The story continues: Pilgrim was just having a look at “Heaven No. 2.” In an ancient bronze mirror with engraved decorations, there was a stone stele erected beneath a great cypress tree. It had twelve seal characters carved on it: “World of the Ancients, Which Originally Adjoined the World of the Delirious.”¹ Pilgrim thought to himself, “If this is the World of the Ancients, the First Emperor of Qin must be here. [C. It is because of the First Emperor of Qin that Mind-Monkey is all mixed up.] The palace maid who was sweeping the floor in New Tang the other day mentioned that he had a certain Mountain-Ridding Bell. [K. Connection at a distance.] Wait until I grab him and snatch the bell from him—I’ll sweep clean all the mountains and ravines that block the way to the West and drive them away. Monsters will have nowhere to hide, and robbers nowhere to hang out.”

With that he changed into a worm that eats through bronze. He climbed up on the surface of the mirror, took a serious bite, and bored right through the mirror. [C. Woe to the Great Sage, who has entered a mirror again.] At once he fell onto a high pavilion. Hearing human voices below, he dared not resume his original form; instead, he remained a boring insect and, hiding in the green window lattice, peeped inside.

As it turned out, in the World of the Ancients there was a beautiful woman called Madame Green Pearl² who spent her days giving banquets, entertaining her guests with music and wine and the chanting of poetry.³ After much careful thought and planning, she had created this pavilion, a hundred feet tall, and named it the Pavilion de Mélange de Parfums.⁴

It happened that on that very day Lady Xishi⁵ and Mademoiselle Sisi⁶ had come by to offer congratulations on the completion of the new pavilion. [C. Right from the start he happens to meet a company of women.] Green Pearl was delighted and ordered a banquet with wine prepared and delivered to the Pavilion de Mélange de Parfums for a sisterly gathering. Mademoiselle Sisi sat in the middle with Madame Green Pearl on her right and Lady Xishi on her left. A company of maids, their hair in buns and carrying perfumed fans, swarmed around them; some poured wine, some brought and arranged flowers, and some carried bowls for dice.

Still in the lattice, Pilgrim conceived a clever plan: he changed into the likeness of a maid [K. How could our Great Sage have transformed into a maid? A grave, grave mistake.] and mingled among them. How was he made up?

With the chignon in the style of the Goddess of the River Luo,⁷

Eyebrows in the style of Zhu Xiaoji (Su’s poem: Zhu Xiaoji with unpainted eyebrows),⁸

The slender waist preferred by the King of Chu,⁹

And robes to the taste of the Han Emperor.¹⁰

Above are earrings that dangle in the autumn breeze;

Below are feet in the shape of lotus cups.

The maids there, all smiles, now began to laugh aloud: “Our Pavilion de Mélange de Parfums is indeed a pavilion of a mélange de parfums! Even though she is not one of ours, she found her way in!”

Another maid said to Pilgrim, “Sister, have you met Madame Green?”¹¹

Pilgrim replied, “Elder Sister, I am new here. Please take me to meet her.”

That maid, all smiles, introduced her to Madame Green. Madame Green was taken aback. With tears streaming down, Madame Green said, “Fair Lady Yu, I haven’t seen you for such a long time! [K. Extraordinary writing.] Why does your fair face express such sadness?”

Pilgrim thought to himself, “Strange! Ever since I, Old Monkey, came to life in the stone box¹² [K. Laying down the root for the divination and fortune-telling in chapter 13.], I have never experienced saṃsāra by going through birth and death as a man or a woman [K. What confronts him here is nothing other than saṃsāra, life and death as a man or a woman; how can he say he has never experienced it?], never found myself among such elegant women. When could I have known some Madame Green? When could I have ever been some Fair Lady Clay,¹³ or Bronze, or Iron, or Grass? But since she thinks so, I’ll just have some fun with them, whether I am Fair Lady Yu or not. This is ‘to use a mistake to counter a mistake.’ But there is just one thing. If I’m Fair Lady Yu, that means I must have a husband. [K. To change into a maid was already a mistake, to usurp Fair Lady Yu’s identity is another mistake, and to think about Fair Lady Yu’s husband is even more of a mistake. The more he thinks, the more rash he becomes; the more deceptive he is, the more bewitched he becomes. Our Great Sage is in grave danger!] If one of them brings this up, a donkey can’t bray with the horse’s voice, and my true colors will be revealed. I will just have to do some probing and find out about my husband, so that I can join in on the banquet.”

Madame Green again called out, “Lady Yu, come and join us. Our wine may not be of top quality, but it can dispel our cares.”

Thereupon Pilgrim made a “windy and rainy” despondent face and said to Madam Green, “Elder Sister, as the proverb goes, ‘Wine delights happy hearts.’ My husband and I are unable to see each other. [K. Missing one’s husband and missing one’s master: are they the same, or different? This question is respectfully put to the practitioners of Chan.] ‘Fine threads of rain, petals borne on a breeze’¹⁴—so long these scenes have pierced my heart! How can I swallow any wine?”

Shocked, Madam Green turned pale. “How could you say something like this! Your husband is the Hegemon-King of Chu, Xiang Yu.¹⁵ The two of you are now in the same place; how is it that you are unable to see each other?” [K. Insinuating that the company of the Tang Monk, master and disciples, are at the same place; how is it that they are unable to see each other?]

As soon as Pilgrim heard the five words “Hegemon-King of Chu, Xiang Yu,” he answered, even without thinking, “Elder Sister, there is something you don’t know. The Hegemon-King of Chu of today is different from the Hegemon-King of Chu in the old days! There is a maid in the palace called Chusao.¹⁶ [K. Subtly points toward the Tang Monk’s acceptance of Wuqing as his disciple in the final chapter.] She uses her many charms and numerous tricks to entice my husband and to drive us ever farther apart. Sometimes while we are strolling in the moonlight, I don’t look at the plants in the ponds. She, however, will be leaning against the railing, as if lost in thought. My husband will say what a charming way she has of looking at something. Once while we were viewing flowers, without my calling for wine, she brought out a crackled ice-patterned pot from the mansion filled with the ‘Jade Dew of the Purple Flower’¹⁷ and presented it all respectfully, saying, ‘My gracious lord, may you live a thousand years.’ When taking her leave, she shot suggestive glances at my husband, who made ‘flower eyes’ back at her. [K. This Great Sage, as soon as he transforms into Lady Yu, his mouth is full of a demonic aura. It is true that one’s original nature is so easy to lose.] I am totally devoted to him, hoping that we can remain together forever, as mandarin ducks.¹⁸ When I see the two of them treat me as goods stored away on a shelf, how can I help but feel resentful and sad? At that time my husband said that I was not being nice to him and that I was being unfair to Chusao. I saw him pick up his sword and sheath by the bed, strap them on his back, and without calling any of his aides, he headed straight off by himself. I have no idea where he went. It was twenty days ago that he left. [K. Secretly following the fifth day of the third month.] It has been more than half a month, and I have not heard a word from him.”

Once she finished speaking, she began to weep openly. Seeing this, Madame Green half soaked her own gauze sleeves with tears. Xishi and Sisi, too, sighed with sorrow. Even the maids carrying wine containers had a bellyful of tears; they sniffled as the pain reached their hearts. [K. Anticipating the heartache later in the text.] Truly:

A sad person should not talk to another sad person,

Talking to another sad person only makes the sadness grow.¹⁹

As the four of them finally took their seats, Xishi said: “Since this evening Fair Lady Yu isn’t feeling very happy, the three of us should take turns relieving her feelings. We should not add to her distress.” She thereupon picked up six dice and, with them in her hands, said loudly: “Sisters in the feast, listen to my rules. If in the first cast there is no ace, each is to recite a line of ancient poetry. If in the second cast there is no deuce, each is to confess something from her love life. In the third cast if there is no trey, I’ll drink a goblet myself, as a penalty, and ‘fly the goblet’ to another.”²⁰

Xishi threw the dice and called, “There is no ace in the first cast.” Green Pearl chanted, in her charming young voice [K. One “Elegy to the Wrongly Killed”²¹ has given rise to how many diversions and distractions. Since ancient times, scholars and beautiful women become sad under the moon and shed tears in the face of flowers. They fall into the fortress of sadness, mostly being roused by amorous verses and flowery language. Such is the depth of the encumbrances caused by the Chan of Words!],

When my lord does not come, the cold night is so long.²²

Sisi praised her, laughing, “Such a marvelous double entendre in this line.” She also recited a line:

The jade person’s ornaments and pendants tinkle in the autumn wind.²³

Pilgrim then thought to himself, “Now it is Old Monkey’s turn. I remember some lines from other kinds of writing, but when it comes to verse, that rather gives me a headache. Worse yet, I don’t know whether Fair Lady Yu can write poetry or not. If she can’t write poetry, that would be fine. But if she can write well, I don’t know how to play this show to the finish. I’ll be left with a beginning but no end.”

Madame Green asked the Fair Lady to chant her line. Seeming modest but also seeming to refuse, seeming to tell the truth but also seeming to lie, Pilgrim replied, “I am no good at poetry.”

Xishi laughed: “Your Ladyship’s collection of poetry is well known all over the Central Plain.²⁴ Even children know that you are gifted at writing poetry and compiling rhapsodies. Why are you so hesitant?”

Pilgrim had no choice but to gaze at the sky, thinking hard. After thinking fruitlessly for a long while, he asked those seated at the table, “Would it be all right if I do not use an established line composed by the ancients?”

Madame Green said, “This should be decided by our mistress of ceremonies.”

Pilgrim then asked Xishi, who replied, “Why not? Whatever Your Ladyship writes will become an established line by the ancients.” [K. In the World of the Ancients there are absolutely no lines by people of today.]

All those present inclined their ears to listen attentively. Pilgrim recited one line:

My thoughts of repentance fly off with the clouds and rain.²⁵

“How do you like Her Ladyship’s line?” Madame Green asked Sisi.

“Who would dare to say,” said Sisi, “that Her Ladyship’s poetry is not good? Only this line has a tinge of monkishness.”

Xishi laughed: “Her Ladyship actually was a female monk for half a month.” [K. She should have said that the monk has been the lady for half a day. Today’s little monks are used to being ladies. Are they male or female? Buddha told the bodhisattvas and the mahāsattvas: this is exactly what it is.]

Pilgrim said, “Don’t tease me. Could I ask our mistress of ceremonies to pass the dice bowl?”

Xishi hurriedly passed the dice bowl to Madame Green.

Madam Green raised her hands, tossed the dice, and said in a loud voice, “In the second throw there is no deuce.”

Xishi said, “It is easy for you to make a confession, but for me it is difficult.”

“Elder Sister,” Madame Green asked, “how is it that it is difficult for you?”

“Humpf!” replied Xishi. “You embarrass me on purpose. How could you not know that I have had two husbands?” [K. The two husbands here parallel the three masters in chapter 9.]

Madam Green said, “We are all of one family here, despite our different family names. [K. Remotely anticipating the adoptive brother, the father and son who have never seen each other, and the betrothed couple that never shared a bed in chapter 15.] What’s there to be hesitant about? I have an idea. Elder Sister, first confess something about the King of Wu, and then something about young Fan.”

Hearing this, Xishi made her confession without much thinking:

Young Fan: green years by the Willow Creek;

King of Wu: rosy cheeks in the jade palace.

Young Fan: making the oath in the sun on Mount Kunlun;

King of Wu: sleeping at night among the paulownia trees.

Young Fan: bemoaning the moon on the Five Lakes;²⁶

King of Wu: inebriate, his sadness as boundless as the sky.²⁷

Having heard this, Green Pearl made her confession, tapping the wine cup:

I was bought for peck of pearls,

But my tears could fill a million bushels.

This evening at the Pavilion de Mélange de Parfums;

Other years at the Terrace of Preserved Fragrant Snow.²⁸ (In Shi Chong’s estate there was the Terrace of Preserved Fragrant Snow.)²⁹

Green Pearl’s every word was accompanied by a sigh. Xishi spoke loudly, “Penalty! I wanted you to confess something happy, but what you have confessed is unhappy.”

Madame Green acknowledged her guilt and drank her forfeit. Then Sisi asked Pilgrim to go ahead, and Pilgrim asked Sisi to take her turn. They pushed the dice back and forth for a long time, but neither confessed.

Madame Green said, “I have an idea. Let Sister Sisi say something, to be followed by Fair Lady Yu.”

Xishi intercepted, “It’s impossible. The Hegemon-King of Chu is so heroic and valorous, whereas young Shen³⁰ is such a tender- and warm-hearted gentleman—how could they make the lines match?”

Sisi laughed, “Never mind: she is she, I am me. Let me make my confession first.” She went on:

Shedding tears in the moonlight at the Southern Tower.

Having relaxed his vigilance, Pilgrim blurted out without thinking [K. So much playacting, extremely rash. Here he is not vigilant and says something that reveals his original nature. This is the point where he should turn back.]:

Revering Buddha in the Western Heaven!

Madam Green said, pointing at Pilgrim, “Lady Yu, I think that you must have become confused in your thinking. Why do you want to start ‘revering Buddha in the Western Heaven’?”

“These words are profound and extremely difficult to understand,” said Pilgrim. “They need interpretation and explanation. ‘Heaven’ means husband; ‘Western’ is Western Chu; ‘revering’ means being devoted; and ‘Buddha’ means the heart.³¹ That is to say, I devote my heart to my husband of Western Chu. [K. Wonderful interpretation. With this root of wisdom, it is not surprising that he can extricate himself from danger.] Although he finds me repulsive, I think only of him.”

Madame Green could not praise this explanation enough.

Pilgrim was afraid that he was staying so long at the banquet that it was interfering with his journey, so he feigned drunkenness, as if he were about to throw up.

Xishi said, “We will forgo the third round. Let’s go view the moon.” With that, the banquet was cleared away.

The four of them walked down from the pavilion, treading on some wildflowers and toying with water plants as they wished. To look for the First Emperor of Qin was the only thing on Pilgrim’s mind, so he came up with a scheme to extricate himself. He cried out, “My heart aches unbearably. It’s unbearable! Please let me go home!”

Madame Green said, “Heartache is our constant companion; it is nothing to worry about. Let me send for the Father of Medicine, Master Qi, to check your pulse.”³²

“That won’t do, that won’t do,” Pilgrim replied. “These days, physicians are the last people I want around me. Their specialty is to make living persons die and make minor ailments worse. When the patients are recuperating, they want to have quick results to report, with no regard for the lives of the patients. [K. Physicians of this world make a practice of dispatching people to the World of the Ancients. The physicians in the World of the Ancients then directly send people to the World of the Future.³³ Such skilled doctors should all be sent to the World of the Witless, and that path should be blocked forever, so that beings in Heaven or under Heaven might all live somewhat longer.] While the function of the spleen has not been restored, the patients are given ginseng and baizhu,³⁴ which will have an adverse effect on them for life. It would be better for me to just go home.”

Madame Green said, “When you get back home, if you don’t see the King of Chu, you will feel depressed, and if you do see Chusao, you will feel resentful. [K. Calls forth what follows.] People with heart conditions should by all means avoid depression and resentment.”

The sisters all tried to talk Pilgrim into staying, but he adamantly refused to stay the night there. Seeing that his illness was acute and that she was unable to detain him, Madame Green could only send four close attendants of hers to escort Fair Lady Yu to her residence. Pilgrim put on a “sleepy-eyed face while clutching the heart”³⁵ [K. This is a key link, the same as “windy and rainy face.”] and took leave of the sisters.

The four attendants supported Pilgrim down the Mélange de Parfums. As they walked toward a big road, Pilgrim said, “The four of you should go now. But be certain to convey my deep gratitude to Madame Green Pearl, and my regards to Lady Xishi and Mademoiselle Sisi. I’ll see them again tomorrow.”

They said, “While we were leaving, Madame Green told us to escort you all the way to the residence of the King of Chu.”

Pilgrim said, “You really don’t want to go back? Then watch out for my staff!” His gold-hooped staff was already in his hands, and after one powerful stroke the four attendants had become red powder.

Pilgrim then recovered his original form. [K. The second time the gold-hooped staff has been used since he tucked it in his ear in chapter 1 after its use. If he had not used his staff, how could he have resumed his own form?] As he looked up, it turned out that he was at the gate of Nüwa’s³⁶ residence.

Pilgrim was overwhelmed with joy. “My heaven [K. The Great Sage is mistaken: it was not “your” heaven. A sudden link at a distance (with an earlier sequence): wonderful!] was chiseled open by the Space-Walkers on the orders of the King of the Lesser Moon, and yet yesterday I was blamed for it. Even though the Old Master is despicable, and the Jade Emperor is not very smart, I, Old Monkey, am not blameless—I should not have made myself an object of ridicule five hundred years ago. [K. A tie to the parent book.] Even so, I won’t go there to deal with the matter now. I have heard that Nüwa has long been good at mending heaven. [K. The heaven of desire (qing) is difficult to mend: what could Nüwa do?] Today I’ll request Nüwa to mend it for me. Only then will I go crying up to the Palace of Divine Mists to clear my reputation. This is such a good opportunity.”

He walked up to the gate and saw the two leaves of the black lacquered door tightly shut. There was a slip of paper pasted on it, with these words:

On the twentieth I am leaving to pay an informal visit to Xuanyuan³⁷ at his residence [K. The date is based on the fifth day (of the third month).] and will be back on the tenth of next month. I apologize in advance for being unable to provide hospitality to any distinguished visitors.

Having read this, Pilgrim turned to walk away. He heard a cock crow three times, for the day was about to dawn. He had traveled millions of miles, but he still had not seen the First Emperor of Qin. [K. Back to the main plot line.]

[C. In every instance the teasing and laughter is captured like in a picture. Elegant and not suffering from being overstuffed, they are as clean and slender as plum blossoms.]

[K. Ashamed to confess for fear of shame for having two husbands, Xishi is indeed an inhabitant of the World of the Ancients.]³⁸