NO. I 



Ch'uAN MIAO songs and stories — GRAHAM 



211 



a memorial to you) and you can go and be- 

 come an immortal." 



A Mon\ey Went Fishing, or Securing Bud- 

 dhist Sacred Boo1{s (97) 



The monkey changed into a fisherman and 

 daily went fishing (with a line and hook). 

 He hooked the dragon's upper lip. When he 

 pulled, the fishhook broke off in the dragon's 

 upper lip. The dragon's lip therefore pained 

 him every day. Then every day the dragon 

 king called on his soldiers to go and get a 

 doctor and heal it, but they could not find a 

 doctor. 



The monkey daily went to the sand bank 

 to look for his fishhook. One day when he 

 was looking for it two of the dragon king's 

 soldiers came and asked him, "What are you 

 looking for?" He answered, "I am looking 

 for medicine." The two soldiers then said, 

 "Old scholar, our old man's upper lip pains 

 him and he sent us to help him find a doctor. 

 Can you heal him?" The monkey thought, 

 "Probably he has been caught by my fish- 

 hook." He then said, "I can heal it, but I 

 must first look at the injury, then I will give 

 the medicine." Then the two soldiers invited 

 him to come. 



He said, "How can I go since there is so 

 much water?" He had to go down into the 

 water of the stream. The two men then said, 

 "You may get under our fins and close your 

 eyes, and do not open your eyes until we call 

 you." The monkey wanted to see the dragon, 

 so he closed his two eyes. The two soldiers 

 held him under their fins, and in a short time 

 one of them called him, and he opened his 

 eyes and looked. 



When he opened his eyes he had already 

 entered a fine palace. In a little while he 

 heard the soldiers of the dragon king from 

 both sides calling to the dragon king to come 

 and have his wound looked at. 



The monkey heard the inside gate resound, 

 "Gu, ga." He then saw the hands of a big 

 man carrying the dragon king so that he 

 could sit in the chair. Then they requested 

 him to look at the wound. The monkey 

 kowtowed just once to the dragon king and 

 then looked. Then he took a pair of chop- 

 sticks and pushed aside the dragon king's lips, 

 and saw that the fishhook was hooked in the 

 dragon king's upper lip. Then he took the 

 chopsticks and loosened the fishhook a little. 

 He then asked the dragon king, "Is it any 

 better?" The dragon king answered, "It is 

 a little better." Then the monkey sat down 

 and rested a little. The dragon king said, 

 "I am afraid that I will die from this illness." 



The monkey said, "You will not die from 

 this sickness. You will certainly recover." 

 The dragon said, "If you are willing to heal 

 me, I will give you whatever you want." The 

 monkey then used the chopsticks to push open 

 the lips. Then he seized the fishhook with 

 his chopsticks and with one jerk pulled out 

 the fishhook. The lip of the dragon king hurt 

 no longer. 



Then the dragon king called to his daugh- 

 ters to entertain the monkey fisherman. The 

 monkey remained there several days. The 

 dragon king was afraid that he was in a hurry 

 and told his soldiers to give him some gold 

 and silver. The monkey said, "I do not want 

 gold and silver. I only want you to permit 

 me to stay here a few days longer." When 

 the soldiers had reported tliis to the dragon 

 king, he was glad to have him remain longer. 

 He stayed several months. 



One day he was visiting with the women 

 in the palace. The monkey saw a yellow 

 golden club. He then picked it up to play 

 with. He struck with the golden club out- 

 side, and the club flew with him to the sea. 

 Then he knew that this club was an ancient 

 golden club. The dragon king did not pur- 

 sue him. 



The monkey lived until the Tang Dynasty, 

 and the Tang Dynasty king wanted to go and 

 get sacred books. But the king could not go 

 himself because the demons and spooks were 

 very numerous along tlie road. The Tang 

 emperor then sent a messenger to call the 

 monkey to him. The monkey said, "I cannot 

 go. If anybody wants me to go, he must 

 change likenesses with me, and then I will 



go-" 



The Tang emperor himself returned, and 

 for three years sought for a method. One day 

 he came and said to the monkey, "Now I am 

 able to change." The monkey then requested 

 the Tang emperor to change. The Tang em- 

 peror then changed into a big mountain, and 

 the monkey went into the mountain. Then 

 he was unable to come out again. The Tang 

 emperor then said, "Now will you go with 

 me?" The monkey then promised to go widi 

 him. Then the Tang emperor lifted aside 

 the written character that had imprisoned 

 him, and then the monkey came out. The 

 monkey then went with the Tang emperor to 

 the western horizon and brought back the 

 sacred books.'''^ 



"^ The Ch'uan Miao said that this is a story 

 about a monkey of some repute, but they did not 

 know his name. It is evidendy the monkey god 

 Sen Hou Tzu ^Ji'k^^ or Sen Wu K'ung 



