In the Worlds before Monkey, primal chaos reigned.
Heaven sought order, but the Phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown.
The four worlds formed again and yet again, as endless aeons wheeled and passed.
Time and the pure essences of Heaven, the moistures of the Earth, and the powers of the Sun and the Moon
all worked upon a certain rock - old as Creation, and it magically became fertile.
That first egg was named Thought.
Tathagata Buddha, the Father Buddha, said, 'With our thoughts we make the world.'
Elemental forces caused the egg to hatch: from it there came a stone Monkey.
The nature of Monkey was ... irrepressible!
Born from an egg on a mountaintop
Funkiest monkey that ever bopped
He knew every magic trick under the sun
Teased the gods and everyone and had some fun
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic ooh!
What a cocky, saucy monkey this one is
All the gods were angry and they punished him
Until he was saved by a kindly priest
And that was the start of their pilgrimage west
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic,
Monkey magic, Monkey magic ooh!
Primal chaos ruled the worlds before Monkey. Monkey was born of time, of Heaven and Earth, Sun and Moon: the Stone Ape. He was irrepressible.
The place was like ancient China, and the time might have been a thousand years ago. They fought - and they thought - then as now.
Holy Tripitaka prayed. One disciple, Sandy, is a fish spirit. Pigsy, expelled from Heaven for greed, is the spirit of a pig. He is changing. Everything changes. There is a horse, once a dragon, now evolving into human form.
Monkey, Horse, Sandy, Pigsy and Tripitaka are all upon a journey as long as life.
The traveller who drags his feet only raises dust. -- Narrator (1:1)
It's better to travel alone than with a fool. But what may two fools do? -- Narrator (1:1)
The eunuch should not take pride in his chastity. -- Narrator (1:1)
The trouble with the illusion of magic is that mere belief in it creates more demons. -- Narrator (1:1)
Whatever you do, you do to yourself. -- Narrator (1:1)
The Buddha in each of us knows that no scriptures can save a single soul unless that soul makes the effort to achieve enlightenment. -- Narrator (1:2)
The path is not always shortest because it is straight. -- Narrator (1:2)
Come on, Monkey. You have nothing to lose but your chains! -- Pigsy (1:3)
Few cross the river: most stay on this side; yet it is warmest in the desert, though it is home to sagacity and strangeness alike. -- Narrator (1:3)
The lives of ordinary men are spent asleep - a creature of violence lives awake. -- Tiger King (1:3)
The monstrous is only a question of opinion. To some of us, opinions are so precious that we will die for them, again and again.-- Narrator (1:3)
"I know I'm equal to any hundred, of course, but what if we meet a hundred and one? Yes, what if it's a plot to trap you?" "You should live without fear - there's as much chance of good things as bad ones." "It's a cheerful philosophy and I've heard it from people before; they're all dead now though."-- Sandy takes the pessimistic stance (1:4)
[A mission:] Something really dangerous: go to my mother-in-law.-- Lord Golden Horn (1:4)
He's quite tough - we need strategy!-- Lord Golden Horn (1:4)
When what is indestructible meets what is irresistible, the female all too often wins. Monkey has been roped by a female.-- Narrator (1:4)
If goodness is like a mountain, sometimes it is equally hard to achieve and someone must first find a way.-- Narrator (1:4)
The master goes beyond the boundless land, and nothing, neither men nor demons nor Gods, nothing in all creation can hold him. Monkey is magic, a God, an immortal, but he is less than the Buddha in you.-- Narrator (1:4)
All that is old is utterly useless!-- King of Youth (1:5)
I am the King! These crusty old has-beens have had their day. Destroy them!-- King of Youth (1:5)
"Women! We might get friendly with them, eh?" "I'm not really interested in such things; they stop you thinking." "What's to think - I'd rather feel.-- Pigsy and Sandy compare notes (1:5)
"King Youth - who's he?" "He's awful - nothing venerable is sacred now! He listens to terrible new music!"-- Monkey asks an old Earth god (1:5)
"Where shall I find him, this King Youth?" "He has a huge semi-detached palace at Black-Pine Ridge."-- Monkey asks an old Earth god (1:5)
Oi! Hail, King of Kings! Time to get out of bed now! Two non-entities want to speak to the King of Pimples!-- Pigsy (1:5)
The fact is we're kings ourselves - you could say that we two Kings of Orient are, but joking set aside...-- Monkey (1:5)
Do spirits watch most private moments? Sweet innocence stir some fish-cold heart?-- Narrator (1:5)
The young nowadays don't respect their elders...-- Pigsy (1:5)
My father's got nothing at all to do with any of this! He's a silly old bungler and the old don't understand the problems of the youth nowadays.-- King of Youth (1:5)
Hey, little one - King Acne!-- Monkey (1:5)
Ah, Pigsy - your kind heart. Why am I always volunteering? Well, a naturally beautiful nature.-- Pigsy (1:5)
Ahh, how kind. You know, pigs aren't all swines.-- Monkey (1:5)
"I've seen her about heaven of course. She's the one with a five o'clock shadow currently in a male manifestation." "And the Buddha's female. Keep such thoughts to yourself if you want Qan Jin to help."-- Pigsy gets direction from Monkey (1:5)
Yes, she's the man...-- Pigsy (1:5)
"Buddha herself couldn't follow you, but fortunately I already know what's happened." "I've no gift for words. But in this incarnation I have a real gift as a pig."-- "Qan Jin" hears Pigsy's tale (1:5)
Water from my lotus-pool - when you're rude about the King of Youth? Isn't he the king to whom the future belongs?-- "Qan Jin" (1:5)
Something's wrong with him - he lives in a world of his own and he's getting even odder.-- Monkey on Sandy in love (1:5)
Alone with the lovely Chi-Mi, Sandy found a taste for work. Thus does love mean labour even for the carp-hearted.-- Narrator (1:5)
Sandy, using all the powers of his intellect, guessed something was wrong. He acted decisively and at once: he told Monkey to take care of it.-- Narrator (1:5)
Nothing personal, but I'm going to torture you. Please scream loud enough for heaven to hear.-- King of Youth (1:5)
Most of your schemes are transparent, silly Youth!-- Monkey (1:5)
The earth-spirits don't want the foot-soldiers: all the old want is King Youth.-- Narrator (1:5)
Well, what are you going to do? Soft-hearted Buddhist nonsense!-- Monkey (1:5)
Youth and love saved a fool. Whatever one says about them may be right. The world is a product of mind, and love and youth make their own reality.-- Narrator (1:5)
Evil must have good to feed upon.-- Narrator (1:6)
Each life has its way, each way is a journey. And to leap to its end is like jumping from birth to death.-- Narrator (1:6)
A good man may suffer until his goodness flows. The cause of all suffering is desire, and even to desire not to desire is still to be caught on the wheel.-- Narrator (1:6)
Our own demons are often to hardest to recognise.-- Narrator (1:6)
There will be other demons on the way. No one is without them. The greatest sage is not without his evil. He has mastered it.-- Narrator (1:6)
To straighten out the crooked, you first do a more difficult thing - you must straighten yourself.-- Narrator (1:6)
The great Chinese sage Lao Tzu said that words that are beautiful are seldom true. In the same way, not all stories are exciting. This is an undramatic story. Its message is very deep, but none the worse for that. Truth is sometimes as hard to find as buried water in a drought.-- Narrator (1:7)
It is the beginning of wisdom to say "I don't know."-- Narrator (1:7)
Take me to your leader!-- Tripitaka (1:7)
"The peasants are at the door, and I think they're revolting!" "What? All of them?"-- Head Man of the village gets some bad news (1:7)
A superstitious age always brings cruelty-- Tripitaka (1:7)
No one was behaving from very Buddhist motives. Then, thought Pigsy, he was hardly a Buddha, nor was he a monkey. Presently, he was a pig spirit changed into a little girl pretending to be a little boy to be offered to a water monster. It was all very simple to a pig spirit.-- Narrator (1:7)
No use sending an angry ape after a perished pig.-- Dragon (1:7)
"Look at it - he kills children, this monster, and it ate dear old Pigsy!" "Monsters do that sort of thing you know - are you forgetting that you did, Sandy... before Tripitaka came and showed us how to be good vegetarians."-- Monkey (1:7)
"He's not my father!" "That's all YOU know. I am your father. As a child you were a stupid idiot - that hasn't changed. You never listened to your father."-- Drought Monster (1:7)
Perhaps all creatures are very much more than what they seem. The tree has its roots; the iceberg only shows its tip. Perhaps we are all much more even than we know. So, while the meanest peasant lives in misery here, he may be elsewhere in triumph, making the very stars.-- Narrator (1:7)
What is identity? It is the difference between us. The difference is experienced in the mind, yet the Buddha said this mind creates the world, that this world only exists in the mind and nowhere else.-- Narrator (1:8)
Desire is a trap. Lustful desire makes pig of people, and slaves of pigs. One single word makes possible all civilisation. It's a small word, a magic word, yet it transforms, frees everyone. You must whisper it to yourself. The word is "no".-- Narrator (1:8)
She's so delicious I could drink her bathwater!-- Pigsy (1:8)
I took a first step; I saw your lips. I took the next; I smelled your body. With the third I saw your... anyway, I thought I must come back.-- Pigsy-as-Tripitaka to Lu-Yen (1:8)
How can I love the world and not love you?-- Pigsy-as-Tripitaka to Lu-Yen (1:8)
If you are lost, they say that all ways are the same way.-- Serpent Spirit (1:8)
The wicked go to hells, the good go to heavens and the pure neither live nor ever die. But those hit on the head tend to fall unconscious. Monkey has lost his memory.-- Narrator (1:8)
"What is it?" "Is it dead or alive?" "Kick it and find out!" "But I've got new shoes on..."-- Village children (1:8)
With the charity of ignorant people towards the different and helpless, they stuck Monkey in a cage. He entertained them willy-nilly, and free entertainment is not to be despised.-- Narrator (1:8)
For his part, Monkey had lost his powers. Those who, whether they knew it or not, needed his help were now helpless.-- Narrator (1:8)
"Poke him with the stick again." "Yes, he likes that!"-- The villagers are easily amused(1:8)
"When he comes to rescue you, I shall eat his eyes!" "You're abusing the laws of hospitality!"-- Sandy's protest to the Serpent Spirit (1:8)
An eel! I hate eels!-- Sandy (1:8)
"Next time you need me, use something less painful than the headache sutra!" "I couldn't help it - he made me think of the words. Can you ever forgive me?" "What's a little agony between friends?"-- Monkey has a suggestion for Tripitaka (1:8)
"The cruellest of all animals are human beings!" "They are; with the possible exception of eels, which are really horrible too."-- Sandy agrees with Pigsy (1:8)
Not everyone can say they are gods. But Buddha himself said everyone was Buddha if we can but realise it.-- Narrator (1:8) ("But not eels!" -- Sandy)
... where the forest teems with wolves and bandits - which are sometimes hard to tell apart.-- Narrator (1:9)
Lord Lee, the magistrate who owns these lands, has been made cruel by dealing with cruelty.-- Narrator (1:9)
We'd believe you but for one thing - we're not stupid!-- Robbers' leader (1:9)
A leather bag is nothing, nor is a bucket, nor a brain. They only become useful when something is put into them.-- Narrator (1:9)
"Someone like Pigsy doesn't have to kidnap girls!" "Nobody needs to become a criminal!"-- Pigsy pleads innocence (1:9)
"No one could be so stupid." "Yes I could! I would, really!"-- Pigsy pleads stupidity (1:9)
"Well, someone was just using him. He's simply not intelligent enough." "Pigsy's not, but I am!" "When they behead you, moron, you won't even notice! No seriously, you must know we're not bandits. Just looking at the master you can see he's a holy fool."-- Monkey has to plead for Sandy and Tripitaka, too (1:9)
"Monkey! You must not use force!" "Well not a lot of force - he's holding Pigsy by force, isn't he?"-- Tripitaka tries to restrain Monkey (1:9)
Better than a hundred years of worship is the one moment of reverence for the sage who conquered himself.-- Narrator (1:9)
"Even if we are dog spirits, do you really have to do such monstrous things always? I don't feel evil; do you have to give in to the worst things in yourself?" "Give in to them? That's not it at all - remember, we're monsters and there's joy in evil. We demons love wickedness!" "I don't - I shan't get like you!" "You're a demon too... just now you still think you're human. Oh, but inside your heart you really know; with time, Yin Chin, you become what you really are: my daughter. The blood of the wild dog will triumph - and nothing else will matter any more to you, not priests or father or anything else except wickedness."-- The dog-woman Ti Yun tempts Yin Chin to the dark side (1:9)
It's all Chinese to me!-- Monkey (1:9)
That Monkey tricked you! He played a trick on you - and you didn't even notice!-- Ti Yun berates her henchmen(1:9)
What's worse than death? To force a creature that is innocent to live with wickedness and evil. This holy boy shall marry the old black dog!-- Ti Yun (1:9)
All humans are crazy!-- Monkey (1:9)
The strange fact is that the world goes on, against all reasonable odds. A hundred years, and even unimaginable evil is just called "history". Ten minutes later, and killer dogs sleep.-- Narrator (1:9)
... A Buddhist should never resist evil. To fight evil, to oppose it, is to give it your strength to feed upon.-- Narrator (1:9)
Hurt her? No, I'm going to KILL her!-- Monkey (1:9)
You're alive. Don't waste your madness by evil.-- Monkey (1:9)
Change is the only certainty. Yin Chin lied to save her mother: she said you can't help what you are. But you can - you can choose. With a cold father and a mad mother, Yin Chin chose goodness for herself. The Buddha said your work is to discover your work, then with all your heart to give yourself to it. No one purifies another.-- Narrator (1:9)
The way is never easy; life hurts. To cure this pain is easy: just wait, it will go away soon enough. Yet there are things to be done. Do them now, or they must be done the next time, or the next, or the next; they will be done. Only when they are done is the pain ended. Even in an empty forest - said the Buddha - a master finds joy, because he wants nothing.-- Narrator (1:10)
Nothing ends, but becomes something else. So after travelling the pilgrims reach the borders of Cockcrow.-- Narrator (1:10)
You can't convince a deaf man by talking.-- Monkey (1:10)
Please excuse me when I say you are most extraordinarily dim!-- Monkey (1:10)
"You can always chop us up into pieces later!" "Much later!"-- Sandy and Pigsy prefer to delay(1:10)
The King of Truth is the King of Kings, said Buddha. Monkey and the Prince come looking for a Queen.-- Narrator (1:10)
It's that Monkey again - he's made an idiot out of you once more. There again, you must be a real idiot for falling for it!-- Sandy on Pigsy's gullibility (1:10)
So far as anybody knows, you could be the Spirit of the Planet Venus. Old Sandy's thinking clearly now; you've got a nasty pimple on your shoulders!-- Monkey (1:10)
They argued. Monkey, said Tripitaka, must use his talents somehow to get a pill from Lao Tzu. But Lao Tzu, argued Monkey, was perhaps the greatest ever philosopher. Yes, agreed Tripitaka, but if he didn't go Monkey would feel a headache sutra.-- Narrator (1:10)
"There! Wasting his time playing." "You can't waste anything that is limitless."-- Monkey visits Lao Tzu (1:10)
"Lao Tzu, I need one of your pills." "Piles again, sleeping in the open?" "What?" "Scriptures give me the piles." "Oh... Nothing like that. Five hundred years under a rock and still intact!"-- Lao Tzu understands the frailties of Man only too well (1:10)
"Monkey! Stay and let me teach you the Tao of it." "Hee hee! If it could be taught, it wouldn't be the Tao, don't they say? Yes, got to go!"-- Monkey takes his leave of Lao Tzu (1:10)
"Is it me or her? One of us is crazy!" "She really is bewitched!" "Well, as long as you're sure it's not me..."-- Monkey reassures Pigsy (1:10)
Life hurts. What must be done, will be done. Why do we choose good over bad, or bad over good? The Buddha said: "The winner sows hatred, because the loser must suffer. Give up winning and losing, then find joy."-- Narrator (1:10)
There are mysteries. There are differences. In this world, these must be reconciled in time. Some differences are as wide as those between night and day.-- Narrator (1:11)
"Listen! Bats!" "Who's bats?"-- Sandy isn't paying attention (1:11)
Strange things stir in perpetual night. What is it that must avoid the light? What walks cold streets when all are lost in troubled dreams? What feeds on youth, and what drinks innocence? The vampire!-- Narrator (1:11)
Are you the monkey that poked a hole in my curtain of night?-- Queen of the Night (1:11)
"It tickles! That tickles. I like it though, yes, I like it..." "A vampire bites you, and you say it tickles???" "You're a vampire? How do you do? That's just incredibly sexy!" "Don't I terrify you?" "It would take more than a bit of a love bite to cool the passion of a lover like Pigsy, hmm, hmm." "I think you terrify me!" "Drink my blood again - I've got lots, honestly. Have a nibble! Go on, I like it!" "Alright... It's horrible! Ptui! Pah!"-- Pigsy tempts the Queen of Night (1:11)
"I don't mind... but should you hold on like that?" "Excuse me!" "Aren't you scared of Monkey?" "Not in the least." "Umm... Monkey good?" "I like monkeys." "How many monkeys have you known?" "I used to have a lovely little pet one!"-- Min Min gets herself another pet Monkey (1:11)
"Helping everyone won't fetch scriptures!" "Perhaps the way we travel matters too."-- Tripitaka gives Sandy the bigger picture (1:11)
Shielding his eyes from the unfamiliar light, the Holy Fool looked around for someone to help. They saw no-one, but they were seen; for as the Queen of Night becomes a bat, so the King of Day may take on the aspect of a vulture. It is change which frees - perpetual day, or night, both enslave.-- Narrator (1:11)
Lazy old Pigsy, however, thoroughly approves of turning day into never-ending night. He wonders what use a Buddha nature can have, since it can't be eaten, drunk, snorted over or kissed.-- Narrator (1:11)
"I can't do any more magic. Well, is a god any good without it?" "As much good as anyone else."-- Min Min points out the obvious to Monkey. (1:11)
It's unbearable. It's bad enough having to work until you drop, but people are going mad because without sleep you can't dream. We need dreams - they keep us sane.-- Tom Tom (1:11)
But the vampire woman held Pigsy deep in thrall. She massed her mighty army with Pigsy doting at her side. Sometimes it is easier to say 'love' than to admit to being scared. The battle began.-- Narrator (1:11)
As there are questions which have no answers, so there are answers to questions that were never asked. Opposites balance - both are essential. Everything that ever was is essential to make what is.-- Narrator (1:11)
If the beggars are wealthy, they and the rich are all dying for want of something money can't buy.-- Monkey (1:12)
"That's not the way! What are you trying to do, Tai Li?" "I don't want to slow you down. You go on; you've got to escape somehow." "What are you talking about, you silly girl. No one's more important than anyone else."-- Tripitaka guides Tai Li (1:12)
"I can't take this." "You can - I did."-- Pigsy gives Tai Li the looted necklace. (1:12)
Sometimes, to make the stupid grow, discipline is essential. The wrong in stealing something so useless as jewels is less that they belong to someone else, and more that you offend against yourself by coveting them at all.-- Narrator (1:12)
We think we earn what we have, but it is a gift. What did we do to earn the gift of life? Thus Tripitaka, on his way to fetch the Buddhist scriptures from India to help the suffering world, accepts charity without shame. Similarly, when something is asked of him, he gives without self-consciousness.-- Narrator (1:13)
The affairs of mortals are often incomprehensible to elementals.-- Narrator (1:13)
"Our daughter never returned to us. Our girl - a prisoner - so young!" "Then to put it tactfully, she's probably dead."-- Monkey puts it tactfully (1:13)
"This missing daughter of yours... what does she look like? I mean, is she pretty?" "Pigsy, enough!" "Now what's wrong? I'm only asking before I rescue someone who looks like a crow's armpit!"-- Tripitaka can't keep Pigsy under control (1:13)
I'm a pig of my word - and that word's "Yes!"-- Pigsy (1:13)
"Do you think Pigsy is alright on his own?" "He'll never be alright. He was born pig-ignorant!" "He just got excited. We can't desert him because of that." "But he's always getting over-excited. He spends his life hysterical. He only needs to see a handkerchief and he's running off to find some girl's nose too blow!"-- Tripitaka and Monkey (1:13)
A monster, do you think? Washing his smalls in a mountain current. A monster who does his own washing? I'll need an umbrella... I'm probably going to kill myself. Now, Pigsy, you're the living proof of re-incarnation - at least I hope so...-- Pigsy (1:13)
To tell you the truth, I've grown rather tired of human females just lately. Give me a muck-heap, some cabbage and just a little quiet meditation.-- Slug Monster (1:13)
Cor - you're just my type, my type exactly. A woman!-- Pigsy isn't fussy (1:13)
"Do you know what you're doing?" "Monkeys don't know what they're doing - no-one can know!"-- Sandy asks Monkey (1:13)
I think it's rank prejudice, all of it! To call any creatures disgusting - it's just not right to call anyone that. So, he's a monster: for all you know respectable and decent. As much Buddha as you are.-- Sandy (1:13)
"If it weren't for this crazy gold ring, I'd tell that idiot boy what he could do." "And he got it from the Father Buddha. Very sneaky for a Buddhist, that!" "They are - kill you with kindness. Promise you the Universe, everyone a Buddha, only you don't know it yet."-- Monkey and Sandy (1:13)
"A baby slug! Just where did you get a little slug?" "It's a long story." "It would have to be - he's quite old. I always knew you were a philandering worm!"-- Hai Min bends the Slug Monster's ear (1:13)
Pigsy, too, has found his passion strong enough to raise him from his sickbed. There are no chains like hate, said the Buddha, nor flames like passion. Desire is a raging torrent, and illusion is the net.-- Narrator (1:13)
You can often improve on ignorance, but stupidity is incurable.-- Sandy (1:13)
If life is a gift, can it ever be right to refuse part of it? A few rare souls may transcend individual love, and love everyone; no-one is diminished by that. If Tripitaka has not yet reached this state, one day he may.-- Narrator (1:13)
Before the powers of evil, even volcanoes and earthquakes seem mere toys. Is the world then foredoomed to an evil end?-- Narrator (1:14)
"That's what the monster would say. And if you keep saying it's not you, that's all very highly suspicious. You can always tell the guilty because they're always saying they're innocent." "That's logical... except that's what he would say if he were innocent too, eh?" -- Sandy needs to correct Pigsy's logic (1:14)
There is a monster in all of us, so where is the difference? What does matter is how we behave.-- Tripitaka (1:14)
"Monsters are to be fought, whoever they are." "We are agreed on that then: demons are weak. The monsters in ourselves must be fought. As for the monsters in others, well, what matters is how they behave to us." "That's more of your philosophical rubbish!" "What I'm saying's not difficult to understand: we'll fail unless we trust each other. If we can trust each other there's still hope for us. Even if one of us is a monster we can still succeed."-- Tripitaka doesn't see things as simply as Sandy and Monkey (1:14)
When trust has gone, friends must scatter. The Face Monster has succeeded where all the powers of darkness failed.
When trust has gone, each of us is alone. Trust is a very fragile thing. Is Sandy the monster? Certainly he heads for water, as a water-spirit would. [But] This lake is also the home of the catfish demon, whose quarrels with the shape-changer cause earthquakes.
If a monster took you over, would you know? Might Sandy wander these lake-shores all unknowing while monster purposes stir deep within him, or is he still simple Sandy, walking into deadly danger?-- Narrator (1:14)
"Well, we'd all like to believe we're divinely guided. Yet no-one who follows the way should ignore present suffering for a dream of the future. Could you walk past a drowning child?" "Yes, you may be right, San Chung, to reproach me. The way that we travel is important. But these were Buddha's orders to me, and I will not ignore them."-- Tripitaka is only following orders. (1:14)
So flatten the whole world, and what then? Where would be left for us to practice our wickedness and evil in?-- San Chung (1:14)
"What have you done with all his followers, you greedy thing, eh?" "Bah - I'm a genuine catfish monster! What's he think I did? I ate them, of course."-- Sang Chung asks King Catfish a silly question (1:14)
Microcosm, macrocosm. There are worlds within worlds, some better, some worse. Not the least extraordinary are worlds which can be found in the internal plumbing of a demon in cosmic manifestation.-- Narrator (1:14)
"Why can't you solve your problems like reasonable beings?" "I am reasonable: I'm right, he's wrong"-- San Chung asks King Catfish ... a silly question (1:14)
"Well, I do have the beginnings of a certain sort of idea: I suggest that you could kill half the boy each." "You idiot! How could I possibly choose which half? No, I want to kill all of him!"-- San Chung tells King Catfish ... a silly idea (1:14)
Just because it's true, it's not good. A bad thing can also be true. When it is, you try to change it. Somehow.-- Monkey (1:14)
"The real pig's very stupid." "No, I'm the stupid one - he's only pretending!"-- Face-Monster tries to pull the wool over Monkey's eyes (1:14)
Evil destroys. It opposes even other evil. Evil must have good to feed upon. Goodness nourishes itself. When evil has conquered the good, evil dies, then the good will grow again. In these truths is the hope for the world.-- Narrator (1:14)
There is no silence like the silence of great mountains. "Live purely," said the Buddha, "be quiet." Yet even silence cannot make a wise man out of a fool, wherever he travels.-- Narrator (1:15)
Still, if you want to be philosophical, think it through... You see, master, you've got a soft heart, master, and your head's no better.-- Monkey (1:15)
"I wasn't built for labour; I'm an intellectual, I work with my head." "Right, carry the rocks on your head!"-- Monkey gets tired of Pigsy's moaning (1:15)
Let Tripitaka dig and sweat; that's not the Monkey's way. He simply flies to the other side of the enormous mountain, and bangs for inspiration.-- Narrator (1:15)
A little magic, and who needs to work, eh?-- Monkey (1:15)
"You will never understand! You still behave as if you think the point of life is to get through it as soon as possible. And that's nonsense if you think about it - how you live and what you do; that's what's really important." "You know, you're hard to please, you most definitely are." "We dug for the sake of digging, and not simply to get it over with!" "Speak for yourself! We three, we hate digging. We signed on to go to India, if we ever do. Stop to dig tunnels, and we won't." -- Tripitaka gets gyp from Pigsy and Sandy (1:15)
There's nothing so stubborn as a Buddhist, nothing so stupid as a priest. I mean, what's he worshipping? Gods. I met the gods - bloody boring bunch. Hmm, I'm a god myself - worship me then, Tripitaka! -- Monkey sulks (1:15)
SHUT UP! Um, I mean, "Quietly, dear child."-- Monkey-as-Qan-Jin (1:15)
They'll be sorry. They'll be sorry if I die - except that I can't. Whatever you do, it ends up raining. What's it all for? What's the point? And if it hasn't got a point, where's the point of that? Anything you do long enough gets boring, and I've got forever!-- Monkey sulks again (1:15)
It's too soon to be too late.-- Monkey (1:15)
"That's what they'll do to you unless you confess!" "I'd confess anything, but I can't..." "Well, think of something!"-- The Crow Demon interrogates Sandy and Pigsy (1:15)
"The ape's come! Where's my egg?" "On your face! Demons were always messy eaters."-- The Crow Demon sees Monkey (1:15)
But master's right; I should have followed orders. Well, that's it - if you want to learn you have to listen.-- Monkey (1:15)
"Listen, you've got to give up women and eating too much - you'll shorten your life." "I'm old enough, oh yes, I am!" "Sandy, for you, just a little advice - you won't take it wrong? Do one thing for me, eh? Right, will you give up thinking you're a philosopher." "Well, it depends on your definition..." "That's exactly the sort of thing I meant!" "Did you?" "It's infuriating!"-- Monkey attempts to improve Pigsy and Sandy (1:15)
Grey hairs do not make a wise man. A man may waste a lifetime digging up a mountain in search of mythical crows' eggs. A man may waste a lifetime growing rich or chasing power. What is a life that's not wasted? Perhaps one in which we learn, a little.-- Narrator (1:15)
On their way to India to bring back the Buddhist scriptures to save China, Monkey, Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy meet a lot of demons. A holy mission brings out the best in people.-- Narrator (1:16)
"A stink!" "Of what? I washed last week!" "It's been a long week."-- Monkey calls into question Pigsy's bathing habits (1:16)
"You're always fighting demons... well, let them alone, I say!" "Do you think they'll let us alone? Don't try thinking when you haven't got a brain!"-- Pigsy awakens Monkey's hawkish streak (1:16)
"I've plenty of food, if you'll excuse the mess - it's just like a pigsty." "Pigsty? I'll feel at home!"-- King Unicorn welcomes Pigsy to his humble abode (1:16)
"Help me rescue the other two." "Help you? I always end up doing all the work, then Tripitaka reads me the usual lecture about fighting." "I agree, but you know he is the master. He says because it's a sort of monster, well, they don't all have to get killed, do they, eh?" "Oh, I wouldn't know. The only way I know of fighting monsters is to bash them!" "Oh Monkey. Monkey, look at it this way: we're supposed to be Buddhists. Buddhists don't kill - that's the main thing. That's what Tripitaka objects to." "*Falsetto* Don't fight ... but all the same, see that I do get rescued!" "I do admit that it's not easy, but we have to use cunning - yes, think of some plan: use tactics! ... Oh please, have you?" "Knock his head off!" "Well, if you must..."-- Sandy learns Monkey's ideas about "shock and awe" (1:16)
"No monkey can have something so precious - you might even hurt someone with it. Hand it over!" "Give it to you? You want it? I see- right, you shall taste it!" ... "Come back inside! Quickly! Come! Everybody inside! Retreat! That thing is dangerous! Come on. unicorns!" "And you tasted it! Your troops are nothing but cissies!" "That's rather insulting! There's no call to be rude!" "No call? To be rude to a rotten old unicorn? What do you keep in that bump of yours? Brandy? Hot air? Anyway, it's ugly!"-- King Unicorns tries to acquire Monkey's staff, but only gets taunted (1:16)
"There, you beat the king! Go and tell nurse what a clever boy you are." "I can hit her, too?"-- Chun-Chow pampers the Brat (1:16)
We unicorns could take over the whole earth! It's only because we're mythical and nice that we haven't. You've got no chance, so just run away! As long as I have this ring, you're helpless, aren't you? My ring could swallow the world! And a sun or two!-- King Unicorn (1:16)
Even fools have ideas!-- Monkey (1:16)
"I want the wishing staff, and a monstrous human woman has got it. At least, her awful son has." "Unusual - a woman more monstrous than monsters."-- Monkey summarises his plight to Sandy (1:16)
"I know, I've got it. Where's your ear? Where is it?" "Beside my head, normally." "I wasn't sure you had one. I'll whisper."-- Monkey needs to tell Sandy his cunning plan (1:16)
Why should you care what you look like? You've a spirit that's warm with love. To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom, and wisdom is where love begins.-- Tripitaka (1:16)
Is it so extraordinary, the marriage of a person to a monster? We are all human. We are all monster. The sage knows this. The Buddha has reconciled the two within himself, and transcended both.-- Narrator (1:16)
Gods and devils are not the point of Buddhism. An enlightened man is greater than any god or demon. There is no reward or punishment except what we call forth ourselves. All suffering is caused by selfish desires. Enlightened, one becomes a Buddha. The Buddha himself said so, and the Buddha fills all the universe.-- Narrator (1:17)
"Don't drink it all up, will you? You greedy fish, hey, leave some for the Master!" "There's [still] a drop... no there isn't. I'm a camel." "Then your head's the hump!"-- Monkey isn't impressed by Sandy's drinking skills (1:17)
"My lord, we went to dispose of the pig-creature as ordered, but he was rescued by awful demons!" "How awful were they?" "Well, not that awful. It was Monkey and Sandy."-- The henchmen report back to the Grey-Gloves Devil (1:17)
[Of Pigsy] He's alright - he always catches up, you know. He can run a dozen leagues in seconds to get out of working.-- Monkey (1:17)
"Funny world, this. Demons and magicians and fear." "All worlds are funny, Sandy. We create them out of our own minds."-- Sandy and Tripitaka muse (1:17)
"Young Master, what is all this about then?" "She's an old woman. She's turned sour because of her experiences. If I can help her out of her bitterness this way [by pretending to be Mother Tzu's son], I think that would be a Buddhist act." "Just a minute... a Buddhist act? You can't beg that question with philosophers like us. As I understand the Way of it - I think I'm quoting correctly - the four evil deeds are killing, stealing, adultery and falsehood. But, Master, here you are, encouraging her in a lie," "Yes, a lie!" "It's all delusion, everything we believe. Everything. We think that what we see is reality... only a Buddha sees truly. I know nothing which is true for all time. The Lord Buddha preached the middle way: that it was a mistake to see the world as nothing but illusion, or to see the world as real; they are both false ways of looking at the world of the senses. Me, I find it all so confusing. I might as well let her be happy - it's only a small matter." "Even Buddha himself would call that nonsense! What about our journey? You're always saying we should hurry, that fetching the scriptures is urgent. Suddenly there's time to waste, playing games with some old witch!" "A witch is what she is!" "Sandy's as bad - you'll both waste years arguing instead of actually doing. I'm real and the earth is real, so lets just get on with the job!" "Now that will do!"-- Monkey tries to drag Tripitaka and Sandy into the Age of Reason (1:17)
A Master should work for his disciples!-- Monkey (1:17)
Meanwhile, bandits of the Grey-Gloves Devil, scouring the countryside tirelessly for evil deeds to commit, come upon the village where the pilgrims are staying.-- Narrator (1:17)
"Oh, do you see what I see?" "Yes, a model village!" "That won't be hard to destroy! Let's tell Grey-Gloves!"-- The three henchmen of the Grey-Gloves Devil (1:17)
If they're frightened for children, no-one is safe!-- Tripitaka (1:17)
"Get the priest!" "Don't give orders when I'm hitting you!"-- but Grey-Gloves Devil isn't getting hit by Monkey (1:17)
"I've searched the whole world for wicked things to do. A priest! There's nothing more evil than pointless murder - I shall kill the holy one!"-- Grey-Gloves Devil (1:17)
"What have you to say for yourself? Aren't you ashamed, looting and killing? I never brought you up to behave like that!" "You're madder than I am, you old crow!" "If I am, it's all your fault! It was you who went away and deserted your poor mother. You're a naughty boy, with your strange grey gloves! Why are you ashamed of your nice hands? Don't try to cast your spells on me!"-- Mother Tzu gives Grey-Gloves Devil an earful (1:17)
What is truth when we lie to ourselves about so much, and know so little? What is the universe made of? How big is it? Is it eternal? Which politics are best for society? Even Pigsy understands that certainty is only another delusion." "Oi, Master! Wait! I think I might give up girls!" "The Buddha said such questions do not matter. If you were to put off the search for enlightenment to answer such questions, you would never find the path."-- Narrator (1:17)
The locust: a harmless desert grasshopper. But from time to time locusts swarm in their tens of millions and become creatures of terror. They leave behind them desert and desolation. Why they swarm is yet a mystery. Perhaps like all of us they dream of grass and sparkling water, of a safe and perfect land. Whatever dreams we dream become stories, and in a far-off Buddhist land they say that locusts follow a magic lake called Lok-Nor which moves, appears and disappears with a secret logic of its own.-- Narrator (1:18)
Oh, disappearing lakes - I don't know. And why do people fight wars? This is a crazy world, if you ask me. The whole thing scares me rather.-- Sandy (1:18)
"I can still smell the smell of a woman, faintly." "Can't you think of anything else? The world's half full of them, after all. You must walk around excited all the time." "I do!"-- Pigsy explains his life to Sandy (1:18)
"There is a Queen of Locusts. She enjoys the suffering her armies cause. She is said to be as beautiful as she is cruel." "Well, don't tell Pigsy, if he ever wakes again. Fainting at the sight of a locust!" "We might have, er, trouble with Pigsy if he does hear that - you know how he is about the ladies." "Pigsy is in no danger, not of losing his heart anyhow. She gains power over anyone who loves her, or so my daughters tell me. She rewards love with a really terrible cruelty." "Yes, we heard that. Unhappy people often use love as a weapon against others to keep from feeling it themselves. She's like that."-- Woman in cave warns the group about the Queen of Locusts (1:18)
"Just what are you doing?" "Sculpting an image of Buddha." "To save you from the locusts?" "No, in the hope of peace." "Peace? You'll die for peace!"-- A Locust Guard spots a sculptor (1:18)
"And, Grasshopper, you can't believe I'll turn into a pig!" "Well, I did." "Serves you right! You fish things eat grasshoppers. And you had to let an insect catch you." "I didn't think of it quite like that." "You never think - and that's always been your trouble."-- Monkey gives Sandy a ticking off (1:18)
"That really is the most unreliable lake!" "As reliable as the fate of a lover! My foolish heart - today, it's broken!"-- Monkey learns of Sandy's problems (1:18)
You'll never do anything if you think it's impossible, eh?-- Monkey (1:18)
You see, magical powers... It's not that we're ungrateful, it's just that, that we wonder, whether... no, that I wonder... it sounds so rude... how can it do any good at all? Magic solutions to things we should sort out alone? Only children believe someone else should always solve... solve problems for us. The locusts came and we should deal with it. Instead, you're going to use your magic. I'm only saying we should do something - I don't know what - not simply expect you to do everything.-- Chin-Chin (1:18)
"Weak-kneed creatures, like you and that cursed sculptor, you make me sick!" "Why's that?" "Because you think the world is soft and easy - and because you think you only need to pray to your heaven and everything will be done for you. Well, no Buddha ever answered me! Everything I ever had I earned with these - I grabbed and held and worked for the crown only I wear: they're steeped in blood, these hands!" "All of us must struggle and suffer - you know what struggling is. We all suffer, neither less nor more than you do. We have faith and can lean on Buddha, who is not in heaven but in you."-- The Queen of Locusts picks a theological fight with Tripitaka (1:18)
"A water spirit with a cold?" "Just a sneezing fit - I got a little air up my nose!"-- Monkey puzzled by Sandy sneezing (1:18)
Just suppose - said the Buddha - that the rain of compassion falls on the dominion of Hell, and the light of wisdom shines on it. Faith takes root, and blossoms of joy begin to spread their fragrance. Then the dominion of Hell will turn into Buddha's pure land. If a man's mind becomes pure, so all his surroundings become pure also.-- Narrator (1:18)
Once, Buddha had a disciple who tried too hard. Buddha said to him: "A harp does not make music if its strings are too tight or too loose - the music comes only when the strings are stretched just right." So, on such an enormous journey to fetch the scriptures from India to China, Tripitaka has learned often to be tolerant of foolishness in his three followers.-- Narrator (1:19)
"... but I was wondering, what kept the sky up there? I mean, there's a chance it might fall, and a night sky must be heavier than in daytime. If I can fall, then the sky can fall as well." "Huh, Pigsy, you're such a fool. Nothing keeps the sky up in the sky. What keeps this world down here?" "You mean the world could drop? It could just fall away through space? Go on, you're teasing me! You must think I'm really daft sometimes - everybody knows the world is held up on the back of a giant turtle!" "On the back of a turtle?" "Yes indeed! It was appointed by the Jade Emperor: 'Off you go, and hold the world safe!' he said." "No. I'm sorry to contradict you, but it isn't a turtle at all. It's a tortoise! Yes!" "Oh, a tortoise, is it? Well, I admit I don't know everything, just a little bit more than some fellows I could mention..."-- Pigsy, Monkey and Sandy discuss cosmology (1:19)
All journeys have a single purpose - to get to another place. There are places everywhere, and the differences between them are less than you might think. Some places are no more than a state of mind. Tripitaka had in mind to go through a place where Buddhism was the state religion.-- Narrator (1:19)
"Something serious has occurred - what else would keep that swine from his lunch?" "Drinking and chasing girls, probably."-- Monkey and Sandy consider Pigsy's whereabouts (1:19)
"Do you think I should repeal all the Buddhist laws then, my dear?" "Oh, I don't understand politics - and yet ... I mean, Buddhism just doesn't go with strong government."-- The King of the Kingdom of Buddhist Law confers with the Queen (1:19)
The King ordered that the country should be called "Kingdom of Disbelief in Buddha's Law" now that he had changed his mind. "Keep the mind," said Buddha, "under strict control." Priests were driven from the land - the King desired law and order. Like a thirsty man drinking salt water, desires can never be satisfied. They can be mastered through awakening.-- Narrator (1:19)
"If we rot in this cell, I'll come back and haunt you!" "Yes! May you get reincarnated as an enormous great smelly camel with three humps!" "Don't mind the future - when I get out of here, I'll drown you in sour milk!" "Goats milk! and acid! You rotten traitor! Betraying us!" "You'll go to hell, you will!" ... "Well, there we are then. I did it for you - betrayed that boring trio. Huh, I tell you, I'm anti-Buddha from now on! I'll drink and everything!" "Here then! A toast! A kingdom entirely without one priest!"-- Sandy and Pigsy are captured: is Monkey working for Lord Chin? (1:19)
"I can't credit it even now - Monkey, the friend we loved - suddenly unrecognisable! Become a swine!" "I hardly think that's the right insult!"-- Sandy and Pigsy discuss the apparent defection (1:19)
"You, Tripitaka, why does the Buddha, who's perfect so they say, allow evil in this poor world?" "That's been the question always - perhaps good is not good until it is chosen."-- The King of the Kingdom of Buddhist Law has a question (1:19)
Another wrong righted, more monsters bested. Yet it is very hard to call anything wrong or evil except that which is clear in yourself.-- Narrator (1:19)
Cunning and simplicity may belong together in an ape. A monkey who could recognise both would be on the long road towards humanity.-- Narrator (1:19)
The world often seems unfair to people who believe in fate, yet the fact is the Universe works, and against all odds. Sometimes, to make it all work, the Buddha has to resort to outrageous coincidences - for example, a white horse is most easily lost in a snowstorm. On foot now, like Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy, the holy Tripitaka is caught in a terrible blizzard.-- Narrator (1:20)
You see, Buddha uses outrageous coincidences sometimes to awaken piety. The moment will have been, even if later we are furious: all the passions are arbitrary - we feel what we feel on the flimsiest of evidence. Pigsy is learning too: a coward and a cheat; he is growing more human. He is a long way from the enlightenment which transcends humanity. He is a long way too from the bottom of the cliff down which he is about to fall.-- Narrator (1:20)
"It's our master - he's been taken sick. You wouldn't happen to know anywhere we could take him for treatment?" "Of course. There are doctors everywhere in the Himalayas." "Are there???" "Oh, unless the problem is mental..."-- Sandy asks a passing maid for help (1:20)
Can a soul be in two places at once? There are those who believe that since the Buddha nature is in each of us, we are all everywhere. Still, so far from being a schizophrenic ghost, of course Pigsy is very much alive.-- Narrator (1:20)
Pigsy has never practiced cloud-flying, since he has only just learnt how to do this in terror. Before it is over he may need a good doctor. Still, it is a well-known fact that doctors practise until they are perfect.-- Narrator (1:20)
If the world often seems unfair to people who believe in fate, this is because fatalists can come to believe they cannot change or improve. But if there is fate it is fated too that we make our own lives.-- Narrator (1:20)
On the long journey to fetch the scriptures back to China, the pilgrims pass through so many lands, all so different, that the most unlikely things become possible.-- Narrator (1:21)
"You know, I'm sure it's wrong to find fault with others." "You're always doing it!" "It isn't wrong when you do it, Master, only when we do it. Why do you think we stay with you? It would be pointless if a preacher didn't preach." "I think you're teasing me now."-- Tripitaka receives wisdom from Monkey and Sandy (1:21)
"Bah! The master, he doesn't understand anything!" "What do you mean?" "A fish and a monkey, we know... but can a human understand pig psychology?" "Well, yes, he is human." "Well there you are then. So how can he begin to understand the depths of that hog's stupidity? Then there's his greed... that swine's so stubborn."-- Monkey and Sandy on the problems of inter-species understanding (1:21)
Anyway, hog worship is taking religous tolerance too far!-- Tripitaka (1:21)
Ah, pig monsters are wonderfully and incredibly cunning. Soon I shall rule heaven itself. New gods are all made from ignorance, credulity and superstition.-- Sai Tatsui (1:21)
"Now hear me all you fellow Hog lovers! Citizens of Red Hog Land, at last the day draws near when worship of the Hog God will raise you up, and when the sacrifices will be made. Now you know usually when kings talk of sacrifices they mean you to tighten girdles and do without, and they the rulers give nothing up. Now, as your new ruler, I shall see that one young lady changes that: I refer to the late king's daughter. Therefore the Princess must offer herself as a sacrifice to the greater glory of the god Hog. Now let us shout, shout, shout out! Let us hear the voices! Oh wonderful Lord of Hogs!" "Hog!" "A princess, is it?" "And he's going to sacrifice her!" "Aren't you bored with the old gods? Bored with the old gods who say 'no' to everything? Hog permits you to do anything that you want. There are no rules!"-- Sai Tatsui preaches his catchy new religion (1:21)
"Monkey, wait! You must not fight. I fancy being worshipped! All these people - I'm their idol!" "Bone idle!"-- Pigsy spurs on Monkey to reincarnate an ancient joke (1:21)
You know I'm good at magicing things into other things, but not the other way round!-- Monkey (1:21)
What sort of religion permits you to do whatever you like?-- Tripitaka (1:21)
"I told you to get a confession, instead you bring this rubbish to me! Don't you know this document is an accusation against your king? She's written down every rotten thing I've done since I came to power!" "Majesty, we're ever so sorry. Only, she said it was a confession!"-- Sai Tatsui discovers a need for literacy among the palace guard (1:21)
"I can't kill that damn princess, can I, until she signs that false confession. Buddhism must be utterly discredited! If they've been torturing her for weeks, why hasn't she signed it?" "Her guard is Buddhist, sire. Buddhists don't like hurting anyone."-- Sai Tatsui discovers the need to match the guard to the job (1:21)
"What did you say? Me, a demon?" "Of course you are a demon. Not that I have anything against you for that - some demons are quite cuddly!"-- Sai Tatsui meets Green Lotus (1:21)
Truth cannot die. People die, but each life leads to the next exactly as you light one candle from another.-- Tripitaka (1:21)
"We've still got to rescue Tripitaka." "Ah, the master. You worry far too much - he's on our side, isn't he?" "The Buddha, you mean?" "Buddha knows all - let him worry."-- Sandy and Monkey (1:21)
We know Buddha's tolerance, but he must draw the line at pig gods... well, I think he would, anyway.-- Tripitaka (1:21)
"Tripitaka says we're all Buddhas, so I'm as much a Buddha as you." "You're not, you lazy swine. Alright then, you can just stay there - I shan't save you!" "I've been worshipped!" "You, you weren't anything. You're just a stone statue." "A statue forever - and someone else will start worshipping me one day if you don't change me back again." "He's as tricky as me! Hmmf, I'm not leaving the swine like that!"-- Pigsy persuades Monkey to de-petrify him (1:21)
Many strange gods are worshipped, and the goldfish swims round and round in its bowl. No journey is ever safe while there is any end in view. Only the pure cease to travel, because the pure are not reborn. Then, without fear, go.-- Narrator (1:21)
Who shall conquer the world, and the world of death, with its many gods? Who shall discover the Shining Way? 'You shall,' said the Buddha.-- Narrator (1:22)
Do you think enlightenment should be easy? It is not. Everyone alive has already spent all the time that ever was upon the Way, some with more energy than others.-- Narrator (1:22)
"Ow! That hurt! If that's your idea of a joke..." "It was Monkey!" "Was it? I shall bash that hairy ape the very next time I catch him not looking."-- Pigsy plots revenge (1:22)
Buddha taught that we are what we believe, and all that we are springs from our thoughts. If deluded thought can call forth ghosts, or even death, then greed can certainly make a magic wine to corrupt the mind which created it. The world is a trap for fools; only he who sees goes free.-- Narrator (1:22)
You can't beat evil if you oppose it, lest you grow evil [yourself].-- Tripitaka (1:22)
Where do we come from? Where do we go? Only the sage knows, and the sage knows such questions are profitless. Daily the clever man learns something, daily the wise man gives up some certainty. Perhaps.-- Narrator (1:22)
"Who can defy a god that knows the future?" "Yes, said the immortal Wei-Ehr, the future is unknowable, since to know the future is to change it. Still, in the fullness of time, Tripitaka and the pilgrims did come."-- Yu-Lee and the Narrator (1:23)
When you thirst, no price is too high for water.-- Tripitaka (1:23)
Once, they asked the wise man, 'Is he who gives you a wild tiger in a jade box being truly generous?' The Great Sage replied: 'How should I know?'-- Narrator (1:23)
"I'm sorry, we shouldn't be laughing. Well then, you two, any ideas what we can do about this? [ Pigsy's pregnancy ]" "Well, puncture that and let the hot air out!" "Truly it is said that dragon's feathers are as rare as sympathy for an expectant father. Never has a father been expectant in quite this way!"-- Tripitaka, Monkey and Narrator (1:23)
"Nyaagh!" "Now what's the matter with you?" "I just didn't know she was so hideous - you didn't tell me that!quot; "She's only ordinarily revolting! Oi! I want a word with you! You got our friend pregnant, and he's right out here. What are you going to do about it?" "I'd marry him if that's what you want. Your pig asked for water; don't blame me for it all!"-- Sandy and Monkey meet Yu-Lee (1:23)
"Oh dear- even prayers won't work." "Don't let Buddha hear you talking like that!"-- Tripitaka gets a reminder from Monkey (1:23)
Gods have their own lives to lead too, and cannot be forever answering prayers. So, carrying presents, old Yu-Lee went to a secret place seeking the Lord of Fertility. She knew this was where he liked to take a morning swim, and to god-jog, to exercise his divine prerogatives.-- Narrator (1:23)
"We're used to dealing with all sorts of demons, gods and monsters!" "You can deal with the water-god Ju-Lee?" "Oh... he prays them helpless and we thump them! I've got a bit of magic, too."-- Monkey tries to sell Yu-Lee his demon-bashing service (1:23)
"You're not a god - you're a birthday cake! Never mind, Monkey will cut you up into slices!" "You're the Monkey God!" "We real ones don't have to boast - we are modest!"-- So, Monkey meets Ju-Lee at last (1:23)
On the turning wheel, each new birth is a chance for illumination, so motherhood is noble. But some mothers are less suitable than others.-- Narrator (1:23)
"Well, you always said that love between couples was destruction; looking at them so joyous, don't you just doubt a little?" "It's beautiful, Monkey. Simple folk first know heaven through loving each other."-- Monkey queries Tripitaka's preaching (1:23)
Defeated, the God of Fertility turned over a new leaf. This is why, today, very few men have babies.-- Narrator (1:23)
"The way is not in the sky, the way is in the heart" said Buddha. Tripitaka, Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy have travelled very far on the pilgrimage to Buddha's holy mountain. They met with many dangers, and learned a little. Now they have come to the land where Loi-Cha, the Queen of Fire, rules.-- Narrator (1:24)
"Hot water's bad for you." "Unless you're a cabbage!"-- Sandy and Pigsy (1:24)
Fire raised man above the other animals. Can a monkey's power defeat its Queen? The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, decides to find somewhere cooler to consider the question.-- Narrator (1:24)
An old piece of wisdom says defeat can be turned into victory, if you only change your mind. Change what you want, and retreat becomes an advance.-- Tripitaka (1:24)
On a borrowed cloud, Pigsy set off to meet a lady, with an air of studied negligence that belied the beating heart beneath the sack cloth.-- Tripitaka (1:24)
"Face of Jade, I'm going out now my dear." "Out where? You might have warned me!" "To the Stag King's party, and you know ladies aren't invited." "Men - chauvinists!" "You have hen parties." "Hardly the same - we don't have cakes that girls jump out of!" "Oh, we all roll up our trouser legs - and there's a little colt riding."-- King of Water Buffalo and Face of Jade (1:24)
"I have to ask: a certain someone - a traveller - told me that you had recently got married." "Married? More or less." "Oh dear, oh my worst fears are realised... don't break my heart, tell me, are you faithful?" "Yes, yes. Quite often." -- Pigsy meets Face of Jade (1:24)
Love is a force almost as powerful as fire: without love, we should be cold; without fire, we should be alone in the dark. Yet for each there is a proper season and a golden mean. Love which fears ebb and flow is jealousy, and becomes a curse. The way is neither in the earth nor in the sky, the way is in the middle, the jewel at the heart of the lotus.-- Narrator (1:24)
Sometimes, to fight evil is to strengthen it, so a sage may merely pass it by. There is danger in this: to compromise with evil clouds the clarity with which we should strive for the good, as Tripitaka found when the pilgrims came to Nightmare-Land.-- Narrator (1:25)
Welcome! I'm especially happy to see the lady - you're our 500 000'th tourist this year. I have the honour to give you the city's freedom - the key to our gates.-- Demon page (1:25)
Hahaha... oh, hey, you're serious... Speaking as the King of Bad Dreams by the grace of Yama, God of Death, you're pretty for a monster. What a waste to have a pretty serious monster - we'll have to give you a taste of chaos to cheer you up! A taste of chaos - a taste of wine, how warm... you find it interesting? Fermented from human blood! Of blood from the fools who fought themselves into hell! It corrupts those parts that other evilness does not reach!-- King of Bad Dreams (1:25)
You'd better not laugh. Tripped on a bump in the carpet. Alright then, let battle commence... Wine! and... Bananas! Bring on the dancing girls!-- Monkey (1:25)
"Without ears or feet, what will become of me?" "We won't be able to hear ourselves walking!"-- Pigsy and Sandy worry (1:25)
"The sun vanish? I'd like to see that!" "You can just sit there while we all of us watch the sun. You all see it, else you can kill me." "Now? Is it vanishing? Hahaha!" "Wait a while... you should ask, can I bring it back?"-- The King of Bad Dreams gets a lesson from Tripitaka (1:25)
"Courage, Sandy. I'm hard to kill, you know..." "Are you? Yes, well I'm not... I'll try to be brave."-- Pigsy and Sandy worry (1:25)
Sometimes, to fight evil is to strengthen it. By opposing it untruthfully, Tripitaka brought more ignorance into the world. Ignorance breeds fear, and fear breeds superstition. Ignorance, fear and superstition were always the beginning of nightmare.-- Narrator (1:25)
There is One; it is infinite, yet what is called Buddha fills it. The One takes myriad forms, since everything is a form of the whole. Forms change; the One does not change, its total is always the same. If the pilgrims come at last to Buddha's Western Paradise, what will be changed?-- Narrator (1:26)
"Hey, Buddha! You'd better put the kettle on. Here we come!" "Why is it suddenly so hot?" "He did put the kettle on? Anyway, something happened."-- Monkey's theory won't impress Tripitaka (1:26)
"Oh, Monkey! How can you speak so rudely to Lord Buddha?" "Oh, that's easy... he didn't give us much choice. Anyway, we're nearly there, aren't we?" "`We might have to die.' He was joking ... in a woman's dress again." "He's a funny Buddha!"-- Tripitaka rebukes Monkey, whilst Sandy and Pigsy analyse the situation (1:26)
"Hey! You listening, Buddha? You will soon! Hey, I want to talk to you!" "I hear. I know already what it is you want to say to me." "Good! Well, that saves a lot of time. Tell me I'm still leading this pilgrimage, and I'm going to get the best reward, aren't I?" "Do you really think you can come to my kingdom while you quarrel about such silly matters?" "Don't you start with your philosophy - we're too close to the mountain to need that!" "You will still need to find your way there - it does not grow closer to you; you grow closer to it. I wonder if you've grown further away?" "What a load of nonsense - if you walk towards a place you get there! You still haven't answered my question - am I the first disciple?" "All are equal, Monkey." "That's not fair, Buddha. Those two are so lazy that I do all the work!" "As long as the work is done, how can there be a difference?" "Huh? I give up then, and when I stop doing it we'll see if the work gets done! I want recognition!" "Do you? Recognise yourself then. You can only be free after you choose freedom." "Huh - free you say? What about my ring?" "Don't you want it? Should I release you from it then? Freedom is an empty word without duty, and then you'll need love."-- Monkey gets rebuked by Buddha (1:26)
A long way, but merely half the way - there's as far again to travel. Where you are going is a state of mind: what matters is how you travel. I tell you: go calmly without quarrelling.-- Buddha (1:26)
There is One; it is eternal, yet what is called Buddha outlasts us. The One is like a wheel, and the wheel we are on turns endlessly. Life, death; the wheel is one-way. Even Buddhas are born again. If the One, the Way and the Wheel are Buddha, how can there be an end of the way?-- Narrator (1:26)
The pilgrims are travelling from China to India, to bring back Buddhist scriptures. The Emperor of China himself chose Tripitaka for this journey, as the holiest and the most innocent of all the priests of the Empire. Heaven chose the disciples, yet heaven has no plan, because we are all Buddha; and as the works of men speak to other men so life is the message the universe sends to itself. The journey continues.-- Narrator (2:1)
Too much of anything becomes boring. When the endless parties palled, Monkey was reduced to... fishing.-- Narrator (2:1)
There's something wrong. Even in heaven, where will Sandy find somewhere to philosophise? His needs are modest: peace and quiet, and an ordinary life. Can it be that they don't belong together? Is there no tranquility in domesticity? And is time to think a rare privilege indeed?-- Narrator (2:1)
The difference between a human and an ape is boredom.-- Buddha (2:1)
The blows of life transform us. Life will give us many forms. After Heaven and Earth exist, individuals develop to fill a space in between. But birth is always difficult. We all need help to change and grow, but what if there is no help? No failure is forever. There is always change, and a new beginning.-- Narrator (2:1)
All the world shares the same Sun. The higher the Sun rises, the brighter it grows. The Sun needs the Earth also to shine upon; yet there are those who love the dark. Should the Sun stop shining? Everything happens at its own time. What is strong must also be right, for only then will it last. If clouds obscure it, does the Sun hurry past them? Clouds will pass. Every day the Sun rises again.-- Narrator (2:2)
Remember the words of the Hound of Hell: 'If the bones have meat on, who cares what they smell like?' I have a plan to make many bones.-- Lead Dog of Death (2:2)
To live fearfully is not to be alive.-- Tripitaka (2:2)
Time moves; not like a river from here to there: we do that. Time moves in waves: it ebbs and flows. There is a time for everything. Has the time come for someone to die in order to save Tripitaka?-- Narrator (2:2)
"Aren't you supposed to make a last request?" "Oh, you're right... A life-size statue, properly inscribed: 'This is the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven. He gave his brain that you might think.'"-- Pigsy, Monkey (2:2)
Nothing is destroyed for ever. After ruin comes return. The cruellest mountain has a peak, then the way is downhill; down into a valley which may be in shadow. Of those who seek the light, the wisest knows that each night is followed by a day, and day by night forever.-- Narrator (2:2)
It's easy to be stupid; everybody sometimes is. It's hard to be clever if you are not. Is it always better to do difficult things? Does the Sun find it hard to shine, the wind to blow, or the river to run? Sun, wind, water, earth - they do what they must simply by being themselves.-- Narrator (2:2)
This is the story of a kidnapped princess and her love. She was kidnapped by a fish monster so old-fashioned that he offered he marriage. Still she feared and hated him so much that she swam away, trying to escape.-- Narrator (2:10)
"We're on our way to India, not rescuing princesses!" "Hold on - you're right, I want to rescue her." "Eh?" "Never liked to say so before... Well, er, I'm royal: all fish are blue-blooded. I'm a fish: Dad were a salmon... so I'll save the princess." "Sandy, you should have said. I never knew you were royal fish and a hero as well. Allow me to wish you luck."-- Monkey is more surprised by Sandy's revelation than Pigsy (2:10)
"All paths, they say, lead to the same end, as all lives will lead to the same understanding. But only a Buddha can know that here and there are different, and without seeing the whole, who can say where new roads lead?"
"What are you running for? There's no hurry."
"She's in danger. Come on!"
"What about the two of us then?"-- Narrator, though Pigsy seems more concerned about what lies at the end of his current path than Sandy does...(2:10)
"Monster, you go too far again - I am here only as your victim. No princess of rank would ever marry you! You're lowly! You're not even really royal and I could never marry someone common as you!" "Don't say that, mm? Kings must start somewhere. What do you think makes a king except having the power; then everyone accepts it. We have power so great that no-one can defeat us ever, and when we marry no-one will dare to care about a title!" "I shall know - whatever title you call yourself by, you'll still be common." "We shall see! We'll see who you'll marry! But how shall we change your mind? If you want to play games we'll play dirty - no food or water for a week. Starve, you snob, and see what happens... You'll learn your lesson."-- The Princess and the Fish Monster debate the underpinnings of regal power (2:10)
Because great acts are all made up of small deeds, the wise man attempts nothing very big. Tripitaka contented himself with merely delivering the letter, and it was difficult enough to get audience of a king.-- Narrator (2:10)
"Ungrateful baggage! And I promised you the ocean - all the oceans - to be my queen. And you, you can only call me common! Anyone is a king who thinks he is - positive thinking is the secret of life. You could still be my queen and have all your dreams come true if you wanted to." "Who can care for me, and who can I trust? A princess royal and rich, can I be loved for myself? Who can see through that? I feel just like everybody else, yet you talk about giving me oceans!" "Yes, we see it all... you despair because you've trusted no-one. But why should anyone care about the secrets of your heart - let them stay secret! Only what you are and what you do matters."-- The Fish Monster and the Princess still don't agree (2:10)
"What? What did you say? Did I hear you calling me?" "No." "Odd - someone did. I could swear that I heard a voice calling me." "It's rude to swear. It could have been the changing of the guard." "Oh. Yes." [Guard enters] "I'm sorry, I haven't been changed. I'm sorry to disturb you."-- Monkey, Tripitaka and a surreal guard (2:10)
If you eat imps, know what you'll get? Imp-digestion!-- Sandy (2:10)
Sandy is not wise, but a fool who knows he is a fool is farther along the road to wisdom than a wise man. What is there to know? After every summer comes an autumn, and there are times when even Heaven and Earth do not belong together. Love is not a crutch for cripples to lean upon.-- Narrator (2:10)
The way is simple, but simplicity is not stupidity: it needs awareness. A youth who leans carelessly over an abyss, even if he's looking for water, is a fool. A mountain standing above the precipice stays calm - it is in its proper place.-- Narrator (2:11)
Nor is simplicity rushed - though it begins in unwisdom. What is newly-born is innocent, and it needs to become aware. These two, simplicity with awareness, should lead to clarity.-- Narrator (2:11)
Who are you? What is identity? You like cheese, and sun on water. You know your age, and what happens when your eyes grow tired. Filtered through some predisposition, you are the product of everything that ever happened to you. But if you lost your memory, who could you be?-- Narrator (2:11)
Well has it been said by the ancient sages that of all the ways to clarity, the shortest is the way you choose for yourself.-- Narrator (2:11)
"Surrendering won't save your life!" "Couldn't I try it anyway?"-- Monkey and Dragon disagree on strategic options (2:11)
"Yes, it's always words. And such dangerous words - words that can kill you." "Truth can't be killed - it always returns."-- Fungus Prince threatens Tripitaka (2:11)
You must make the effort to reach clarity, or live life in a dream. Waking from a dream is hard so be strict with yourself, but never stern. Sometimes, to put right a mistake only causes more errors; then it is better to pass on and, remembering, to forgive yourself. Punishment is not an end in itself, and the middle way is golden.-- Narrator (2:11)
A good king is rarer than fine weather, because spring is inevitable each year. Seize on the spring: there will be autumn. A good king who insists that all wise men visit him is more rare than dragon's milk. The pilgrims are seeking such a king.-- Narrator (2:12)
Hello? Sorry, are you awake? Taoist? Taoist, I want to ask you the way. Hello?-- Monkey seeks guidance (2:12)
"Sandy, what is wisdom?" "What it is not: anything to do with cleverness. Monkey's thinking is clever and he is not wise; and I think a bald patch is essential. Monkey has too much hair to be wise."-- Tripitaka has a question (2:12)
Each moment is only possible because of every moment since the beginning of time. Now it is here, each moment is thus inevitable, and to no-one's credit or fault. Just as inevitably, however, a Pigsy will always blame someone for something.-- Narrator (2:12)
What is wisdom? It has little to do with beliefs - these change year by year, from person to person. Only one who does not dare give up beliefs because he has no wisdom will insist that others believe as he does. Cleverness learns something, but wisdom gives up some certainty every day.-- Narrator (2:12)
Is Heaven supreme? There are forces which challenge Heaven. Even Heaven cannot change the past, and the Gods of the Past use very potent weapons.-- Narrator (2:13)
There is Earth, and there is Heaven. In the space between these two there is room for man, for woman, and for babies. Tripitaka went searching for spirits. After prayer and meditation, the priest learned that Heaven must work with natural laws. But Maya - illusion - knows no such limitations. Was it the spirit which moved him to ride the Dragon-horse towards a certain mountain? And a certain cave?-- Narrator (2:13)
There are times when youth is a curse, not a blessing. Even mighty Monkey can help no-one, helpless as a baby himself.-- Narrator (2:13)
And you know eating babies isn't good manners, don't you?-- Monkey (2:13)
"You know, he said I was dear to him. He was willing to die for me, too. He's so stupid it makes me want to cry..." "It was nothing." "Well, I didn't say it was a lot. But I'm very grateful." "Yes, I've come to believe that simplicity attracts simplicity, and the other way round. I mean that life treats you in the way that you treat life. For being simple, I thank you." "Thank you. I think..."-- Monkey and Tripitaka on the merits of simplicity (2:13)
The man blamed himself. No-one was to blame, but he felt he had to blame someone for such a bewildering double tragedy.-- Narrator (2:13)
Regret little: regret belongs with the past. The future is a dream never realised; the past is a phantom. Ghosts and dreams - now is the only reality, and you will need all of yourself to live it.-- Narrator (2:13)
If change is the only certainty in the Universe, it is inevitable that things will sometimes grow and sometimes decay. Some men will grow more gifted, more powerful or richer than others. But if a man grows too rich without sharing his wealth, then like an overripe fruit, he will fall. Some men become the very spirit of greed. On their pilgrimage it is inevitable, too, that Tripitaka, Monkey, Sandy and Pigsy will meet such a monster.-- Narrator (2:15)
Gold must come from somewhere, so the spirits of Greed enslave men to dig it from the ground. Gold is a truly magic thing: it is of small use to anyone until men believe in it, that it is valuable; then magically it becomes very precious indeed. Sandy and the escaping slave are sent to work in the mines.-- Narrator (2:15)
Chen-Gold has found a use for the soft metal he owns in abundance - he eats it, feeds on it, until his very teeth turn golden and he has become possessed of the Spirit of Greed. Copying the master, his two henchmen have become the spirits of Silver and Nickel.-- Narrator (2:15)
When he was still human, Lord Gold lived and loved like everyone else, and had a daughter. Though her mother died of gold fever, Mai-San still loves her father. But someone else has come into her life.-- Narrator (2:15)
Pigsy is disguised as one of a host of ambitious men, all anxious to marry a girl whom they hardly see as flesh and blood, but rather as an inexhaustible mine of gold.-- Narrator (2:15)
"All our acts fly away from us, but time brings them back." "Did you hear? Because you've been spitting into the wind!"-- Tripitaka and Monkey have a word with Lord Gold (2:15)
Lord Chen gave up eating gold. It was too late for him to be human again, but he laboured a lifetime clearing mountains, eating dirt like the rest of us and who knows, he may earn the joys of being human in another incarnation, and clear mountains and eat dirt until he learns Enlightenment.-- Narrator (2:15)
A little gold casts a shadow so huge the very stars come out at noon. By the light of the stars, here and there small truths appear. Is Tripitaka wiser because he wants enlightenment as badly as another wanted gold? Even in shadow one may meet another, find a friend, and learn from him.-- Narrator (2:15)
It is given to very few to be solitary, because people belong together. Many reasons draw people to each other, and the strongest of these is love. People love country or friends, husbands love wives, mothers their children, and a goblin father his goblin son - even when they are spirits and the son is sick.-- Narrator (2:16)
Oh father, I don't need a doctor. Those goblin doctors do such horrid things to you. With lizards.-- Young Hu (2:16)
The truth about magic is that it is unreal: only the enlightened man sees clearly. Then life itself is unreal, a dream, an illusion created by our own minds. And if only the enlightened man sees truly, then we must take his word for it.-- Narrator (2:16)
The real Kwo-Fong is on his way to India, oblivious of the black cloud behind him, but Heaven must love fools since it made so many of us.-- Narrator (2:16)
If it is love which holds so many different people together, there are surely many kinds of love. Which is right, and which is wrong? Is a rose better than a daffodil? Of all the loves, the first love is self. Until you learn to love yourself, you cannot love one other. We are all much more than we think, but are we perfect? It is necessary to change and grow. There is a right time for this, neither too early nor too late. That time is now.-- Narrator (2:16)
There are those who give and those who take. Both extremes are wrong, because wisdom, life, the very secrets of the Universe are in a golden middle way. The martyr has gone too far and will not find peace except in death and the chance to try again. The ruthlessly selfish, though, are the stuff of monsters. Of those who only take, some want blood, and we call them... vampires.-- Narrator (2:17)
"That's a likeness of me! What are those printed words?" "A vampire who can't read?" "Only clerks need to read - nobody writes horror comics for us vampires. So read it aloud to me." "Ahem, 'Wanted, dead or alive - and preferably dead: that famous monster the Illiterate Vampire. We will pay the usual reward of ten gold pieces. By Order, Hung Sung, the King.'"-- A vampire gets some bad news from a vampire hunter (2:17)
Torn between pilgrimage and politeness, Tripitaka does not know how to say 'no' and accordingly he convinces himself that his own indecisiveness must be Heaven's will. The disciples are delighted to stay and enjoy the King's hospitality. They eat and drink until even Pigsy is full, and forced to take a walk to restore his appetite in time for tea.-- Narrator (2:17)
"He can't be going to murder for reward?" "No, don't worry, he'll get himself killed instead." "Are you trying to reassure me, Sandy?" "Oh, I see, I see what you mean... What does he mean by a 'monster'? He's chasing illusions if it's demons that he's after. But then again, if they're physical, real monsters they'll certainly kill Pigsy." "I'm not sure I find your sense of humour very amusing. Now go and rescue him." "Me? Huh, I'd sooner stay here and finish my soup." "Go now and bring him back!"-- Tripitaka and Sandy on Pigsy's bounty-hunting (2:17)
Pre-occupied by love, Pigsy sees nothing frightening about hunting monsters by night in a sinister wilderness.-- Narrator (2:17)
Pigsy! Pigsy, save me! A horrid thing went 'Yaargh!' at me!-- Dragon (2:17)
"Yu Lung, what happened to turn the coward brave, eh?" "He must have gone mad. Or he's in love."-- Sandy and Dragon (Yu Lung) on Pigsy's bounty-hunting (2:17)
Defeating the Frog King, Monkey has learned something: of course he has power, but it is not enough to do things just because you can. Power without rightness - right action at the right time - is mere force, and that cannot last against nature. Has Pigsy learned anything yet about nature?-- Narrator (2:17)
A seed only grows if you plant it in the spring - right time, right action. You cannot force a seed to grow. Mere force will not last against nature because nature is always stronger. Love is natural: give and take. Pigsy glimpsed that sometimes we love because of the other person's need for it - it is not the same as love which is mutual. No one should hog all the giving nor all the taking; the good is the golden middle way.-- Narrator (2:17)
We are all much more than we know. We are all Buddha. But we live by illusions and only see through our senses, so we cannot know how much we are. No one can know himself; therefore people will live behind many masks and call themselves by many names, when all that matters is the effect we have on others. Thus, even a monster may want to be kind, friendly and gentle. And what is more friendly than a puppy dog?-- Narrator (2:18)
So the lonely monster, in his grotesque disguise as a pet dog, went out to try to make friends. His sad little sign said "Free Teas, please come play with me".-- Narrator (2:18)
The monster is a sissy! The monster is a sissy!-- Children's Chorus (2:18)
The priest Tripitaka, Monkey and the other disciples, on their long road to India, come to the monster's country.-- Narrator (2:18)
The truly calm man can always avoid violence, yet it is odd how dawning humanity so often finds itself fighting.-- Narrator (2:18)
Take care what you think: only the illumined can know reality. Wanting nothing from the world, they are still here with everyone and less certain than we. Take care of what you do: all the harm people do in the world is done by people who are certain of something. It is sometimes better to follow the signposts than to lose yourself making new paths. There is a path: give up certainty but try to do good, and good will be done.-- Narrator (2:18)
Happiness is nothing you can take or own. Few know this, thus people cannot live together without laws, and laws can sometimes be harsh. But however gentle the judge, he must be harsh when the law demands, or the laws will not work. This is so even for the Buddha; even for the Buddha in us all.-- Narrator (2:21)
Is he awake? Soon Monkey will go to bed, and dream his dreams. Tomorrow will be a busy day of dreaming.-- Narrator (2:21)
But with the strength of a mother's love, the wicked witch fought free...-- Narrator (2:21)
"Tripitaka, pick up this sword and kill the child!" "But I'm a Buddhist!" "I know. Oddly enough, I am also."-- Buddha's orders to Tripitaka (2:21)
Sometimes fighting evil only strengthens it, while gentleness can transform it into good. The father Buddha does not judge; we judge ourselves, and this is difficult and dangerous to do. It is difficult because we will stand on our heads to feel we are right. It is dangerous because we know we must be wrong, and we are angry with ourselves. The difficult and dangerous are no different from everything else in the universe: they must be faced with strength and gentleness together. There are no extremes which are right. There is only one way, and it is in the middle.-- Narrator (2:21)
Only the sage can know certainty. If we dream alive and dead, because our senses are liars, what is the difference between image and reality?-- Narrator (2:20)
Made homeless by the burning of the screen the six gods, with Tripitaka and Monkey, sit scorched and weary beside a cold river.-- Narrator (2:20)
Feelings are important, and it is wrong to neglect them, but feelings are only a part of us. They can be mastered, or the tail wags the dog. Sometimes people are as different as ice and fire come together. Why not? A fire will burn on ice, if one is strong and the other is firm enough.-- Narrator (2:20)
When a little fox comes to cross a frozen lake, he is very careful. He tests the ice, walks quickly and lightly all the way across. When the pilgrims are close to India, will the little fox stop just before the end, and fall through the ice?-- Narrator (2:20)
Nothing lasts forever. In all the universe there are only two constants, and these are one: there will be change, and something that changes. The eternal things are natural like the seasons and the life and death of stars, and that consciousness in all myriad life forms will evolve towards knowing that everything is Buddha, and one. Nothing is lost: the total always stays the same, though there are times which sometimes seem better or worse than others.-- Narrator (2:26)
In Monkey's absence, Pigsy elected himself leader; and a leader, he argued, should surely ride the horse.-- Narrator (2:26)
"... Are you coming as well?" "Why not? Coming where?" "To the inn." "Huh? I am in. I know what, let's go out!"-- Pigsy drags Monkey's double out for a pint (2:26)
If there is any plan in the universe, it can only be evolving consciousness. This is the difference between human and animal. People feel love and grief for others.-- Narrator (2:26)
"No - you'll get all wet!" "San-Tzo, it's water. You do have a sort of genius for the obvious. You miss the most subtle."-- Tripitaka is given a lesson by the spirit of his mother (2:26)
"The enlightened are very rare; since the journey is endless, the end is to stop travelling. Do you know this is not the same as staying where you are?" "Yes" "Then travel, priest, until you learn you must get off the road."-- Buddha's teaches Tripitaka some more (2:26)
Learn there is no road, journey nor pilgrims. Ah, you are looking clearer, San-Tzo, for no brain may solve the problem alone. Whose brain knows the problem? There is no paradox to resolve for Buddha. Be one with me.-- Buddha (2:26)
"But what did it mean, all that?" "Monkey, if we ever understand, we shall know we have arrived." "And we don't have to be clever?" "Just conscious."-- Monkey and Sandy quiz Tripitaka (2:26)
"Well, clever or not, you can't walk on that ankle. What does understanding do for a sprain?" "Not much, I imagine. But it's well rested, thanks to Monkey."-- Pigsy quizzes Tripitaka (2:26)
The pilgrims still have as far to go as they have travelled. What end can there be to a journey as long as life? What end can there be to life? It is very hard to want nothing and to move on endlessly, and it is very easy. There is no end. There is one life, one pattern, and this is the pattern which is being followed.-- Narrator (2:26)
Through wind and rain, through snow and blossom, their goal is the DaiRaiOn shrine in India and the scriptures of the Buddha. They can endure the extremes of heat and cold, they can endure their meeting with demons in many guises, but it is hard to endure and empty stomach. Famished as usual, Tripitaka and his disciples reach a remote village. However...-- Narrator (2:4)
Bravery, they say, is more precious than a hundred conversations. The three disciples, having learned the value of trust, re-affirmed their loyalty to Tripitaka. The road to India is long: have they travelled half the way? Two-thirds? Of their adventures, more anon.-- Narrator (2:4)
Once again we join Tripitaka and his three disciples on the road to India to receive gracious Buddha's scriptures. The day may be fine, but as always there are difficulties.-- Narrator (2:24)
Ah, a flaw in the bright armour of democracy!-- Sandy (2:24)
And so fortified by the finest traditions of democracy, our travellers set off confidently on the wrong route, which leads not to the city but to Mount Blue Wolf, a place so wild and remote that no human being has set foot in it unless carried there by a pack of the wolves - or worse, a pack of the wolf-demons - that call the mountains their own. The disgusting leader of these revolting demons is a diguised wolf who thrives on human flesh. His name is Blue Wolf Demon.-- Narrator (2:24)
Goals reached after extreme hardship and sacrifice are the sweetest, the most cherished. Dragon is beginning to understand this, and it gives him strength. How long can this endless journey be? No matter; we will meet again soon.-- Narrator (2:24)
Suddenly, 500 years have passed, and today Tripitaka and his disciples are crossing this land on their way to India.-- Narrator (2:5)
"Dragon! Weren't you locked up as well?" "No... I had the sense to run away."-- Monkey learns from Dragon the concept of 'fleeing' (2:5)
And thus the second sun broke into a million pieces, and became stars glittering brilliantly in the sky. As for our intrepid travellers, facing ever more dangerous difficulties, they resumed their progress towards India. Of their adventures along the way, I will return to tell you more.-- Narrator (2:5)
Across vast plains, over rugged mountains, through lush, fertile valleys; Tripitaka's pilgrimage goes on. His goal: the blessed shrine of DaiRaiOn in India. When will his journey end?-- Narrator (2:19)
Even for an adventurous pilgrimage to India this is unusual. What we have here is impostors; the punks of the world of the Yakuza. they want to have "respect", so they plan to kill Tripitaka and his disciples who, as you will remember, have crossed swords with other members of their families on previous occasions. A contract has been put out on our pilgrims and these four are stupid enough to think they can carry it through, and so rise up the ranks of the brotherhood. And they're right: they would be honoured if they were to succeed. However, they ain't got that necessary ounce of class and so the result - predicatably - is...-- Narrator (2:19)
"Ooh, that hurt. It hurts... oohh!" "Shut up! They made me angry! They won't like me now I'm angry!"-- ersatz-Tripitaka prepares for a stunning transformation by ersatz-Pigsy (2:19)
This sacred shrine is called Chokoko, and is as well known in the West as throughout the Orient. It is always very crowded, bustling like a marketplace with pilgrims from all over the country, here to have their prayers answered.-- Narrator (2:9)
"A hundred thousand, in exchange for lending your arm to our enterprise? Very fair." "Huh?" "We are a band, a cell of revolutionary desperados, who want to get rid of the king." "You're sort of arch-republican assassins, eh?" "Rid ourselves of the tyrant, and form a government of the people!" "Don't go overboard on the clichés!" "OK, fair enough."-- A revolting peasant makes Monkey an offer (2:9)
Oh dear - Sandy's ordeal has raised barriers that threaten to end their friendship; but if there is calm before the storm, so there is calm behind it. Their fellowship will endure I have no doubt. Of the adventures that await them, I will tell you more next time.-- Narrator (2:9)
Legend has it that on Mount Segukusu flowers grow and bloom directly on the rockface itself. Many have climbed the mountain to see those wondrous flowers; but of all those who have been tempted to make the climb, not a single one has returned. Why should this be? Could it be because of the demon said to inhabit that wild terrain?-- Narrator (2:22)
"Well, what now? The master needs rescuing, on the other hand here's a demon who turns everyone in sight to stone." "That's a difficulty. So, any suggestions, Monkey?" "I need an idea." "Yeah, very good." "`Iron resolution is the mother of success', right?" "Has Sandy helped you at all?" "No. His philosophy is brilliant; I just don't understand a word."-- Pigsy wonders if Sandy can help Monkey hatch a plan (2:22)
Monkey's verdict on Sandy's dictum may be a trifle harsh, but here are the intrepid adventurers approaching the demon's lair with little but their iron resolution, and indeed by itself that might not be sufficient to rescue Kokanshi and Tripitaka.-- Narrator (2:22)
It is said that showing kindness and consideration with companions on a journey is among the greatest gifts we can bestow, whether the journey is your life or, in the case of Tripitaka and his disciples, the long journey to India - though perhaps after all those two journeys are the same.-- Narrator (2:25)
Our pilgrims' concerns for Monkey are entirely misplaced: the reality is that he couldn't be more content. He is extremely well-fed, he manages to lessen his work by the judicious use of his servant clones, and he is given the respect due to the head of the household. He is not missing the hardships of the open road at all, but paradise is a fragile flower...-- Narrator (2:25)
Journeying to India to receive sacred Buddha's scriptures, Tripitaka has been lost for two days. Not only is he lost, but he has become separated from Pigsy and Sandy who have gone to look for food. Alone with Monkey he continues his journey west, if west it is... -- Narrator (2:6)
So, once again, they have learnt something from their experience: our actions remain with us until we allow them to go. What new adventures await our pilgrims? What new discoveries? Well, more of that next time.-- Narrator (2:6)
Tripitaka and his followers are on their way to the DaiRaiOn shrine in India, to receive the holy scriptures. Hunger, cold and demons have lain across their path, but no gain, as they say, without difficulty.-- Narrator (2:23)
"Hey, can't you hear? We're stuck. Look, I can't go on - my legs are paralysed." "Mine as well. We've been mysteriously struck down." "Oh. Now you mention it, mine feel heavy too. So what is the cause? Vitamin B deficiency sounds logical." "Idiot! It's much more serious: we're all cursed!" "It's an anti-walking curse." "That could be it, I guess... I sense there's a demon round here..."-- Pigsy and Sandy share a deficiency with Monkey (2:23)
"Monkey?" "Yes?" "Did you kill the boy?" "No, he's resting, that's all."-- Tripitaka queries Monkey (2:23)
"Wait, wait! Hold on! Look, first things first. These things are worth a fortune. We've got to get them home." "It's stealing!" "Eh? Nonsense! What we're doing is preserving these works of art for future generations." "It's called stealing." "Don't say that! The truth is, the gods sent them down to us." "Yeah, I just hadn't thought it through. Right!"-- The two travellers rationalise (2:23)
Just to remind you, Shosanpu's father Yosangun has disowned him in order to save face with the rest of his demon community. Silly demon. Now he is riddled with guilt and remorse. Demon parents are just like other parents in the stupid things they do in caring for their children. And then, suddenly the children are gone and it's too late.
"Tell me, have you seen a little boy without a father passing through this way? Eh? Have you?"
"No, I have not."
"It aches... It hurts."
So here's a demon child in disgrace. Disowned and banished for reasons you might think are hardly real. But the pain from the toothache he's got, that's very real.-- Narrator (2:23)
"It's generally known that humans have thirty-two teeth, and the number in demons varies." "Does it really?" "It depends on general competence in the things total. So the stupider demons are easily identified by the number of teeth they've got." "Hmm... only twelve in Pigsy's mouth..." "Is that all?" "...eight lower, four upper." "So you see, the theory does work. I myself have forty-two no less." "That could change."-- Sandy tells Monkey and Pigsy about dentistry (2:23)
A parent who abandons a difficult child without so much as finding the reason for the child's behaviour, without doing all he can to understand and help to resolve the child's problems, that parent has not only strayed from the path of Buddha, he has also lost his way on the common road of humanity or, where - as in the adventure we have just passed through - the principals are demons, the road of decent demons.-- Narrator (2:23)
The last town our travellers passed through has been left far behind. Tripitaka and his followers continue on the road west. "Aargh!" What was that? We are shocked to learn it was Tripitaka who screamed. What has happened to him, and where is this ghastly place?-- Narrator (2:7)
Are dreams reality or is reality a dream? Both, like happiness and sadness, come and go. Will the dreams awaiting our travellers be happy ones? I will tell you more of their story next time.-- Narrator (2:7)
Tripitaka, Monkey, and the other two are travelling to the West. Along the road they have encountered many obstacles, including attacks by countless demons. They have accepted these difficulties as trials, set them by Buddha, and by and large have helped and encouraged each other. When will their journey reach its conclusion? It is still a long way to DaiRaiOn shrine in India. What teasing troubles and tortuous traps await them on the way?-- Narrator (2:3)
"What's that up ahead?" "So many dead bodies... at least ten. Ten green bodies, hanging on a tree..."-- Pigsy regrets asking Monkey what he can see (2:3)
"The ghost is that of a beast, you say." "Although the ghost has said that in life she was the royal queen of Shuzan, and that's a human shoe you have there, you can see that." "It's a riddle, I've got to admit." "Whether it is or not, that ghost - I know for sure - is half woman and the other half beast. Though now I think about it clearly, the difference isn't that great." "It pains me to hear you talk like that: it's degrading to women, Monkey."-- Pigsy and Sandy puzzle with Monkey about the ghost (2:8)
In this country women rule. In this country women are in charge. In this country, women give the orders.-- Narrator (2:8)
All us women are the Sun, and men are mere orbiting satellites around us. Such poor weaklings cannot be relied on for anything in any circumstances. Let us re-affirm our total commitment to the defence of our Empress and our country!-- Captain Mau-mau (2:8)
And in the twinkling of an eye we take you 1200 miles east to a bustling marketplace where news travels even faster than we do, and just as surely.-- Narrator (2:14)
A long time ago, when men were all babes,
There was a land of the free.
Fantasy and dreams were its untouched wealth,
And goodness and love were real.
Each man desires to reach Gandhara, his very own Utopia,
In the striving and the seeking soul, Man can see Gandhara.
In Gandhara, Gandhara they say it was in India,
Gandhara, Gandhara the place of light, Gandhara.
Gandhara, Gandhara they say it was in India,
Gandhara, Gandhara the place of light, Gandhara.
Though long ago and far
Beyond the winding road
Always beyond every bend
A beautiful land still waits for the few
Who make it to the very end
Each man desires to reach Gandhara, his very own utopia
In the striving and the seeking soul, Man can see Gandhara
In Gandhara, Gandhara, they say it was in India
Gandhara, Gandhara, The place of light, Gandhara...