Monkey King

Erh-lang turned himself into a fish hawk,but Wu-k'ung turned himself into a snake and left the water.

Erh-lang realized that the snake was Wu-k'ung and changed back into a sea crane to catch the snake,but the snake changed into a wild goose and stood on the bank of the brook.

Erh-lang resumed his normal appearance.He then used a sling shot to shoot at the wild goose,but the wild goose rolled down a nearby cliff.

Wu-k'ung,who now lay at the foot of the cliff,changed himself again--into a temple.Wu-k'ung's mouth was open,his teeth were the doors,his eyes the window lattices and his tail a flag pole set behind the temple.

When Erh-lang arrived at the foot of the cliff,he saw the temple.He looked at it carefully."Strage,"he said,"to put the flag pole behind the temple rather than on top of it.This must be the monkey playing one of his tricks.He wants to bite me as I enter.But first,I will smash this latticework and then kick in the doors.Wu-k'ung was surprised to hear God Erh-lang's words.He thought,"I can't have my teeth and eyes smashed."In a moment he changed back and sprang up to the sky and disappeared.

The God Erh-lang quickly followed by riding a cloud to the sky.Erh-lang used King Li's enchanted mirror to catch sight of Wu-k'ung,who was flying toward the mouth of the Kuan River.

Above the river,Wu-k'ung disguised himself as God Erh-lang and ran straight into a nearby temple.The ghosts of the temple greeted him respectfully.While Wu-k'ung was sitting in the middle of the temple watching the burning joss sticks,a ghost entered to announced,"Another God Erh-lang has arrived."

The real God Erh-lang dashed into the temple with his magic sword in hand.Wu-k'ung returned to his own appearance.The two fought furiously until their battle brought them back to the Mountain.

Far above the Moutain,the Jade Emperor,his Queen,Kuan-yin of the South Sea and Lao-chun watched the battle.Lao-chun volunteered,"I will help Erh-lang."He then removed a large diamond ring from his finger and threw it down from heaven.Wu-k'ung,who was entirely absorbed in the fight,did not expect a new threat from heaven.The ring struck his on the head and he fell to the ground.Before he could get to his feet,Wu-k'ung was bitten by one of Erh-lang's dogs.

The diamond ring was instantly turned into a rope which tied Wu-k'ung fast.The Monkey King raised up his head,laughed and shouted,"True heroes never stab in the back."