Journey 052: Walking On Thin Ice
San Zang throws caution to the wind and hits the road under questionable circumstances.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Chinese Lore Podcast, where I retell classic Chinese stories in English. This is episode 52 of Journey to the West.
Last time, while spending the night at the Chen Family Village near the mighty Heaven-Penetrating River, the pilgrims learned that a demon king had been providing good weather for the local people but was demanding a sacrifice of a boy and a girl for his consumption each year. Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie took the form of this year’s sacrificial children, pounced on the demon, and sent him scurrying back into the river. While the pilgrims and their hosts celebrated that victory, the river froze overnight from a huge snowstorm. Once the snow stopped, San Zang heard pedestrians on the street talking about how the river was so frozen that people were walking across it.
This was music to San Zang’s ears, because he had been fretting about how he was going to cross the river and continue his journey. He wanted to go check it out right away, but his host, Chen Cheng (2), convinced him that it was too late in the day and to wait until the next morning.
When dawn came, Zhu Bajie got up and said, “It was even colder last night. That river must be frozen solid.”
San Zang went to the door, bowed to heaven, and said, “To all my protector spirits, I have been wholly committed to seeing the Buddha on my journey West. I have endured hardships across mountains and rivers, and have never uttered a word of complaint. Today, in this place, thanks to heaven’s help, the river has frozen. I offer my deepest gratitude. When I return from successfully fetching scriptures and see my emperor, I shall repay you sincerely.”
Then, he told Sha Zeng to prepare the horse so that they could walk across the river. His host Chen Cheng, however, said, “Don’t be in such a rush. Wait a few days for the snow and ice to melt, and then I can find a boat to send you across.”
“It’s a tough decision whether to go now or stay longer,” Sha Zeng said. “And it’s all based on hearsay. Let me prepare the horse, and master can go see the river for himself.”
Chen Cheng agreed and instructed his attendants to prepare six horses. He and his brother, accompanied by six attendants, then accompanied the four pilgrims to the bank of the river. There, they saw snow piled up like towering peaks. The clouds had dispersed, revealing a clear sky. The river was a single flat sheet of ice. The north wind howled, and the frozen ground was slick and hard. Fish in the water huddled among dense weeds, while birds clung to withered branches. As far as the eye could see, the entire river showed not a ripple, as bright, pure ice covered everything like solid land.
Standing on shore, the party indeed saw people walking across the ice. San Zang asked his host, “Where are those people going?”
“On the other side of the river is the Women’s Kingdom of Western Liang (2),” Chen Cheng said. “These people are merchants. Everything from this side of the river is worth 100 times more on the other side, and vice versa. It’s because there’s much money at stake that these people are risking their lives to cross. Usually, they cross on boats with five to a dozen people each. But now that the river is frozen, they’re risking their lives to cross on foot.”
San Zang lamented, “Fame and profit make the world go round. Those people are risking their lives for profit. And yet even a monk like me, traveling on my emperor’s command in the name of loyalty, is doing the same thing for fame. How much difference is there between them and me?”
He then told Sun Wukong to hurry back to their host’s house to pack up the luggage so they could cross the ice on foot. Sha Zeng, though, advised against it. “Master, as the saying goes, ‘For a thousand days, you need a thousand pints of rice.’ We’ve already taken up lodging at the Chen estate. Let’s just stay a few more days, wait for the weather to warm and the ice to melt, and then cross on boat. If we rush it, something might go wrong.”
“How can you harbor such a foolish idea?” San Zang said. “If it were the second month of the year, then the days would get warmer and the ice would melt. But it’s the eighth month. The days will keep getting colder. How can we hope for the ice to melt? Wouldn’t that cost us precious time?”
Zhu Bajie hopped off his horse and said, “Quit your idle blabbing. Let me check how thick this ice is.”
“Dum-dum,” Wukong scoffed, “When you checked the depth of the river a couple nights ago, you were able to throw a rock into the water. But how are you going to check the thickness of the ice?”
“Brother, you don’t get it. I can just smack it with my rake. If the ice cracks, then it’s thin and we shouldn’t cross. But if it doesn’t budge, then the ice must be thick and we would be able to cross.”
“You’re quite right,” San Zang said. So Bajie walked out onto the river, raised his rake with both hands, and brought it down on the ice with all his might. There was the sound of a loud thud, but all he managed to leave on the ice was nine scratch marks, and his hands were smarting from the impact.
“We can cross; we can cross!” Bajie said with a chuckle. “It’s frozen all the way to the bottom.”
San Zang was delighted. So the party returned to the Chen estate, and he instructed his disciples to pack up and hit the road. His hosts begged him to stay, but to no avail, so they prepared some provisions for the pilgrims. When they saw San Zang and company out, the whole family kowtowed to the pilgrims to thank them. The old men also kneeled and presented them with a tray of loose bits of gold and silver.
“Sirs, thank you for saving our children. Please take these to buy a meal for yourselves on the road,” the old men said.
But San Zang shook his head and hands, “We are monks. What use have we for money? We would not dare to flash this wealth around on the road. It’s only proper for us to beg for food along the way. The dry provisions are enough.”
After repeated pleas from their hosts, Sun Wukong obliged them and picked up a tiny piece of silver with his finger tips. It was worth about four or five copper coins. He handed it to San Zang and said, “Master, just think of it as a little bit of travel money. Don’t let the two elders’ good intentions go to waste.”
San Zang obliged, and the party headed back to the river. The pilgrims stepped onto the ice and started to cross. The horse’s hooves, however, slipped and San Zang almost tumbled out of the saddle.
“Master, it’s difficult to cross,” Sha Zeng said.
“Hold on,” Bajie said. “Ask our hosts for some straws.”
“What do you want with that?” Wukong asked.
“What do you know? We can use straw to wrap up the horse’s hooves. That way the horse wouldn’t slip and throw master to the ground.”
So the old men immediately told their attendants to get a bale of straws from their house. They asked San Zang to ride back onto the bank and dismount. Bajie then wrapped the horse’s hooves with the straws, and the pilgrims stepped back out onto the ice. This time, the horse had better footing. They took leave of their hosts and started traversing the ice.
After walking for a mile or so, Bajie handed San Zang his Buddhist staff and told him, “Master, hold this horizontally across your body.”
“Dum-dum, what shenanigans is this?” Wukong asked. “You’re supposed to be carrying that staff. Why are you giving it to master?”
“You haven’t walked across ice, so you don’t understand,” Bajie replied. “There are always pockets of thin ice across a body of water. If you step on one, you would fall right through. And if you don’t have something to keep you from falling straight in, you will go under the ice, and then it would be like being covered by a giant wok. Then how would you get back up? That’s why he needs to have something to keep him from falling through.”
Wukong chuckled and was secretly impressed by Zhu Bajie’s knowledge of ice-traveling safety. So San Zang did as Bajie asked, carrying the Buddhist staff horizontally across his body. Wukong did likewise with his golden rod, while Sha Zeng and Zhu Bajie did the same with their own weapons.
In this way, the pilgrims walked on until nightfall. They ate some dry provisions and then kept walking, with the moon reflecting off the ice and lighting their way. They traveled through the night, pausing only to eat a little more dry food when dawn came before resuming their journey again.
Suddenly, they heard a loud crash under the ice, so loud that it startled the horse.
“What is that?” San Zang said with alarm.
“This river is so frozen that the ice might be scraping the bottom here,” Bajie replied.
San Zang was both surprised and excited to hear that. And so he rode on, feeling safer on this solid ice. But suddenly, the ice under the entire party caved in. Sun Wukong was quick enough to leap into the air. But San Zang, Bajie, Sha Zeng, and the horse all plunged into the river.
So, as it turns out, this whole thing was a setup by the Great King of Numinous Power, the demon that they had chased off a couple days ago. After barely escaping with his life from the trap that Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie had set for him at the temple, the demon king fled back to his palace under the water and sat around brooding. His lackeys asked him what was wrong, and he told them, “Usually, when I go enjoy my annual feast, I would have some leftovers to bring back for you. But today, even I couldn’t get a bite. In fact, I ran into an enemy and almost got killed.”
“Who was it?” his lackeys asked.
“They were the disciples of a sage monk from the Eastern Tang Kingdom, heading West to see the Buddha and fetch scripture. They pretended to be the sacrificial boy and girl and were waiting for me in the temple. They almost got me. I’ve heard people say that the Tang monk has been cultivating his spirit for 10 lifetimes, and that if you can eat one piece of his flesh, you would gain immortality. But who knew he had such disciples? They’ve ruined my reputation and spoiled my business. I want to capture that Tang monk, but I worry I’m no match for his disciples.”
An old female mandarin fish demon now bowed and said, “My lord, it’s not hard to capture the Tang monk. But if you do capture him, are you going to reward me?”
“If you have an idea, once we capture the Tang monk, you and I shall become sworn brother and sister and feast on his flesh together.”
The mandarin fish demon thanked him and said, “I know you have the power to summon wind, bring rain, roil oceans, and churn rivers. But are you able to make it snow?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, are you able to make it freeze into ice?”
“Yes.”
“Then this will be easy. Tonight, work your magic to summon a cold wind and a heavy snow. Freeze the river solid. Then I and a few others who can transform will turn into human form and walk back and forth across the ice with bundles and carts. That Tang monk is eager to keep traveling. When he sees people walking across the ice, he will surely attempt to do the same. Then you can just wait in the middle of the river. When you hear his footsteps, crack the ice, and he and his disciples will all fall in, and you’ll have them all.”
Fast forward to the present, and the demons’ scheme had gone off without a hitch. As soon as San Zang fell into the water, he was grabbed by the demon king and his lackeys, who took him back to their palace under the river.
“Mandarin fish sister, where are you?” the demon king shouted.
The mandarin fish demon greeted him and said, “I would never dare to be called your sister.”
“Not so! ‘Once the word is given, not even thoroughbreds can chase it down.’ I had said that if your plan can help us capture the Tang monk, you and I would become sworn siblings. Today, your plan worked like a charm, and the Tang monk is ours. So let’s make good on my promise. Little ones, prepare a table and sharpen a knife. I’m going to cut out this monk’s heart, skin him, and cut off his flesh. Then, play music while my sister and I enjoy his flesh together and attain immortality.”
But the mandarin fish demon said, “My lord, don’t eat him yet. His disciples might come cause trouble. Let’s wait a couple days. If they don’t show up by then, then we can slaughter the monk. You can sit on your throne, while the rest of us entertain you, and you can eat at your leisure.”
Now, if I were one of these demons hankering for a piece of San Zang and immortality, I would just eat him sashimi style or as monk tartare as soon as I got him in my clutches, nevermind this whole “Let’s wait to see if his disciples show up” business. It’s not like those guys are going to cause less trouble if San Zang was still alive, and I’m guessing it would be easier to handle them if you’ve attained immortality. But that would just make too much sense. So instead, the demon king put San Zang inside a long stone chest while he waited to see if his disciples would show up.
Speaking of said disciples, two-and-a-half of them had fallen into the river. But Zhu Bajie used to be the commander of the celestial navy. Sha Zeng lived for years in a river. And the horse used to be a dragon who lived in the sea. So all three of them were quite adept in the water. Bajie and Sha Zeng managed to corral the luggage, put it on the horse’s back, and then made their way out of the water and onto solid ice.
Sun Wukong saw them from the air, so he shouted, “Where is master?”
“He must have sunk to the bottom,” Zhu Bajie said. “There’s no way to find him. Let’s get back on to land first.”
So with Wukong directing them from the air, Zhu Bajie, Sha Zeng, and the horse turned around and made their way back to the eastern bank of the river. Their, they patted off the horse and hung up their soaked clothing to air dry. Wukong now descended from the sky, and they made their way back to the Chen family estate.
The attendants rushed in to tell their masters that only three of the four pilgrims had returned. The two old men rushed out and saw that the three who came back were soaked through.
“Elders, we kept asking you to stay, but you refused, and now look what happened,” the old men lamented. “Where is Master San Zang?”
“He sank to the bottom of the river,” Bajie replied.
“Oh pity, pity!” the old men wept. “We told him we would deliver him across on a boat once the ice melted. But he refused to listen, and now he’s lost his life.”
Oh sure, this is a great time for “I told you so.” But Wukong told the old men, “Don’t worry. My master isn’t dead. I know this must be that demon king’s scheme. Just rest easy. Help us dry off our clothing and travel papers, and feed the horse. My brothers and I will go find that demon, save our master, and wipe out the whole lot of demons to rid your village of any future concerns, so that you can live in peace forever.”
The old men did as he asked. The three disciples ate a full meal, and then returned to the river to look for their master. Wukong said to Bajie and Sha Zeng, “You two talk it over and figure out which one of you is going into the water first.”
But Bajie said, “Brother, our skills aren’t that great. You should go first.”
“To tell you the truth, if we were facing demons on a mountain, then I wouldn’t need you at all. But with affairs in the water, I’m no good. Even when I go into the sea or river, I have to recite a water-repelling spell or turn into a fish or crab. But then I wouldn’t be able to fight or use my other powers against the demons. I know you two are adept in the water, so I wanted you to go first.”
Sha Zeng said, “Brother, I can go, but who knows what’s down there. Let’s all go. Brother, you can turn into whatever you need to be. Or I can carry you and part the water on our way. Once we find the demon’s lair, you go in first to conduct recon. See if master is still alive. If he is, then we can try to get him back. But if that demon has already killed or eaten master, then there’s no point in us begging for his release, and we should go our separate ways.”
“Brother, you’re right,” Wukong said. “Who will carry me?”
Zhu Bajie thought to himself, “That monkey has played countless tricks on me. Turns out he doesn’t know how to swim. Heh. Let me carry him, and I can get back at him.”
So he said with a smile, “Brother, I’ll carry you.”
“Ok, sure. You’re stronger than Sha Zeng,” Wukong agreed. So he hopped on Bajie’s back. Sha Zeng then led the way and parted the waters, and the three headed toward the bottom of the river. After they had traveled for about 40 miles underwater, dum-dum decided to make his move. He pretended to suddenly trip, and as he stumbled forward, he chucked Sun Wukong toward the river floor. But instead of splattering in the muddy bottom, Sun Wukong just floated away without a trace.
Sha Zeng said to Bajie, “Brother, what happened? Why did you trip? And where did big brother go?”
“Oh that monkey must have dissipated when he got thrown off,” Bajie grumbled. “Nevermind him. Let the two of us go look for master.”
“No, that wouldn’t do,” Sha Zeng disagreed. “We need him. Even though he doesn’t know how to swim, he’s smarter than us. We can’t go without him.”
Just then, they heard a tiny voice call out from Zhu Bajie’s ear, “Hey brother, I’m right here!”
So, Sun Wukong was on to Zhu Bajie right from the beginning. When Bajie tried to throw him, Wukong had long since replaced his real self with a doppelganger made from monkey hair. And when the doppelganger was thrown, it just turned back into the monkey hair and floated away. The real Wukong, meanwhile, turned himself into a flea and hid inside Zhu Bajie’s ear.
When Sha Zeng heard Wukong, he laughed at Bajie, “Oops, dum-dum, you’re done for! How can you dare to play tricks on him? And now you can hear him but not see him. What’re you gonna do?”
Bajie panicked and immediately started kowtowing in the mud. “Brother, I was wrong. Once we rescue master, I will apologize to you on land. Where are you? Please show yourself. I will carry you and wouldn’t dare to offend you again.”
“Alright then,” Wukong said. “You can keep carrying me, and I wouldn’t play any tricks on you either. Let’s hurry.”
So Bajie, mumbling apologies non-stop, followed Sha Zeng forward with Wukong in his ear. After another 40 miles or so, they came upon a tower. On it were the words, “Residence of the Water Turtle.”
“This must be the demon’s lair,” Sha Zeng said. “But the two of us don’t know what’s inside. How can we fight them?”
Wukong asked, “Is there water beyond that door?”
“No,” Sha Zeng said, which, I don’t know, just seems to defy physics or logic. Even if you could keep water out, why would demons who are water creatures and completely at home in the water even worry about doing so?
But anyway, Wukong now told his fellow disciples to hide while he went to do a little recon. He climbed out of Zhu Bajie’s ear and turned into a female shrimp demon. He hopped inside the tower and saw the demon king sitting in his throne while his lackeys were lined up on his flank. A mandarin fish demon sat next to him, and they were discussing the matter of eating San Zang.
Wukong now looked around but didn’t see any sign of his master. Just then, a fat female shrimp demon came out and was heading toward the west quarters. Wukong asked her, “Hey mama, our lord is discussing eating the Tang monk, but where is he being kept?”
“That monk was captured by our lord yesterday and is being kept inside a stone chest in the back of the palace,” the fat shrimp demon told him. “Tomorrow, as long as the monks’ disciples don’t come cause any trouble, the king will eat him.”
So Wukong made his way to the back of the palace and a stone chest. It looked like a pig trough or a coffin. It was about 6 feet long. He put his ear against the top of the chest and listened. He heard San Zang sobbing inside. Wukong said nothing and kept listening. After a moment, he heard San Zang gritting his teeth and sighing:
“Oh the river’s current has doomed my fate;
Since birth, I have been plagued by watery calamities.
From my mother’s womb I plunged into surging waves;
Seeking the Buddha in the West, I fell into this boundless abyss.
Before, I met disaster at the Black Water River;
Now, as the ice breaks, my life returns to the depths.
I know not whether my disciples can come save me—
Will we obtain the scriptures and return to our homeland?
Wukong now called out, “Master, stop lamenting your watery calamities. As the Classic of Water Disaster said, ‘Earth is the mother of the Five Elements, and water is their origin. Without earth, nothing is born; without water, nothing can grow.’ I’m here!”
San Zang heard him and called out to him for rescue. Wukong said, “Don’t worry. Once we capture that demon, we will save you.”
“You must hurry,” San Zang pressed him. “It’s so stifling in here, I would die if I’m locked in here for another day!”
“No problem. I’m off!” Wukong said. He then hopped back outside the demon’s lair, turned back into himself, and found his brothers. He told them, “That demon indeed abducted our master. He’s ok, but he’s locked in a stone chest. You two hurry up and go challenge for battle. I’m going up to the surface for now. If you can apprehend that demon, then do so. But if you can’t, then pretend to lose and lure him out of the water, and I’ll beat him.”
“Don’t worry brother,” Sha Zeng said. “Let us go show our stuff.”
So Wukong cast a water-repelling spell and swam up to the surface, where he stood waiting on the river bank. Meanwhile, Zhu Bajie put on his mad feral pig face, stomped to the palace gates, and shouted, “Damn demon! Send out my master right now!”
The demon lackeys hurriedly reported this to the demon king, who quickly donned his armor, grabbed his weapon, and led his horde of lackeys out to face the challengers. Bajie and Sha Zeng stood shoulder to shoulder and sized up this King of Numinous Power.
Upon his head he wore a golden helmet, dazzling and radiant;
His body was clad in golden armor that flashed like a rainbow.
Around his waist was a jeweled belt studded with pearls and jade;
On his feet were uncommon yellow boots.
His nose rose high like a towering peak.
His broad brow spread wide with a dragon’s majesty.
His round, violent eyes gleamed with fierce, flashing light;
His teeth were like sharpened steel, pointed and even.
Short hair bristled and streamed like tongues of flame;
Long whiskers flowed freely, stiff as golden awls.
In his mouth he bit a sprig of fresh green algae;
In his hand he held a nine-lobed red copper hammer.
With a single guttural cry, the gate swung open,
His voice boomed like thunder at the first spring awakening.
Such a figure is seldom seen in the world—
He dares to bear the title of the King of Numinous Power.
The demon king stomped out, followed by about 100 lackeys, all wielding spears and swords and lining up in two rows.
“Which monastery do you come from, monk?! How dare you cause a ruckus here?!” the demon king said to Zhu Bajie.
“You damn demon!” Bajie shot back. “You and I had a disagreement a couple nights ago, but now you’re pretending you don’t know me? I’m a disciple of the sage monk from the Eastern Tang Kingdom, a pilgrim heading west for scriptures. You dare to call yourself the King of Numinous Power and devour children at the Chen Family Village. I was that family’s daughter. Don’t you recognize me?”
“Damn monk! You’re too unreasonable!” the demon king cursed. “You pretended to be that girl. That’s already an offense. I didn’t eat you, but you injured the back of my hand. I was going to leave it at that. Why did you come to my door?”
“If you were going to leave it at that, then why did you cause it to snow and freeze the river, and then abduct my master? Send him out now, and all will be well. If you dare to say half a ‘no’, my rake will not spare you!”
To see who will get the upper hand in this trash-talk battle, tune into 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
- “Dark Toys” by SYBS (from YouTube audio library)
- “The Quiet Aftermath by Sir Cubworth (from YouTube audio library)
- “Ravines” by Elphnt (from YouTube audio library)