long corpse lying in a box.
“Marshal, that’s the treasure,” the dragon king said as he pointed at the body.
Bajie approached and saw that it was the dead king, still wearing his crown and royal attire.
Bajie chuckled, “Well this is no good! This is no treasure! When I was a demon on a mountain, I would use this as food. I’ve eaten this countless times, not to mention having seen it. What kind of treasure is this?”
The dragon king said, “Marshal, you don’t understand. This is the body of the king of the Wuji Kingdom. When he fell into the well, I used my Face-Preserving Pearl to keep him from decomposing. If you’re willing to carry the body out, bring it to the Great Sage, and if he can bring the king back to life, then you would get whatever you want, including treasures.”
“Well, in that case, I’ll carry him out for you,” Bajie said. “But how much will you pay me?”
“I really have no money.”
“What? You want me to do it for free?! If you’ve got no money, then no deal!”
“Ok, then you can be on your way at your leisure,” the dragon king said.
While Bajie turned to leave, the dragon king ordered two of his yakshas to carry the box with the body outside the palace, leave it there, and pluck off the magic pearl. Bajie turned and saw that the gate of the crystal palace had vanished, leaving only him with the body of the king. He panicked and swam up to the surface of the water and called out, “Brother, lower your rod and save me!”
“Do you have the treasure?” Wukong asked.
“What treasure? There was a dragon king at the bottom of the well. He wanted me to carry a corpse out. I refused, so he escorted me out of his palace. And then that palace disappeared, and I was just touching the dead body. It scared me limp! Brother, save me!”
“That body IS the treasure! Why didn’t you bring it up?”
“Who knows how long he’s been dead? Why should I carry him up?”
“If you don’t, then I’m leaving!”
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the monastery, and to bed.”
“Then what about me?”
“If you can climb up, then I’ll take you with me. But if you can’t, then oh well.”
Bajie panicked. “How can I climb up? I could barely make it over the city wall. And this well is large at the bottom and narrow at the top. The walls are steep. And it hasn’t been used in a few years, so the walls are covered with lichen. It’s slippery. How would you have me climb up? We’re brothers; let’s not squabble. Fine! I’ll carry him up.”
“That’s right; hurry up and carry him up, and we can go back to bed,” Wukong said.
So dum-dum dived back down, found the body, put it on his back, and swam back up to the surface. Holding on to the side of the well, he called out to Wukong again. Wukong saw that Bajie indeed had the body with him, so he lowered his golden rod. Bajie’s hands were full with the corpse, so he gripped the rod with his teeth, and Wukong pulled him up.
Bajie put the body down on the ground and put his tunic back on. Meanwhile, Wukong took a closer look at the corpse and saw that the king still retained his former appearance. He asked Bajie how come the body had not decomposed, and Bajie told him how the dragon king had used a magic pearl to preserve it.
“Excellent!” Wukong said. “This is partly due to his injustice being unavenged, and partly because we’re destined to succeed. Brother, pick him up.”
“And take him where?”
“Back to see master.”
“Look at this! Look at this!” Bajie grumbled. “I was having a nice sleep, and then this sly monkey tricked me into helping with this ‘business’. Turns out he wants me to carry a corpse. Stinky water is going to drip from that stiff and dirty my clothes, and nobody is going to help me wash it. And my tunic already has a few patches in it. If it gets damp, how can I wear it?”
“Look, just carry it,” Wukong said. “When we get back to the monastery, I’ll trade clothes with you.”
“Have you no shame? You don’t even have clothes for yourself, so how can you swap with me?”
“So you’re not going to carry it?”
“No!”
“Well then stick out your ankles and let me give you 20 whacks with my rod!”
“Brother, your rod is heavy. If you hit me 20 times with it, I’ll end up like this king.”
“Well, if you’re scared of a beating, then pick him up now and let’s get moving!”
So Bajie had no choice but to throw the corpse over his back and walk out of the garden. Wukong now summoned a strong gale that swept him up into the air. The two landed outside the city and started walking back to the monastery. Along the way, dum-dum was bearing a grudge and thinking about how to get back at Wukong for pulling him out of bed to make him lug a corpse around.
“That monkey tricked me, so I’m going to play a trick him when we get back to the monastery,” he thought to himself. “I’ll tell master that the monkey said he could revive the king. And if he can’t, then I will prod master to read the band-tightening spell until his brains spill out. That’ll satisfy me!”
But then, as they walked on, he thought again, “Wait, that won’t do. It would be too easy for him to revive a dead man. He just needs to go to the kings of hell to get the guy’s spirit back. I know. I’ll say he must revive the king without going to the underworld. Yeah that’s the ticket.”
To see how dum-dum’s scheme is going to pan out, tune in to the next episode of the Chinese Lore Podcast. Thanks for listening!
Music in This Episode
- “Luỹ Tre Xanh Ngát Đầu Làng (Guzheng) – Vietnam BGM” by VPRODMUSIC_Asia_BGM
- “Ravines” by Elphnt (from YouTube audio library)
- “Comfortable Mystery 3 – Film Noire” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100536; Artist: http://incompetech.com/)