Pig ran over and struck the body with his rake, “I'll take the credit for that,” he said.

“You? The credit?” Monkey replied.

“Don't try to rob me of it,” Pig said, “I've got proof. Can't you see the nine holes I made in him with my rake?”

“See if he's got a head,” said Monkey.

“So he doesn't have a head,” Pig replied. “Now I know why he never moved when I hit him.”

“Where's the master?” Monkey asked.

“Talking to the king in the throne hall,” said Pig.

“Go and ask him to come out,” said Monkey, and Pig hurried up into the hall.

At Pig's nod Sanzang rose to his feet and came out at once to see Monkey, who thrust the declaration of war into his sleeve with the words, “Look after this, Master, and don't let the king see it.”

Before the words were all out of his mouth the king too came out of the hall to greet Monkey and say, “You're back, holy monk, venerable sir. How did the capture of the demon go?”

“Isn't that a demon at the foot of the steps?” Monkey asked, pointing. “I killed him.”

“True,” said the king, “it is the body of an evil spirit, but it isn't the Evil Star Matcher. We have twice seen the Evil Star Matcher with our own eyes. He is eighteen feet tall and nine feet across the shoulders. His face shines like gold and his voice is like thunder. He's not a miserable little wretch like that.”

“You Majesty is right,” Monkey replied, “this isn't him. It's just a little messenger devil I happened to meet. I killed him and brought him back as a trophy.”

“Splendid,” said the king, who was very pleased indeed, “splendid. This is the first success. We have often sent people out to find out what is happening but they never discover anything. Then you just have to go out, holy monk, to bring one straight back. You really do have divine powers.”

“Fetch some warm wine,” he ordered, “and give it to the reverend gentlemen.”

“Never mind about the wine,” said Monkey. “I want to ask Your Majesty whether the Golden Queen left any keepsakes when she went. If so, give me some.” The word “keepsakes” cut the king to the heart. He could not help sobbing aloud with tears pouring down as he replied:

“When we were enjoying the festival that year

The Evil Star Matcher gave a mighty shout,

He took our wife to be his bandit queen;

To save the land we had to send her out.

We had no time for talk or parting words,

Nor could I see her off along her way.

She left no keepsake and no perfume bag;

We would be lonely here until today.”

“Your Majesty is here,” Monkey said, “so why upset yourself?” If the queen didn't leave any keepsake there must be some things in the palace that she's specially fond of. Give me one of them.”

“What do you want it for?” the king asked.

“That demon king's magic powers are quite something,” said Monkey, “and from what I've seen of his fire, smoke and sand he'll be really hard to capture. Even if I do capture him the queen might refuse to come back here with a stranger like me. I must have some favorite thing of hers so that she'll trust me and let me bring her back. That's why I want it.”

“There is a pair of gold bracelets in her dressing room in the Sunlight Palace that she used to wear,” the king replied. “She only took them off that day as it was the Dragonboat Festival and she was going to wear multicolored threads instead. She was very fond of those bracelets. They have been put away in her dressing table. We have not been able to bear the sight of them since she left us: seeing them is like seeing her lovely face, and it makes us feel even more ill than ever.”

“Say no more,” Monkey replied, “and have the bracelets brought here. If you can bring yourself to part with them, give me both. If you can't I'll take just one.” The king ordered the Jade Queen to fetch them, which she did, handing them to the king.

At the sight of them he called out, “My beloved and tender-hearted queen,” several times, then handed them to Monkey, who took them and put them on his arm.

The splendid Great Sage could not stay to drink the celebratory wine, but whistled back to Mount Unicorn on his somersault cloud. Now he had no interest in the view as he headed straight for the cave palace. While he was walking along he heard noisy shouts so he stopped to take a careful look around. About five hundred of the soldiers of all ranks guarding the entrance to Horndog Cave were

Drawn up in massed array,

In close order.

Drawn up in massed array they held their weapons

Gleaming in the sun.

In close order they unfurled their banners

That fluttered in the breeze.

Tiger and bear generals did transformations;

Leopard and tiger-cat marshals were full of spirit.

Fiercely savage were the wolves;

The elephants were mighty and imposing.

Crafty hares and water-deer swung sword and halberd;

Great snakes and pythons carried cutlass and bow.

Orangutans that understood human speech

Controlled the formations and gathered intelligence.

When Monkey saw this he ventured no closer but went straight back the way he had come. Do you know why? Not because he was afraid of them. He went back to where he had killed the little devil, recovered the yellow flag and the gong, made a hand spell, thought of what he wanted to become, faced the wind, shook himself and turned into the likeness of Gocome. Then he started hitting the gong as he strode straight back towards Horndog Cave.

He was going to look at the layout of the cave when he heard an orangutan say, “You're back, Gocome.”

“Yes,” Monkey had to reply.

“Hurry up,” the orangutan said. “Our king is waiting in the Flaying Pavilion to hear what you have to report.” As soon as he heard this Monkey hurried straight in through the main gate beating his gong and looking around. He saw that rooms and halls had been carved out of the beetling crag. On either side bloomed rare and precious flowers, while all around stood ancient cypresses and tall pines. Before he realized it he was through the inner gate, and suddenly looking up he saw a pavilion made light by the eight windows in it. In the pavilion was a splendid chair inlaid with gold on which a demon king was sitting upright. He was a truly terrifying sight. This is what he looked like:

A shimmering red glow rose from the top of his head;

A mighty and murderous air burst from his chest.

Sharp were the fangs that protruded from his mouth;

Red smoke rose from the scorched hair at his temples.

The bristles of his moustache were like embedded arrows;

His body was covered with hair like brushed-up felt.

Eyes bulged like bells to rival the Evil Star:

Hands held an iron mace like Mahadeva.

When Monkey saw the evil spirit he acted towards him in an offhand way, showing no trace of respect, but looking away and keeping on hitting his gong. “So you're back, are you?” said the demon king. Monkey did not reply.

“Gocome,” the demon king asked again, “you're back, are you?” Still Monkey did not reply. The demon king then went over to him, grabbed him and said, “Why are you still beating your gong now you're back home? And why don't you answer when I ask you a question?”

“What do you mean by your 'Why? Why? Why?'“ Monkey replied.

“I told you I didn't want to go but you insisted. When I got there I saw huge numbers of foot soldiers and cavalry drawn up in order of battle. As soon as I was spotted they shouted, 'Seize the demon! Seize the demon!' They pushed and shoved and dragged and carried me into the city, where I saw their king. He told them to cut my head off, but luckily his two groups of advisers said that in international conflicts envoys should not be executed, so I was spared. They took the declaration of war, marched me out of the city, gave me thirty strokes in front of their army, and let me come back here to report. Before long they'll be here to fight you.”