Monkey: A Journey to the West. - book reviews

Western literature has no equivalent to The journey to the West. Imagine Dante mixed with Kabala, and peopled by Daniel Boone, Mother Teresa and Wile E. Coyote. This sixteenth-century epic is both one of the half-dozen most venerated works in classical Chinese literature and a staple of popular culture. Its ubiquitous characters and stories appear in comic books, advertisements, even postage stamps. It is, simultaneously, a dragons-and-demons adventure, an allegory of self-mastery, a political satire, an anthology of rich, symbolic poetry, and an esoteric alchemical recipe book. It's picaresque, fantastical, wise. And hilarious.

With Arthur Waley's wonderful 1943 translation out of print, the best short English version is Monkey. If that nibble tantalizes, then try the whole banquet, the four well-annotated volumes of The journey to the West, which include the full text and all the poetry left out of the shorter treatments.

* Monkey had been sailing along for some time when he saw in the distance five flesh-colored pillars standing straight up in the sky. "This must be the end of the line," he thought. "When I get back the Buddha will be my witness and the Palace of the Divine Mists will be mine." But just as he was starting to turn around, he had another thought. "Wait a minute," he declared to himself. "Shouldn't I leave some evidence, just in case the Buddha doesn't believe me?" He plucked a hair from his body and blew on it with his magic breath, saying, "Change!" It instantly became a writing brush charged with heavy ink. Walking to the central pillar, he wrote, "The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, was here!" And then, in utter disrespect, he pissed against the base of the pillar.

When Monkey had somersaulted back and was standing again on Buddha's palm, he cocked his hat and said, "Well, I took my little journey, and now I'm back. You can tell the jade Emperor to vacate his palace."

"Why, you stinking baboon, you never once left the palm of my hand."

"Don't display your ignorance," said Monkey. "I went to the farthest reaches of Heaven, and when I found five flesh-colored pillars I left my mark on the middle pillar. Would you like to go out with me and have a look?"

"No need," the Buddha answered. "Just drop your head and have a look yourself." Monkey peered down, and there, scrawled on the middle finger of the Buddha, was written, "The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, moment he caught a whiff of monkey urine coming from the fork between the Buddha's thumb and first finger.-Monkey

* All at once they saw a body floating downstream. Tripitika stared at the moving body in terrified disbelief. "Don't worry," Monkey said, "it's only you."

"It's you, it's you," Pigsy cried.

Clapping his hands, Sandy repeated, "It's you, Master, it's you!"

"Congratulations!" The boatsman said. "It's you all right -- and there you go!"

They soon reached the other shore. Tripitika skipped lightly from the boat and jumped onto the bank. He had achieved transcendent wisdom and, having discarded his earthly body, had also cleansed his senses and become the master of his

* The dragon extending sharp claws; The monkey lifting his rod. The whiskers of this one hung like white

jade threads; The eyes of that one shone like

red-gold lamps. The mouth beneath the whiskers of that

one belched colored mists; The iron rod in the hands of this one

moved like a fierce wind. That one was a cursed son who brought

his parents grief; This one was a monster who defied the

gods on high. Both had to suffer because of their plight. They now want to win, so each

displays his might. --The journey to the West, Volume I

Monkey (A journey to the West) David Kherdian. 1992; 209 pp. ISBN 0-87773-652-9 $10 ($13 postpaid) from Shambhala Publications, Order Dept., PO Box 308, Boston, MA 02117-0308; 617/424-0228

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