When from his hollow on the hillside Pilgrim heard “Gallery of a Million Mirrors,” he flew into a rage. He pulled his staff from his ear and leaped into the building, striking about wildly. But all he hit was thin air. He struck again, and again he hit nothing.¹

Then he began to curse: “You, King of the Lesser Moon—whose king are you that you would dare to lure my master into this place?” The King of the Lesser Moon continued talking and laughing, as if he had heard nothing. Pilgrim again yelled, “Blind slaves, foul bitches! Why are you singing tales for that hairy monk?”² The three women who sang the plucking rhymes did not seem to have heard anything either. Pilgrim again shouted, “Master, get out of there!” But the Tang Monk, too, heard nothing.

Pilgrim was bewildered. “Am I, Old Monkey, dreaming, or are the people in the World of the Green all eyeless, earless, and tongueless? This is ridiculous, ridiculous! Wait until I find out whether this master of mine is proper or evil, and then I’ll use the skills I used to wreak havoc in Heaven! But for now I’d better not do anything rash.” As before, he tucked away his gold-hooped staff, leaped back to the hill facing the pavilion, and fixed his gaze on them.

What he saw was a tear-soaked Tang Monk. “Don’t allow yourself to be so miserable, Master Chen,” said the King of the Lesser Moon. “Tell me about the chiseling of Heaven. If you have made up your mind not to go, I will disband the Space-Walkers and send them away.” [C. Echoes and concludes episode of the chiseling of the sky. Truly, no thread has been overlooked!]

The Tang Monk said, “I hadn’t made a decision yesterday, but today I have made up my mind: I’ve decided not to go.” The King of the Lesser Moon was overjoyed. He had his orders sent to the Space-Walkers, telling them to stop chiseling at the sky, and at the same time, instructed the actresses to get in costume for a theatrical performance. [C. A way to conclude one episode and start a new one.]

The actresses all knelt in front of him, and reported, “Your Majesty, this is not a day to stage a play.”

“The almanac only tells whether it is a good or a bad day for offering sacrifice, a good or a bad day for planting, a good or a bad day to start school, a good or a bad day to wear hat and sash, or a good or a bad day to travel,” the King of the Lesser Moon said. “I have never seen it have anything to say about it being a bad day for performing a play.”

The actresses again reported: “Your Majesty, it’s not that it would be inauspicious, it’s just that it shouldn’t be done. Master Chen has ten thousand sorrows and a thousand miseries. If we perform a lifelike play that touches a chord in his spirit, he would be reduced to tears again.”

The King of the Lesser Moon said, “What’s to be done then? Let’s have a contemporary play, rather than an old one.”

The actresses said, “That would be better. If it were an old play, we would perform in it. But we would not have to perform in a new one.”³ [K. Wonderful.]

“Nonsense,” said the King of the Lesser Moon. “Today we are throwing a great tea party to congratulate Master Chen. [K. Follow-up of the previous text.] How could we not have a theatrical performance?! Just give us some scenes, as you please—as long as they are especially good.” The actresses consented and withdrew. Two female attendants standing to one side came forward to refresh their tea.

At that time the Tang Monk took a seat. From backstage came a burst of gongs and drums, a burst of painted horns, and a burst of shouting. [K. Like a painting.] Amid the clamor one could hear a proclamation: “Today we will perform The Dream of Mist and Rain at Gaotang, an entire chuanqi play. [K. Subtly continues from the “Mirror of Gaotang.”] But as a prologue, we’ll first do five scenes from The Grand Councilor Sun. [K. Wonderful. He has just interrogated Grand Councilor Qin, and now he serves as Grand Councilor Sun. They naturally mirror each other. Wonderful.] You are sure to enjoy them! Well worth watching!”

Hidden in a hollow of the hill, Pilgrim heard everything clearly. He thought to himself, “First, there will be Grand Councilor Sun, then Dream of Gaotang. It looks like the party will not be over and they won’t leave until all the scenes have been performed, one by one.⁴ I’ll just go somewhere to have some tea, and then I’ll come back to watch over that Old Monk of mine.” [C. Pilgrim does not watch the plays, wonderful. If a scene were performed (for him to see and the reader to read), that would be insipid.]

Suddenly, from behind him, he heard the sound of footsteps. [C. One can make such distinctions in a state of trance.] He turned around to look: it was a Daoist novice, about thirteen or fourteen years old. He said in a loud voice, “Young Reverend Elder, young Reverend Elder, I’ve come to watch the play with you!”

“Good boy,” Pilgrim laughed. “Knowing your ‘old man’ is here, you’ve come to look for me.”

“Don’t tease me,” the Daoist novice said. “My master is not someone to provoke.”

“What is his name?” asked Pilgrim.

The Daoist novice replied, “He is the Master of the Cave of Green Bamboo, who loves to entertain guests and to go traveling.” [K. The Cave of Green Bamboo is introduced this way. Wonderful.]

Pilgrim laughed. “How nice, how nice. He will serve me the tea I need. Young man, stay here in my place for a while: I want you to watch the play for me and keep an eye on whether the party is breaking up. I will just go over to your honorable master’s place and have something to cool me down.⁵ If the party breaks up, I will count on you to come over at once to let me know.”

“That’s easy, for there are no obstacles between here and the cave.” The novice smiled sweetly. “You may simply go in by yourself. I’ll be staying here.”

Pilgrim was very happy. He made his way toward that deep dark place [K. Echoes previous text.], jumping and walking wildly, until he leaped into a brightly lit stone cave. There he bumped into an old man. The old man asked, “Where are you from, Elder? Come in and have some tea.”

“If it weren’t for tea, I wouldn’t have come,” said Pilgrim.

The old man laughed, “Tea is not guaranteed. The Elder may go on your way.”

Pilgrim said, “But if I don’t get tea, I won’t leave!”⁶ [K. Tea. In dream he is trying to comprehend the Chan of tea.⁷ Wonderful.] The two behaved like bosom friends, walking along laughing together.

After passing a stone staircase, they came upon a marvelous site overlooking a stretch of water. Pilgrim said, “This is your residence?”

“Not yet,” the old man said. “This is called ‘Countryside at Twilight: In the Manner of the Ancients.’⁸ [K. Is it a picture? A dream? A real place? Reader, make a guess. This naturally echoes “people in paintings” and “scenes in pictures” in chapter 2.]

Pilgrim scrutinized it. This was truly a wonderful place. On the left was a stretch of countryside with several rocks scattered about. There was a thatched cottage, surrounded by about ten loquat trees with branches and leaves in chaotic profusion. In front of its door was a huge purple cypress and several maple trees, with mists entwined around them: their many branches were woven together like a mountain forest in wind and rain. By the forest a bamboo fence was partially visible, with two or three kinds of flowers planted around it. A middle-aged man, leaning on a green staff on top of which were tied coins for wine,⁹ was taking a leisurely walk along the shallows. Suddenly he sat down and scooped up the clear water to rinse his mouth. After doing this for an hour or so, he stood up and smiled contentedly in the direction of the southeast. [K. This episode is about the pure and cool world, which anticipates his comprehension of the root of desire and his awakening from the dream. However, if he had not experienced the melancholy wind and bitter rain, how could he have reached this pure and cool stage?]

Seeing him smile like this, Pilgrim also looked southeast: he could see neither high towers nor emerald-green terraces, neither high cliffs nor extraordinary peaks—only a few dots hinting at distant mountains veiled by clouds and haze, visible for a moment, then obscured, perhaps existent or perhaps not.

But all Pilgrim could think about was the tea he came to drink; how could he enjoy the mountains and waters? He went forward together with the old man, and suddenly they found themselves in another marvelous site. “This is not my residence either,” said the old man. “It’s called ‘The Taikun Lake, in Imitation of the Ancients.’¹⁰ Coming into their sight were a hundred blue-green peaks in all four directions, several facing up as if staring into the sky, others bending down as if to drink from the lake. Some seemed to be running, or sleeping, or whistling, and there were those sitting opposite each other like scholars, or as if flying, or like ghosts and spirits dancing and drumming, or oxen, horses, and sheep.

Pilgrim laughed, “With the carving of stone horses and human figures complete,¹¹ all we need is the tombstone: is it that you can’t find someone to write the epitaph?”

“My young Elder,” said the old man, “there’s no need to make jokes. Just have a look at the water.” Pilgrim did indeed lower his head to take a careful look. In the water were one hundred inverted blue-green peaks. The ripples on the water were all images of mountains and forests.

Pilgrim was enjoying this sight, when suddenly several fishing boats emerged from the rushes. On most of their bows were sitting unkempt and disheveled old men, singing who knows what song—neither the tune of “Fisherman’s Joy” nor “Picking Lotus.” They sang:

There’s no right and wrong in fishing,

But glory and shame dog those on horseback.¹²

Should you want to go to the World of the Witless [K. The World of the Witless is suddenly mentioned. Unpredictably marvelous!],

Push a little, pull a little,

Pull and scull a bit to the south,

Scull and push,

Push and pull.

When Pilgrim heard “World of the Witless,” he asked the old man, “Where is this World of the Witless?”

The old man asked, “Who are you looking for?”

“A relative of my humble self, called the First Emperor of Qin,” said Pilgrim, “relocated to the World of the Witless. [K. Enters this artery of the story.] I need to have a word with him.”

The old man said, “If you want to, just cross over.¹³ [K. Wonderful.] This band of green hills is mostly his back door.”

Pilgrim said, “In a huge world like this, if I go I would not know where to look for him, so I won’t go!”

“I am also a friend of the First Emperor of Qin,” the old man said. “If you’re too scared to go, just tell me what you want to say to him. I’ll let him know when we get together tomorrow.”

Pilgrim said, “I also have a relative called the Tang Son of Heaven; he needs to borrow the Mountain-Ridding Bell from my relative, the First Emperor of Qin.”

“Oh dear, oh dear!” said the old man. “Just yesterday he loaned it to somebody.”

“To whom?” asked Pilgrim.

“To Emperor Gaozu of Han.”

“At your age, and you are telling fibs like children do!” Pilgrim laughed. “Emperor Gaozu of Han and the First Emperor of Qin are enemies to the death. [K. Seems to echo, and not echo, the episode about Xiang Yu; precisely between intentional and nonintentional.] Why would the First Emperor be willing to lend it to him?”

“My young Elder,” said the old man, “you don’t know that the animosity between Qin and Han has all been resolved now.”

“If this is the case,” said Pilgrim, “when you meet the First Emperor of Qin, tell him that I will come the day after tomorrow to borrow it after Han Emperor Gaozu is done using it.” [K. Concludes the case of the Mountain-Ridding Bell. From chapter 3 all the way to here, everything derives from the three words “Mountain-Ridding Bell,” but in spite of all this, Pilgrim has not made it to the World of the Witless, has not seen the First Emperor of Qin, and has not borrowed the bell. If these had been filled in, that would have been clumsy writing.]

“That is just fine,” the old man said.

Having spoken for quite a while, Pilgrim’s throat was getting ever drier. “Tea, tea!” he cried.

The old man laughed: “My young Elder is a relative of the First Emperor, and I am an old acquaintance of the First Emperor. We are of the same family. If you need tea, I will provide tea; if you need food, I will provide food. Let’s go to my residence.”

Passing the blue-green encircling peaks, the two of them took a different path and finally reached the Cave of Green Bamboo. [K. Finally, we see the Cave of Green Bamboo.] The ground was covered by green mosses, and thick stands of bamboo reached up to the sky. In its midst was a four-room hut built of purple bamboo. Hurriedly they went inside. It turned out that the roof beam was Goddess of the Xiang River bamboo; the pillars, mud-green bamboo; the two leaves of the door were made from “poet’s bamboo” boards that had been woven together with bamboo splints. There was a square bamboo bed; even its curtain was made of fabrics produced from bamboo.

The old man went into a room in the back and brought out two bowls of orchid and camellia tea. Pilgrim took a bowl in his hands and drank several mouthfuls, which quenched his thirst. The old man pulled over a narrow stand made of shiny bamboo,¹⁴ as well as four green-skinned bamboo chairs. The two sat down facing each other. The old man inquired after Pilgrim’s “Eight Characters.”¹⁵

Pilgrim laughed. “We have only just met. We’re not about to swear brotherhood, nor get married. So why do you need my ‘Eight Characters’?”

“I calculate people’s future according to the Heavenly Pool method—and I’m never wrong,” the old man replied. “Since you, young Elder, are a relative of the First Emperor of Qin, my humble acquaintance, I’d like to tell your fortune. [C. This episode of fortune-telling concludes the first part and inaugurates the second part. This is a pivotal juncture in Further Adventures on the Journey to the West.] If it turns out to be useful to you later on, then just consider it a little help from an old acquaintance.”

Pilgrim looked up and thought for a while, then replied, “My ‘Eight Characters’ are exceptionally good.”

The old man said, “I haven’t started calculating yet, so how can you already know that they’re exceptionally good?”

Pilgrim said, “All my life I’ve enjoyed having my fortune told. The year before last there was a dark-green-robed diviner who read my fortune. Once I told him my ‘Eight Characters,’ he was astounded. He stood up and made a deep bow while expressing his respect, saying again and again, ‘So sorry I did not recognize you; excuse me for my disrespect.’ He explained, ‘My good Young Sir, your “Eight Characters” are not the least bit different from those of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.’ I remembered that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven once got so angry in Heaven that he showed off his miraculous powers. It won’t be long now until he becomes a buddha! So if my ‘Eight Characters’ are the same as his, how could they not be good?”

The old man said, “The Great Sage was born on the first day in the first month in the year jiazi.”¹⁶

“I too was born on the first day in the first month in the year jiazi.”

The old man laughed, “It is said that ‘if one’s appearance is good, one’s fortune will be good; if one’s fortune is good, one’s appearance will be good.’¹⁷ This really is the case. Without even mentioning your ‘Eight Characters’ I can tell from your appearance: you happen to have the face of a monkey.”

“Could it be that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven has the face of a monkey?” asked Pilgrim.

The old man laughed. “You are a fake Great Sage Equal to Heaven [K. Wonderful!], so you have only the face of a monkey. If you were the real Great Sage, you would be a monkey sprite.”¹⁸ Pilgrim bent his head, smiling, and asked the old man to hurry up and tell his fortune.

Actually, because he had been born in a stone box,¹⁹ Pilgrim Sun had never known his “Eight Characters.” Only the records in the jade archives in the heavenly realm had taken note of his birthday, and they had only circulated among steep mountains and secret valleys. Now he had resorted to deception to coax them out of the old man. [C. The old man has not necessarily been deceived by Pilgrim; instead, it is Pilgrim himself who has been deceived by others.] How could the old man know that it was all Pilgrim’s fabrication? He began to tell his fortune, saying, “My young Elder, don’t blame me; I don’t know how to flatter others to their faces.”

Pilgrim also smiled. “Not flattering me to my face is even better.”

The old man said, “Great Budding²⁰ Establishes your Fortune. Forest Bell²¹ is Antagonistic; Yellow Bell,²² Beneficent; Maid Purity,²³ to be Shunned; Southern Regulator,²⁴ the Calamitous.²⁵ [K. When the tone is set by Yellow Bell (gong),²⁶ Great Budding is shang (D), Maid Purity is jue (E), Forest Bell is zhi (G), Southern Regulator is yu (A). Since he was born in the first month, and (for the Heavenly Stem) jia the Emolument is in the (Earthly Branch) yin, so it is said that Great Budding establishes his fortune. The fire of zhi harms the metal of shang, so it is said that Forest Bell is antagonistic. Because gong is born of earth, so Yellow Bell is said to be beneficent. The metal of shang impairs the wood of jue, so it is said that Maid Purity is to be avoided. The water of yu undermines metal, so it is said that Southern Regulator is calamitous.] This is the month of Yu, which is controlled by the Star of Calamity, meaning that you will have an accident that fills you with indignation. Moreover, the Star of Biangong²⁷ comes to impact your fortune. Biangong is the ruler of the moon.²⁸ According to the Scripture, ‘With Biangong joining, one has unusual encounters; the beautiful and the talented are united.’ My young Elder, you practice celibacy; I should not talk about marriage. But according to your fate, you should be married.”

“I’ve had several dry marriages,” Pilgrim said. [K. One was with Lady Rākṣasī, the other was with King Xiang Yu.] “Should they count?” [C. Another mention of the case of the Hegemon-King of Chu and Fair Lady Yu.]

The old man said, “As long as they are marriages, it doesn’t matter whether they are dry or wet. At the same time, you are predestined to encounter Maid Purity, the Star of Jue, which is a star that should be shunned at all cost.²⁹ Then suddenly there appears Southern Regulator, the Star of Yu³⁰ in your life, which is again a calamitous star. According to the Scripture, ‘The meeting of the Star to be Shunned³¹ and the Calamitous Star is called the Polluted Sea, which is difficult to deal with even for a man of stone or a horse of iron.’³² Seen in this way, you should have the pleasure of adding members to your family, as well as experiencing the sadness of parting from your kin.”

Pilgrim asked, “Does the addition of one master and parting from another one count?” [C. Mentioning the previous episode again.] [K. Layer after layer is echoed and concluded; this also prepares for the subsequent text. There is nothing superfluous in the writing.] The old man said, “For one who has renounced family life, that would do. It’s only that after today, you will experience strange things. Tomorrow you will be under the control of Shang and Jue stars, which means that you will kill someone.” [C. Preparing for a subsequent episode.] [K. Shang is metal, and jue is wood, while metal damages wood, so it is said that he will kill somebody. Metal refers to the cold and lifeless ether in the West, while the wood is the World of the Green in the East.]³³

Pilgrim thought to himself, “To kill somebody is a small matter. I am not afraid of it.”

The old man resumed, “After three days, there will be a Star of Bianzhi.³⁴ According to the Scripture, ‘Bianzhi is also called the Star of Brightness; even a witless senile man will become intelligent.’ There is benefit within calamity, and calamity within benefit. [K. The star of Great Budding is wood, the shang note is metal, and bianzhi is fire. Fire harms metal, wood produces fire, and metal in turn harms wood. So it is said that there is benefit within calamity and calamity within benefit.] The Sun, the Moon, the Water³⁵, and the Earth³⁶—the four great stars of change—are also coming to affect your life. Again, I am afraid that you, my young Elder, will have to die once before you are able to live.”³⁷ [C. Another mention of Pilgrim exiting from the demonic world.] Pilgrim laughed, “Life or death is no major concern. If I have to die, I will be dead for several years. If I have to live, I’ll be alive for several years.”

In the midst of this pleasant conversation, the Daoist novice rushed in, saying, “Young Elder, the plays are almost over. They have woken up from the Dream of Gaotang. Hurry, hurry.” [K. Like hitting him over the head with a staff.] Pilgrim took a hasty leave of the old man.

After thanking the Daoist novice, he returned along the path on which he had come. He reached the hollow of the hill and concentrated his gaze on the tower. He heard people talking: “There is still an aria from the Dream of Gaotang that has not yet finished.” When Pilgrim heard this, he opened his eyes wide to watch the play. [K. Pilgrim did not watch the plays, wonderful. At this point he unexpectedly watches a bit, which is more wonderful.] On the stage he saw actors costumed as a Daoist and five immortals. The Daoist priest sang:

Delivering this foolish man,³⁸

I have explained about human nature and worldly wisdom.

Men of this world, keep this in mind

When you awake from your dream.³⁹ [K. Mountain Man of Wuling says: This is originally the end of The Handan Dream. Only the “young man by the name of Lu” is changed into a “foolish man.”]

After Pilgrim watched to the end, he saw someone excitedly talking on the stage. “The Dream of Nanke was not very good after all; only Grand Councilor Sun was well done. Grand Councilor Sun was originally Sun Wukong. See how beautiful his wife is and how talented his five sons are. He started out as a monk, but he turned out so well, so very well!” [C. An extraordinary conclusion.] [K. He who did not watch the play listens to those who saw the play talking about the play: wonderful. Hearing another say that the one who saw the [end of the] play is a character in the play is even more wonderful. Makes reference to Lady Rākṣasī and prepares for the episode about King Pāramitā. The marvel lies in this being between intentional and nonintentional. The young monk now has a family, which subtly echoes chapter 2.]

[C. The case of the First Emperor of Qin is not concluded until here. How extraordinary and magical the inhaling and exhaling in this writing are!]