A Problem for the Lion Demon

Journey to the West 93 A Problem for the Lion Demon

The elephant and the raptor stared at the lion. “ Sun Wukong is alive inside you, ” said the raptor. “ Aren’t you worried?” The lion sat down on his throne. “ Worried about what?” “ Well, ” said the raptor. “ The monkey is talking inside you. Doesn’t that bother you?” “ Let him talk, ” said the lion defiantly. “ It doesn’t bother me at all. ”

“ What shall I talk about?” Wukong called. “ Who wants to hear a story?” The elephant shook his head slowly. “ What if the monkey never stops talking? You’ll never get any sleep. ” “ Hmm, ” said the lion. “ That would be bad. ” He thought for a moment. “ I know what to do. I’ll stop eating. ” “ What will that do?” asked the elephant. “ Yes, ” said Wukong. “ What will that do?”

“ If I don’t eat, Wukong doesn’t eat, ” said the lion. “ I’ll make him starve. ” Wukong laughed. “ Nice try, lion! But I’ll just turn one of my hairs into a stove. I’ll cook a nice meal in here! ” “ Oh dear. ” The raptor shook his head. “ If that monkey fires up a stove, it will make you very hot. Plus it will create lots of smoke. The smoke will fill your head, and you’ll never stop sneezing! ”

At last the lion was starting to look nervous. “ That would be terrible, ” he said. “ I’d better cough out Wukong. ” The lion went to the middle of the room. He bent over and coughed. “ Ahugh! Ahugh! ” Wukong laughed. “ I’m still in here! ” “ Ahugh! Ahugh! ” The lion coughed again. But still Wukong stayed inside him.

“ I’m going to practice my fighting skills, ” announced the monkey. Boomph! Pow! Boomph! Pow! Wukong punched and kicked inside the lion. The lion fell to his knees. “ Ohh! ” he moaned. “ It hurts! It hurts! Wukong, please stop! ” “ Let’s make a deal, ” said Wukong. “ I’ll come out if you promise to let us cross the mountain safely. ”