Seeing that the commander-in-chief was holding the white horse, Pig went up to him, made an angry noise and said, “That's my horse. Hand it over!” This so terrified the official that he collapsed head over heels.

The four pilgrims all stood upright in the middle of the steps, and when the king saw that they were monks he came down at once from his dragon throne, sent for his queen and consorts from the inner quarters, descended the steps of the throne hall, bowed to them along with all his officials and asked, “What brings you venerable gentlemen here?”

“I have been sent by His Majesty the Great Tang Emperor to go to the Great Thunder Monastery in India in the West to worship the living Buddha and fetch the true scriptures,” Sanzang replied.

“Venerable Master,” the king said, “you have come from far away. But why did you sleep in this trunk last night?”

“I knew that Your Majesty had sworn a vow to kill Buddhist monks,” Sanzang replied, “which is why I did not dare to visit your illustrious country openly, but disguised myself as a layman to arrive late at night to find lodging in one of your inns. We slept in the trunk because we were afraid that our real identity would be discovered. Unfortunately the trunk was stolen by bandits, then brought back here by the commander-in-chief. Now that I have been able to see Your Majesty's dragon countenance, the clouds have cleared away and the sun has come out. I hope that Your Majesty will pardon and release me, ascetic monk that I am: my gratitude will be as deep as the ocean.”

“Venerable Master,” the king replied, “you are a distinguished monk from our suzerain heavenly dynasty. It was wrong of us not to go out to welcome you. For years we have been fulfilling a vow to kill monks because a monk once maligned us. The vow we made to heaven was to kill ten thousand monks to make up a round number. We never imagined that today we would return to the truth and that we would all be turned into monks. Now all of us, king, officials, queen and consorts, have had our hair shaved off. I beg, Venerable Master, that you will not be grudging with your lofty virtue and will take us as your disciples.”

When Pig heard this he started roaring with laughter: “If you're going to be our disciples what introductory presents have you got for us?”

“If you will accept us as your follower, Master,” the king replied, “we will present you with all the wealth in our kingdom.”

“Don't talk about wealth to us,” said Brother Monkey, “as we're proper monks. As long as you inspect and return our passport and escort us out of the city I can guarantee that your monarchy will last for ever and that you will enjoy a long and happy life.” On hearing this the king ordered his office of foreign relations to arrange a great feast at which monarch and officials together returned to the one truth. The passport was immediately inspected and returned, after which Sanzang was asked to change the name of the country.

“'Dharma' in the name of Your Majesty's country is excellent,” Monkey said, “but the 'destructia' part is nonsense. Now that we've come here you should change the name to 'Dharmarespectia'. This would guarantee

Clear waters and victory for a thousand generations;

Timely winds and rain with universal peace.”

The king thanked them for their gracious kindness, had the royal carriage prepared and escorted the Tang Priest and his three disciples Westwards out of the city.

We will say no more of how monarch and subjects now held to the true faith, but tell how after leaving the king of Dharmarespectia the venerable elder said happily from on his horse, “What excellent magic you used, Wukong. It worked very well.”

“Elder brother,” said Friar Sand, “where did you find so many barbers to shave all those heads in one night?” Monkey then told them all about how he had used his miraculous powers, at which they all laughed so much they could not stop.

Just as they were feeling so cheerful a great mountain came into view, blocking their way. Reining in the horse, the Tang Priest said, “Disciples, see how high that mountain is. You must be very careful.”

“Don't worry,” said Monkey with a grin, “don't worry. I promise you nothing will go wrong.”

“Don't say that,” Sanzang replied. “I can see those jutting peaks, and even from a distance it looks rather sinister. Storm clouds are streaming from it, and I am beginning to feel frightened. My whole body is turning numb and my spirits are disturbed.”

“You have already forgotten the Heart Sutra that the Rook's Nest Hermit taught you,” said Brother Monkey.

“I can still remember it,” Sanzang said.

“Even if you can still remember that,” said Monkey, “there is a quatrain that you've forgotten.”

“What quatrain?” Sanzang asked, to which Monkey replied,

“Do not go far to seek the Buddha on Vulture Peak;

Vulture Peak is in your heart.

Everybody has a Vulture Peak stupa

Under which to cultivate conduct.”

“Of course I know it, disciple,” said Sanzang. “According to that quatrain the thousands of scriptures all come down to cultivating the heart.”

“Goes without saying,” Monkey replied.

“When the heart is purified it can shine alone;

When the heart is preserved all perceptions are pure.

If there is any mistake then laziness follows,

And success will not come in a myriad years.

As long as your will is sincere Thunder Peak is before your eyes.

But if you're as scared, frightened and disturbed as this the Great Way is distant, and Thunder Peak is far, far away. Forget those wild fears and come with me.” When the venerable elder heard this his spirits were revived and his worries disappeared.

The four of them had only gone a few more steps when they reached the mountain. When they raised their eyes this was what they saw:

A fine mountain,

Dappled with many colours.

White clouds drifted around the peak,

And cool were the shadows of the trees in front of the cliff.

The birds rustled in the leaves,

The beasts were ferocious.

Among the woods were a thousand pines,

On the ridge a few bamboos.

Howls came from gray wolves seizing their prey,

And roars from hungry tigers fighting over food.

Long screamed the wild apes searching for fruit;

The David's-deer climbed through blossoms into mists of green.

The wind was blowing,

The waters babbled,

And hidden birds sang in the deserted pass.

Here and there wisteria was climbing

While rare flowers bloomed by the stream amid orchids.

Intricately shaped and strange were the rocks,

And sheer rose the crags.

Foxes and raccoon-dogs ran in packs;

Badgers and apes were playing in groups.

The travelers were worried by so high and steep a mountain:

Why was the ancient track so twisted?

While master and disciples were moving timidly ahead they heard the howling of a wind. “There's a wind,” said Sanzang in fear.

“In the spring there are mild winds,” Monkey replied, “in the summer hot ones, in the autumn golden ones and in the winter North winds. There are winds in all four seasons. What's so frightening about a wind?”

“This wind is blowing very hard,” Sanzang replied. “It is definitely not a wind from heaven.”

“But winds always come from the earth and clouds from mountains,” Monkey replied, “so how could there be a wind from heaven?” Before he had finished speaking a mist arose. That mist really was

Darkness joining up with the sky,