Her hair was piled in a crow-black coiffure;

She wore a green velvet waistcoat.

Her feet were a pair of curving golden lotuses;

Her fingers were as delicate as bamboo shoots in spring.

Her powdered face was like a silver dish,

And her red lips were as glossy as a cherry.

She was a regular beauty,

Even more lovely than the lady on the moon.

After capturing the pilgrim monk that morning

She was going to know the pleasure of sharing his bed.

Monkey said nothing as he listened out for what she might say. Before long the cherry of her lips parted as she said with great pleasure, “Lay on a vegetarian feast, my little ones, and quick. My darling Tang Priest and I are going to be man and wife afterwards.”

“So it's true,” thought Brother Monkey, grinning to himself. “I thought Pig was just joking. I'd better fly in and find the master. I wonder what state of mind he's in. If he's been led astray I'm leaving him here.” When he spread his wings and flew inside to look he saw the Tang Priest sitting in a corridor behind a trellis covered with opaque red paper below and left clear above.

Butting a hole through the trellis paper Monkey landed on the Tang Priest's bald head and called, “Master.”

“Save me, disciple,” replied Sanzang, who recognized Monkey's voice.

“You're useless, Master,” said Monkey. “The evil spirit is laying on a feast, and when you've eaten it you two are getting married. I expect you'll have a son or a daughter to start another generation of monks and nuns. What have you got to be so upset about?”

When the venerable elder heard this he gnashed his teeth and said, “Disciple, in all the time since I left Chang'an, accepted you as my follower at the Double Boundary Mountain and started my journey West, when have I ever eaten meat or had any wicked ideas? Now the evil spirit has captured me she is insisting that I mate with her. If I lose my true masculine essence may I fall from the wheel of reincarnation and be fixed for ever behind the Dark Mountains, never to rise again.”

“No need to swear any oaths,” said Monkey with a grin. “If you really want to fetch the scriptures from the Western Heaven I'll take you there.”

“I can't remember the way I came in,” Sanzang replied.

“Never mind about forgetting,” said Monkey. “You won't get out of here as easily as you came in, which was from the top downwards. If I save you now you'll have to go from the bottom upwards. If you're very lucky you'll squeeze out through the entrance and get away. But if your luck's out you won't be able to squeeze through and sooner or later you'll die of suffocation.”

“This is terrible,” said Sanzang, the tears pouring from his eyes. “What are we to do?”

“No problem,” said Monkey, “no problem. The evil spirit's getting some wine prepared for you. You'll have to drink a goblet of it whether you want to or not. But you must pour it out quickly so that it makes a lot of froth. Then I can turn myself into a tiny insect and fly under the bubbles. When she gulps me down into her belly I'll tear her heart and liver to shreds and rip her guts apart. Once I've killed her you'll be able to escape.”

“But that would be an inhuman thing to do, disciple,” said Sanzang.

“If all you're interested in is being kind you're done for,” Monkey replied. “The evil spirit's a murderess. What do you care so much about her for?”

“Oh well,” said Sanzang, “never mind. But you will have to stay with me.” Indeed:

The Great Sage Sun guarded Tang Sanzang well;

The pilgrim priest depended on the Handsome Monkey King.

Master and disciple had not even finished their discussion when the evil spirit, who had arranged everything, came in along the corridor, unlocked the doors and called, “Reverend sir.” The Tang Priest dared not reply. She addressed him again, and again he dared not reply. Why was that? He was thinking that

Divine energy is dispersed by an open mouth;

Trouble starts when the tongue begins to move.

He was thinking with all his heart that if he obstinately refused to open his mouth she might turn vicious and murder him in an instant. Just when he was feeling confused, wondering which difficult alternative to choose and asking himself what to do, the evil spirit addressed him as “Reverend sir” for the third time.

The Tang Priest had no choice but to answer, “Here I am, madam.” For him to give this reply was to make all the flesh fall off him. Now everybody says that the Tang Priest is a sincere monk, so how could he reply to the she-devil when he was on his way to worship the Buddha and fetch the scriptures from the Western Heaven? What you would not realize is that this was a crisis in which his very survival was at stake, that he had absolutely no alternative; and although he went through the form of replying he was free of desire inside. But when the evil spirit heard his reply she pushed the door open, helped the Tang Priest to his feet, held his hand, stood with her side pressed against his and whispered in his ear. Just look at her as she lays on the charm and makes herself alluring in every possible way. She did not realize that Sanzang was full of revulsion.

“From the way she's making herself so seductive,” Monkey thought with a wry grin to himself, “I'm worried that she might get the master interested.” Indeed:

The monk in demon trouble met a pretty girl;

The she-devil's beauty was truly superb.

Her slender jade eyebrows were like two willow leaves;

Her round face was set off with peach blossom.

Embroidered shoes gave a sight of a pair of phoenixes;

Her crow-black hair was piled high at the temples.

As smiling she led the master by his hand

His cassock was tinged with orchid and musk.

Her arms around him, the she-devil took the master to a thatched pavilion and said, “Reverend sir, I've had a drink brought here to have with you.”

“Lady,” said the Tang Priest, “as a monk I can take no impure food.”

“I know,” the evil spirit replied. “As the water in the cave isn't clean I've sent for some of the pure water from the mating of the Yin and the Yang up on the mountain, and had a banquet of fruit and vegetables prepared. After that you and I are going to have some fun.” When the Tang Priest went into the pavilion with her this is what could be seen:

All within the gates

Was decked in silks and embroideries;

Throughout the hall

Incense rose from golden lion censers.

Black-painted inlaid tables were set in rows,

On which stood dark-lacquered bamboo dishes.

On the inlaid tables

Were all kinds of delicacies;

In the bamboo dishes

Were vegetarian delights:

Crab apples, olives, lotus seeds, grapes, torreya-nuts,

hazelnuts, pine-nuts, lichees, longans, chestnuts, water caltrops, jujubes, persimmons, walnuts, gingko nuts, kumquats and oranges.

There was the fruit that grows on every hill,

The fresh vegetables of each season;

Beancurd, wheat gluten, tree-ear fungus, fresh bamboo shoots, button mushrooms, gill fungus, yams, sealwort, agar, day lily fried in vegetable oil,

Hyacinth beans, cowpeas prepared with mature sauces.

Cucumbers, gourds, gingko, turnip greens.

Peeled aubergines were cooked like quails;

Seeded wax gourds

Taro stewed tender and sprinkled with sugar,

Turnips boiled in vinegar.

Pungent chili and ginger made it all delicious;

All the dishes were a balance of bland and salty.