Reading Notes: The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung Part B

Picking up where we left off in Part A, this section begins with the Lord of the Heavens concerned about Sun Wu Kung and his arrogance and his cannibalistic ways. He plans to punish the ape harshly, but the Evening Star insists another course of action. He brings Sun Wu Kung up to the heavens and bestows upon him the role of a stable keeper. He soon finds out that this is a lowly position and is furious, so he goes back to his homeland. Li Dsing and Notscha come down and try to fight the Monkey King so that he may be brought back and punished for his crimes. However the Monkey King is too strong and no one can defeat him. The Evening Star once again suggests that a higher position be bestowed upon him so that he may be satisfied and not revolt. He is then put in charge of watching over the garden of the Queen Mother. However he eats most of the fruit in the garden. The fairies come for him, but are frozen in place by him. He sneaks back to his island and this time Yang Oerlang is sent for him. He is a match for the Monkey King and after countless matches the Monkey King loses and is taken back to the heavens. They try to burn him to ashes but are not successful, so he escapes. The Lord of the Heavens asks Buddha to help him take down the Monkey King and he is successful. He traps him in a mountain for many many years. In this story Sun Wu Kung is very arrogant and takes things too lightly. He is a very ungrateful person and wants what he doesn't have. In my rendition I would like to humble him some more and possible change his fate in the end.

The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung by R. Wilhelm, link to online reading

(Sun Wu Kung, Source: Wikipedia)