The Monkey King: Chapter 12
- Chapter TWE
- L
- VE
Monkey goes
to a banquet
Monkey quickly realized that if he did not act quickly, the fairies were going to report his thefts of the peaches to the Jade Emperor!
In a blink he transformed back to himself and jumped down from the tree. “Thieves! Thieves!” he yelled at the seven fairies. “How dare you steal my peaches!”
The fairies fell trembling to their knees. “Master, we are not thieves!” they cried. “We were sent by the Jade Emperor to fetch peaches for the Peach Banquet!”
“Ah,” said Monkey, becoming instantly friendly. “So you serve the Jade Emperor?”
“Yes, master.”
“Well, well. Get up and tell me about this Peach Banquet. What is it?”
“It’s the biggest banquet ever given by the Jade Emperor. It is held once every thousand years at the Jade Pond,” one of the fairies replied timidly.
“Who will be there?”
“Great Buddha, for one. Goddess Guan-yin for another. And many others, such as the Emperors of the Four Quarters, the Five Spirits of the Pole Star . . . . all the important high beings will be there.”
“All the important beings?” Monkey snapped. “Then why haven’t I been invited? I am the Magnificent Monkey King, head of the Celestial Peach Garden, am I not? How dare the Jade Emperor not invite me?”
“I don’t know,” said a fairy, beginning to tremble before Monkey’s anger.
“Very well,” said Monkey, “since he didn’t invite me, I shall invite myself.” He straightened his court hat and robes and groomed his fur. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the seven fairies edging away.
Monkey lifted a hand, recited a magic formula, and shouted, “Stay!”
The fairies froze in mid-motion.
Monkey laughed. “That will keep you for a while,” he told them. “And now for the banquet!” He somersaulted out of the Peach Garden and headed for the Jade Pond.
As he was hurrying along he saw an old goddess in elegant court clothing riding a cloud in front of him.
Monkey ran after her. “Respectable goddess, where are you going?” he called.
“To the Jade Pond,” the goddess replied. “I, Lotus-Feet Immortal, have been invited to the Jade Emperor’s Peach Banquet,” she said proudly.
Monkey feigned surprise. “Ah, haven’t you heard? Jade Emperor has asked all the guests to go the Cloud Palace instead of the Jade Pond this time. It’s a little further away, but it’s more spacious.”
“Really?” said the goddess. “Then I had better hurry or I will be late.” With that she turned her cloud about and flew off in the opposite direction.
As soon as she had gone, Monkey transformed himself into an identical twin of Lotus-Feet Immortal. “Clever monkey!” Monkey congratulated himself. “Now you are invited!” Then he headed for Jade Pond.
When Monkey King got there, however, no guests had arrived. Instead, servants were running back and forth carrying dishes and refreshments – going over the last details for the great banquet.
Monkey was wondering what to do when he smelled something truly marvelous. It was a fragrance sweeter than honey, light as fine air, delicate as the scent of the rare green rose. It was coming from the kitchen.
He hurried over to it and there, bubbling over a small flame, he saw an immense silver pot. It bore a label: LAUGHING LIQUID.
Monkey listened. Sure enough, the bubbling liquid made a sound like laughter. He closed his eyes and breathed in the aroma. It so tickled his nose, he giggled.
Oh, he thought, for just one tiny taste!
Monkey checked the kitchen door. No one was watching. He reached into the pot, put the tip of his little finger into the liquid, and licked it. Delicious!
But then Monkey tittered.
Wanting another taste, he put his paw in the liquid and scooped out a mouthful. A delectable current flowed down his tongue, his throat, his stomach – until it seemed to reach everywhere inside his body.
But then Monkey chuckled.
Wanting still more, he put his whole head into the pot and drank and drank and drank. Within moments nothing of the liquid was left.
Feeling a little giddy, Monkey sat on the floor. The next moment he began to laugh. He tried to stop, but he couldn’t. It started with little laughs, chortles, giggles, snickers, and chuckles. Very quickly the laughs became bigger. Soon Monkey was guffawing, belly laughing, slapping his legs, howling – whatever kind of laugh there was, Monkey was bursting with them all and could not stop.
In the midst of his laughter a great gong sounded. Then the booming voice of the Jade Emperor could be heard: “Let the Peach Banquet begin! Bring in the Laughing Liquid. We will each have a drop. It shall give us all a touch of glee!”
- NEXT WEEK:
- Monkey at the Peach Banquet