A Surprise at the Fruit and Flower Mountain

Journey to the West 72 A Surprise at the Fruit and Flower Mountain

Wukong went straight to Mount Potalaka. The bodhisattva Guanyin was in her garden. “ Hello, Wukong. How is the journey going?” Wukong threw up his hands. “ The Tang Monk is crazy! ” “ Why?” asked the bodhisattva. “ He told me to leave, ” said the monkey. “ He was mad because I was going to hurt some robbers. ”

Guanyin frowned. “ It’s wrong to hurt people, Wukong. You know that. ” “ I hurt demons all the time, ” said Wukong. “ That’s different, ” said Guanyin. “ Demons are evil, and you’re doing a good thing when you get rid of them. But you must not hurt people. ”

The monkey sat down and put his head in his hands. “ Oh, Bodhisattva, you’re right. ” He started to cry. “ This is terrible. Now I’ll never reach the Western Paradise with the Tang Monk. I wanted to earn forgiveness. ” “ Don’t cry, Wukong, ” said Guanyin. “ You will still help the Tang Monk reach the Western Paradise. He will need your help soon. In the meantime you may stay here with me. ”

Bajie dropped the bags. “ Let’s rest here, ” he said. “ I’m starving. ” The Tang Monk climbed down from his horse and stretched. The horse drank from a stream while Bajie looked in a bag. “ We’re out of rice, ” said the pig. “ We’ll have to beg for food somewhere, ” said Wujing. He looked at the monk. “ Master, you wait here while Bajie and I find a village. ”

The monk’s two companions flew off. The monk sat down in the grass next to the road and closed his eyes. He had nearly dozed off when he heard a voice. “ Master! ” It was Wukong. The Tang Monk glared at the monkey. “ Why are you here, Wukong?” The monkey fell to his knees. “ I’m begging you—please let me join you again. ”