The Monkey King
There once was an ape born of magic out of a rock. An egg
fell from a rock and inside was a stone ape. This ape became known as Sun Wu
Kung. Sun Wu Kung after many years came to live with the other apes. One day
the apes declared whoever can walk through the waterfall unharmed shall be the
king. Sun Wu Kung agreed and then jumped through the waterfall unharmed. When
he jumped back through he told them of all the wonders on the other side of the
waterfall. They begged him to take them with him through, so he did. Years of
him being king drew on and he eventually wept realizing he would eventually
die. One of the wiser apes told him that only a Buddha and a Saint transcends
death. So Sun Wu Kung set out to find a saint to teach him how to escape death.
He traveled for many years before finding a saint that was able to teach him. He
sat down with the master and learned how to be a man with many other things. Then
when he was ready the master asked him what he wanted to learn and proceeded to
name off a list. At every thing on the list Sun Wu Kung said he did not want to
learn until the master pretended to be angry and struck him 3 times. To this he
realized it was code for see him later at night for the real truth. At night he
went to the master and passed the test the master gave him and started learning
about how to become immortal. He also learned about magic. One day the master’s
pupils wanted him to transform into a tree so he did. His master was displeased
and sent him back home telling him that he should never reveal who taught him
these things to anyone or she shall lose his soul. He agree and went away
sadly. He taught the apes how to fight when he got home and acquired many
weapons for them as well as a weapon for himself.
Bibliography: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921)
No comments:
Post a Comment