65: Journey to the West

The family went on holiday yesterday; it is deeply strange to be racketing around the house this evening, it seems like ages and they only left at one o’clock yesterday. I wonder if they are enjoying themselves, in the cottage in the vineyard on Mersea Island, playing board games and eating the snacks they brought from home in the cold bag (including two cartons of juice that were ordered for me, rude). The cats are very well behaved. I have fed them at the right times and the rabbit as well, checking he was actually drinking his water and topping up the water dishes of the cats, cleaning up poop from the litter tray, making sure they are both in the house before it gets dark. I don’t want Bilbo to be out all night. I make sure I shut both of them in the kitchen yesterday evening because I didn’t want them scratching at my door this morning, sharking for their breakfast. I haven’t really done much cleaning up and the risotto stuff is half washed up, but I have plenty of time for that. I had bacon sandwiches for breakfast and cheese on toast this evening. I also made a trip to the Co-Op for Coke, illicitly pleased that no one is here to lecture me on consuming junk. I’ll have tortillas tomorrow, chicken, grated cheese and lettuce in nicely warmed plain wraps.

I kept up that I wanted to have the house to myself, but it is rather sad and lonely. The cats can’t talk; petting them is nice, and making Darcy purr made me quite happy since she’s so nervous all the time and mostly runs away from me, but it isn’t the same as having human company. I was worried about Toast today as he seems quite limpid and didn’t appear to be drinking. I marked the water level on his bottle and tested it to make sure that he could actually get water out of it – and it does appear he is drinking it after all.

I have been reading Saiyuki Gaiden online which is about the past of the four main characters of Gensomaden Saiyuki - Sha Gojyo, Genjyo Sanzo, Son Goku and Cho Hakkai – when they dwelt in Heaven. The reviewers are right; there is something ineffably sad about the way Son Goku and Konzen Douji get on, knowing the tragic way it ends, but there is also the knowledge that when he is reborn he looks after Goku again, comes to find him when Goku was calling. They do look like their new reincarnations but also they don’t; they are easily defined as different characters.

One of the ideas I floated for NaNoWriMo 2010 was of rewriting Journey to the West, called in the original Chinese Hsi Yu Chi into perhaps a modern vernacular, so I’ve been reading up on the plot and structure which I will keep very similar. Below are the chapter titles of part one and part two and up to chapter twenty-five in part three, which I found from the translation on Amazon. I may purchase it someday when I have more money, or get the parents to buy it for me for Christmas if they still love me by then. I’m not entirely sure that they will; but then, how is that new? I don’t feel like anybody really loves me. I doubt every expression of it, because I don’t really feel like I deserve to be loved. I disappoint everyone.

PART ONE

1: the divine root conceives and the spring breaks forth; as the beast’s nature is cultivated, the great way arises

Sun Wukong is born from the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.

2: he becomes aware of the wonderful truth of enlightenment; by killing the demon he realises his spirit-nature

Sun Wukong realizes his mortality and sets out to seek enlightenment. He impresses the patriarch Bodhi who names him and teaches him. Sun Wukong learns the 72 transformations and all kinds of powers before being turfed out of the temple for boasting by his master.

3: the four seas and thousand mountains all submit; in the ninth hell the tenth category is struck off the register

Sun Wukong defeats the four dragon gods of the four seas and gains Ruyi Jingu Bang along with other trophies. He defies Hell's attempt to take his soul and wipes his name, along with the names of all other monkeys he knows, from the Book of Life and Death.

4: dissatisfied at being appointed protector of the horse; not content with the title of equal to heaven

Sun Wukong becomes dissatisfied with his new job in Heaven, assumes the title of great sage equal to heaven and forces Heaven to accept it as they can't subdue him, and they gave him another title. When they excluded him from a banquet for important deities he decided to rebel against Heaven.

5: after chaos among the peaches the great sage steals the pills; in the revolt against heaven the gods capture the demons

Sun Wukong steals the peaches of immortality, the pills of longevity and the royal wine and starts his rebellion.

6: guanyin comes to the feast and asks the reason why; the little sage uses his might to subdue the great sage

Sun Wukong fights the armies of Heaven and the war god Nezha, eventually capturing him and putting him into the eight trigrams furnace to be distilled down into an elixir.

7: the great sage escapes from the eight trigrams furnace; the mind ape is fixed beneath five elements mountain

Sun Wukong escapes, stronger than ever. The Heavens appeal to the Buddha for assistance and he makes a bet with Sun Wukong, eventually capturing him and imprisoning him under a mountain for 500 years.

PART TWO

8: our Buddha creates the scriptures and passes on perfect bliss; guanyin obeys a decree and goes to Chang’an

9: chen guangrui comes to grief on his way to his post; the monk of the river current avenges his parents

10: with a stupid plan the dragon king breaks the laws of heaven; minister wei sends a letter to an officer of hell

11: after touring the underworld, taizong returns to life; by presenting a pumpkin liu quan continues his marriage

12: the tang emperor keeps faith and holds a great mass; guanyin appears to the reincarnated golden cicada

PART THREE

13: he falls into the tiger’s den and is saved by the planet venus; on double-forked peak boqin entertains the priest

14: the mind ape returns to truth; the six bandits disappear without trace

15: on the coiled snake mountain the gods give secret help; in the eagle’s sorrow gorge the thought-horse is reined in

16: the monks of the guanyin monastery plot to take the treasure; the monster of the black wind mountain steals the cassock

17: brother monkey makes trouble on the black wind mountain; guanyin subdues the bear spirit

18: the tang priest is rescued in the guanyin temple; the great sage removes a monster from gao village

19: in the cloud pathway cave sun wukong wins over zhu bajie; on pagoda mountain xuanzang receives the heart sutra

20: the tang priest meets trouble on the yellow wind ridge; pig wins mastery halfway up the mountain

21: the protectors of the faith build a farm for the great sage; lingji from sumeru pacifies the wind devil

22: pig fights a great battle in the flowing sands river; moksa obeys the dharma and wins friar sand over

23: sanzang does not forget the basic; the four holy ones have their piety tested

24: on the mountain of infinite longevity a great immortal entertains an old friend; in the wuzhuang temple monkey steals manfruit

25: the immortal zhen yuan captures the pilgrim priest; monkey makes havoc in the wuzhuang temple

Source: http://theredbookoforyza.blogspot.com/2010/08/65-journey-to-west.html