Chapter 96

Squire Kou Entertains the Lofty Monk

The Tang Priest Does Not Covet Wealth and Honour

All kinds of matter are really without matter;

No emptiness is truly empty.

Stillness and clamour, speech and silence, all are the same:

Why bother to dream-talk in one's dreams?

The useful includes the useless in its application;

Achievement lurks within failure.

When the fruit is ripe it reddens of itself;

Do not ask how the seed is to be grown.

The story has told how the Tang Priest and his disciples used their magic powers to stop the monks of the Spread Gold Monastery. When the monks saw after the black wind had passed that the master and his disciples had disappeared they thought that their visitors must have been living Buddhas come down to earth, so they kowtowed and went back. Of them we tell no more. As master and disciples traveled West spring was giving way to early summer:

The air was clear, mild and refreshing;

Water chestnuts and lotuses were growing in the pool.

Plums were ripening after the rain;

The wheat was forming as the breezes blew.

Flowers were fragrant where blossoms fell from trees;

The oriole grew tired amid the willow's light branches.

Swallows over the river taught their young to fly;

The pheasants fed their chirping chicks.

South of the Dipper the sun was always seen;

All of creation shone with brightness.

We could never describe in full how they ate at dawn, found shelter at dusk, rounded ravines and climbed hills as they went along their way without incident for a fortnight. Then another city wall appeared in front of them. As they came closer to it Sanzang asked, “What sort of place is this, disciple?”

“I don't know,” Brother Monkey replied, “I don't know.”

“You've been this way before,” put in Pig, “so how can you claim that you don't know? I suppose you're being crafty and just pretending you can't recognize the place to make fools of us.”

“You're being completely unreasonable, you idiot,” said Monkey. “Although I've been this way several times I've always come and gone by cloud high up in the sky. I've never landed here. I had no interest in the place, so why should I have looked it over? That's why I didn't know. I'm not being crafty, and not trying to make a fool of you either.”

While they were talking they came close to the city before they realized it. Sanzang dismounted, crossed the drawbridge and went straight in through the gates. As they went along the main street there were two old men to be seen sitting under a portico and talking.

“Disciples,” said Sanzang, “stand here in the middle of the road, keep your heads bowed and don't run wild. I am going under that portico to ask where we are.”

Monkey and the others stood still as they had been told while the venerable elder went up to the two men, put his hands together and called out, “Greetings, benefactors.” The two old men were idly chatting about such things as prosperity and decay, success and failure, sages and good men, their heroic deeds in ancient times, and where such men were now. Really, they said, it was enough to make you sigh.

When they suddenly heard Sanzang's greeting they returned it and asked, “What do you have to say to us, reverend sir?”

“I am a monk who has come from far away to worship the Lord Buddha,” Sanzang replied, “and I have just arrived here. I wonder what this place is called, and where there are any pious folk from whom I might beg a meal.”

“This is the prefecture of Brazentower,” one of the old men said, “and this is the county of Diling near Brazentower city. If you want vegetarian food, reverend sir, you won't need to beg. Go past this archway to the street running North-south. There's a gate-tower shaped like a sitting tiger facing the East, and that's Squire Kou's house. In front of it is a sign that says 'All monks welcome'. A monk from far away such as yourself will be given all you want. Off you go, and stop interrupting our conversation.”

Sanzang thanked them, turned to Monkey and said, “This is Diling county in the prefecture of Brazentower. The two old men said that on the street running North-south past this archway there is a gate-tower shaped like a sitting tiger that is Squire Kou's house. In front of it is a sign that says 'All monks welcome'. They told me to go there for a vegetarian meal.”

“The West is a land of Buddhists,” said Friar Sand, “and they really do feed monks. As this is only a seat of local government we don't need to present our passport. Let's go and beg ourselves a meal; that'll be all the better for travelling with.” The master and his three disciples walked slowly along the main street, filling all the people in the market with alarm and suspicion as they crowded around, struggling to see what the strangers looked like.

Sanzang told his disciples to keep their mouths shut, saying, “Behave yourselves! Behave yourselves!” The three of them kept their heads bowed, not daring to look up. Then they turned a corner and did indeed see a main road running North-south.

As they were walking along it they saw a gate-tower like a sitting tiger. On a screen wall inside the gateway hung a great sign on which were written the words “All monks welcome.”

“The West is indeed the land of the Buddha,” said Sanzang. “Nobody, however clever or stupid, is dishonest. I did not believe what the two old men told me. Now I know it is just as they said.” Being the boor that he was, Pig wanted to go straight in.

“Just a moment, idiot,” said Monkey. “Wait till someone comes out so we can ask what to do before we go in.”

“Big brother's right,” said Friar Sand. “If we don't show respect for his privacy we might irritate the benefactor.” They let the horse rest and put down the luggage outside the gates. A little later a slave came out with a steelyard and a basket in his hands that the sudden sight of the strangers made him drop in alarm.

“Master,” he reported, running inside, “here are four strange-looking monks outside.” At the time the gentleman was walking with a stick in the inner courtyard, reciting the name of the Buddha. When he heard the report he dropped his stick and went out to welcome them. Their ugliness did not frighten him.

“Come in, come in,” he said. Behaving with all courtesy, Sanzang went inside with him.

The gentleman led them along a passageway and into a house, where he said, “The upper building includes a Buddha hall, a surra library and a refectory for you gentlemen. The lower building is where your disciple's family lives.” Sanzang expressed endless admiration. He brought out and put on his cassock to worship the Buddha, then went up into the hall to have a look. What he saw was:

Clouds of incense,

Dazzling candles.

The-ball was filled with a brocade of flowers;

All around was gold and many colours.

From red frames

Hung a bell of purple gold;

On a lacquered stand

Was set a matching decorated drum.

Several pairs of banners

Were embroidered with the eight treasures;

A thousand Buddha statues

Were all covered in gold.

Ancient bronze incense-burners,

Ancient bronze vases,

Carved lacquer tables,

Carved lacquer boxes.

In the ancient bronze incense-burners

Was always eaglewood incense;

In the ancient bronze vases

Were the colours of lotus blossoms.

On the carved lacquer tables

Were fresh fruits;

In the carved lacquer boxes

Fragrant petals were piled.

In glass bowls

Was pure, clear water;

In crystal lamps

The fragrant oil shone bright.