A Guessing Game

Journey to the West 57 A Guessing Game

Don’t make any rain yet, ” Wukong repeated. “ But we must, ” said the Old Woman of the Wind. “ Someone on Earth just prayed for it. ” “ And the Jade Emperor heard the prayers, ” added the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea.

“ The person who recited the prayers is bad, ” said Wukong. “ He’s the Tiger Immortal, and he plans to make the Tang Monk a slave. ” The Dragon King looked concerned. “ That’s terrible. We all want the Tang Monk to reach the Western Paradise. ” “ But we must obey the Jade Emperor’s orders, ” said the woman.

“ Just wait a moment, ” said the monkey. “ I’ll go back down to the ground now. When I raise my iron bar, you can make it rain. ” The woman and the Dragon King agreed to wait a moment. Wukong returned to his body. The sky cleared, and the Tiger Immortal shook with anger. “ Why didn’t my spell work?” he cried.

Bajie laughed at him. “ Some rain! You couldn’t even summon one drop! ” “ I’ll try again, ” said the Tiger Immortal. “ No, you won’t, ” said Wukong. “ You had a chance to summon rain, and you obviously can’t. Now it’s my turn. ” The monkey raised his iron bar into the air. Instantly clouds moved back in, and thunder boomed. Rain began to pour down. The crowd cheered.

The Tang Monk sighed. “ Wonderful! Now all the Buddhist monks will be free. And we can continue our journey. ” The Tiger Immortal stomped over to Wukong. “ I want another contest! ” Wukong laughed. “ Why would you want another contest? You’ll only lose again. ” The Tiger Immortal ignored the monkey’s question. “ I challenge the Tang Monk to a guessing game. ”