As soon as Pig heard this he said, “Your Majesty, we always stay with our master: we never leave him for a moment. As he's going to be drinking and feasting in the palace gardens we'd better go along for a couple of days' fun too if our master's to be your son-in-law. Otherwise the deal's off.” Seeing how ugly and coarse-spoken Pig was, twisting his head and neck, thrusting his snout out and waving his ears-which all made him seem rather intimidating-the king was so worried that Pig might ruin the wedding that he had to accede to the request.

“Prepare a banquet for two in the Sino-Barbarian Hall of Eternal Pacification for our son-in-law and ourself. Prepare a meal for the other three gentlemen in the Pavilion of Lingering Spring. We are afraid that it might be inconvenient for master and disciples to sit together.” Only then did the idiot chant his respects to the king and thank him. Everyone then withdrew, after which the king ordered the officials of the inner palace to prepare a banquet, and told the queens and consorts of the three palaces and six compounds to give the princess hair ornaments, cakes and other things for the wedding on the twelfth.

It was now about ten in the morning, and the king had a carriage ready in which to take the Tang Priest and the others to go to see the palace gardens. The gardens were a fine place:

The paths, inlaid with coloured stones,

Have carved and chiseled balustrades.

Beside the paths inlaid with coloured stones

Strange flowers spread over the rocks;

Outside the carved and chiseled balustrades,

And within them too, flower blossoms rare.

Early peach trees are a bewitching turquoise,

And golden orioles dart among the willows.

The walker finds the fragrance fill his sleeve,

And many pure scents imbue his clothing.

Phoenix terrace and dragon pool,

Bamboo lodge and pine pavilion.

On the phoenix terrace

Pipes are played to lure the phoenix to appear;

In the dragon pools

Fish are reared to become dragons and leave.

In the bamboo lodge are poems

Whose well-chosen words match the “White Snow Melody”

The books in the pine pavilion

Are pearls and jade in blue-covered volumes.

Rocks and jade twist around the artificial hills;

Deep are the blue-green waters of the winding stream.

Peony pavilions,

Rose bowers,

Make a natural brocade.

Trellises of jasmine,

Beds of begonia,

Are like sunset clouds or jeweled mosaics.

Herbaceous peonies are marvelously fragrant;

Rare is the beauty of the mallows from Sichuan.

White pear and red apricot blossom vie in scent;

Purple orchid and golden daylily compete in splendor.

Corn poppy,

Lily magnolia buds,

Azalea flowers,

Are brilliantly coloured.

Magnolia flowers,

Garden balsam,

Plantain lilies,

Tremble.

Everywhere red shines through the richness of cosmetics

While heavy scents drift from a brocade surrounding screen.

The warmth returning with the East wind is greeted with joy;

All the garden's beauties display their brilliance.

The king and his companions walked around enjoying the flowers for a long time. Soon the officials of the Protocol Office came to invite Monkey and the other two to the Pavilion of Lingering Spring while the king led the Tang Priest by the hand to the Sino-Barbarian Hall so that they could all drink and feast. These were splendid occasions with singing, dancing and instrumental music. Indeed:

The sun shone from the majestic palace gates;

Good auras filled the royal buildings.

The spring spread out an embroidery of flowers,

And heaven's light shone from afar on the court robes.

Pipes and singers wafted their music as if in a banquet of immortals;

The goblets flew, carrying jade liquor.

Master and subjects enjoyed the same pleasure

As Sino-barbarian peace brought prosperity.

Seeing with what great respect he was being treated by the king, the venerable elder had nothing for it but to force himself to join in the celebrations. In fact he gave only a show of happiness: inside he was miserable. As he sat there he saw four golden screens hanging on the wall, screens painted with scenes of the four seasons. Each picture had a poem on it by a famous academician. The poem on the spring scene read:

The vital forces of heaven turn creation around;

The world is happy and everything is renewed.

The peach and the plum blossoms vie in splendor;

Swallows fly to the painted rafters, shaking the incense dust.

The poem on the summer scene read:

In warm and sultry air all thoughts are slow

The palace mallow and pomegranate reflect the sun's brilliance.

The jade flute's music disturbs the noonday dream;

The scent of caltrops is wafted through the curtains.

The poem on the autumn scene read:

One leaf on the parasol tree by the well is yellow;

The pearl curtain is not rolled up on the night of frost.

After the autumn sacrifice the swallows abandon their nest;

When the rush flowers snap, the wild geese leave for another land.

The poem on the winter scene read:

The clouds fly over the rainy sky, all dark and cold;

The North wind blows the snow into thousands of bills.

Deep in the palace the stove glows warm;

They say the plum has blossomed by the jade balustrade.

When the king noticed the absorption with which the Tang Priest was gazing at the poems he said, “As you enjoy savoring the poems so much you must be a fine poet yourself, son-in-law. If you do not begrudge your pearls we would like to invite you to make up a matching poem for each of them, ending three of the lines with the same word. Will you agree?”

The venerable elder was the sort of person who could be so carried away by a scene that he forgot the circumstances, someone who had an enlightened mind and thoroughly comprehended his own nature, so when the king pressed him so earnestly to match the verses he found himself saying the line, “The sun's warmth melts the ice the world around.”

This greatly pleased the king, who told the officials in attendance on him, “Fetch the four treasures of the study, so that our son-in-law can write down the matching verses he composes for us to savor at our leisure.” The venerable elder was glad to comply. Picking up a brush, he produced matching lines. The matching poem on the spring scene read:

The sun's warmth melts the ice the world around;

Within the palace garden, flowers are renewed.

Gentle winds and rain enrich the people;

Rivers and seas are calm; gone is all worldly dust.

The matching poem on the summer scene read:

The Dipper now points South; the day goes slow;

Locust and pomegranate trees contend in brilliance.

Golden oriole and purple swallow sing in the willows,

Their melodious voices drifting through red curtains.

The matching poem on the autumn read:

Fragrant the green mandarin; the orange turns to yellow.

Blue pine and cypress welcome frost's coming.

Half-open chrysanthemums make a tapestry on the trellis;

Pipes and songs waft through the watery, cloud-covered land.