Help from a Dragon

Journey to the West 81 Help from a Dragon

Bajie and Wujing swung their weapons at the demon. “ Ha! ” The demon laughed. “ I’m much too powerful for you! ” From inside the cymbals, Wukong heard the fight. He heard grunts and the sounds of weapons clashing. The Tang Monk cried, “ No! ” Then there was silence.

“ What happened out there?” shouted Wukong. There was no answer. The monkey punched and kicked the inside of the cymbals for hours. But the two cymbals would not come apart. “ This is terrible, ” he said to himself. “ How will I get out of here?” The monkey was about to strike the cymbals again when he heard a voice.

“ Wukong, are you in there?” “ Who is that?” Wukong asked. “ I’m the Gold Dragon, ” said the voice. “ The Jade Emperor sent me to help you. I’ll wedge my horn between the cymbals and pry them apart. ” “ Please hurry! ” said Wukong. Slowly the dragon’s horn poked through. But the cymbals were still tightly clasped together.

Wukong groaned. “ I can’t escape. ” “ Maybe we can find another way to pry the cymbals apart, ” said the dragon. “ Actually, I have a different idea, ” said the monkey. Wukong turned his iron bar into a drill. He made a hole in the dragon’s horn. Then he made himself tiny and climbed into the hole. “ Pull your horn out now! ” said Wukong.

The dragon pulled and pulled and finally got his horn out. The monkey jumped out of the hole and returned to his normal size. “ Thank you, ” said Wukong. “ Now we must free my friends. ” “ We have to be quiet, ” said the dragon. “ The demon is sleeping. ” Wukong nodded. Then he turned toward the cymbals and raised his iron bar. Smash! The cymbals shattered.