44 pages • 1 hour read
Wu Cheng'en, Transl. Arthur WaleyMonkey: A Folk Novel of China
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1592A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 25-27
Chapter 25 Summary
After wrapping up loose ends in Cart Slow, the pilgrims continue on their journey until they come to a deep river called “The River that leads to Heaven” (249), which is 800 leagues across and provides the location for this section of the story. Hearing Buddhist music nearby, the pilgrims follow it and find a village having a ceremony. Tripitaka goes ahead to find out if they can find shelter. When Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy burst in, the Buddhists are terrified of them, and many of them run away. The old man who owns the house calls people to serve food to the pilgrims. Pigsy is greedy, and his appetite astonishes everyone.
The old man explains to Tripitaka that the river contains a God who brings rain and prosperity but, in exchange, demands children be sacrificed to him as food. He despairs, as “it is our family’s turn to provide the victims” (254), meaning his daughter, Load of Gold, and his brother’s son, War Boy. Monkey demonstrates how he can turn into an exact copy of War Boy and offers to take War Boy’s place in the sacrifice. Monkey says if the old man gives Pigsy enough food, Pigsy will take Load of Gold’s place. Pigsy is much less eager to help, and as he is less adept at transformation, he cannot completely become Load of Gold. Monkey finishes the transformation for Pigsy, and Monkey and Pigsy are carried away to the temple for sacrifice instead of the real Load of Gold and War Boy.
Chapter 26 Summary
In the temple while they wait for the monster, Pigsy worries, and Monkey tries to calm him down. When the monster arrives, Monkey—though he looks just like War Boy—responds unlike a child, and the monster tries to eat Pigsy first. Pigsy, in fright, turns back into his true form and attacks the monster. After hearing who Monkey and Pigsy really are, the monster runs back to his palace under the river, where he tells his subjects that they should capture and eat Tripitaka because he is “of such sanctity that anyone who ate the least scrap of his flesh would live forever” (261). One of the monster’s subjects suggests a plan: If the monster causes a snowstorm and freezes the river, then they can catch Tripitaka when he tries to cross.
At the farm, Tripitaka and his disciples are treated to elaborate feasts, making Tripitaka uncomfortable. When the snowstorm hits and Tripitaka hears about the frozen river, he believes the gods have intervened on his behalf once again. Though the others try to dissuade him from crossing, Tripitaka insists that they must leave while the river is ice. Pigsy, who is most at home in the water, makes everyone hold a staff lengthwise as they cross in case of holes opening in the ice. As they are crossing the ice, the monster opens a hole that Pigsy, Sandy, Tripitaka, and the horse all fall into. The monster’s subject worries Tripitaka’s disciples might interrupt them if they eat Tripitaka immediately, so Tripitaka “was taken and laid in a long stone chest” (267).
Pigsy insists that Tripitaka is dead and that they should leave him behind and return to their lives. Monkey insists they should rescue Tripitaka, and after taking the horse back to the farm, Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy head back to the river.
Chapter 27 Summary
Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy make a plan: Pigsy will carry Monkey, and the three will go under water. Pigsy plots to play a trick on Monkey, but “Monkey saw at once that there was something in the wind” and instead plays a trick on Pigsy (269), convincing Pigsy he has accidentally killed Monkey. Monkey reveals himself, Pigsy apologizes, and the disciples continue to the monster’s home. Monkey changes into a crab and finds out where Tripitaka is held, then returns to the surface while Pigsy and Sandy challenge the monster. Pigsy, Sandy, and the monster call each other out for not being what they seem. Pigsy and Sandy draw the monster to the surface, where Monkey attacks, but the monster retreats. Monkey goes to visit Kuan-yin for help.
Kuan-yin knows that Monkey is coming but makes him wait for her, then leaves for the river “without even doing her hair or putting on her jewels” (274). She uses a magic basket to catch a goldfish, which she tells Monkey used to live in her lotus pond and gained magic from listening in on scriptures. She explains that the goldfish is the monster. Monkey and the others retrieve Tripitaka from under water, and the villagers come to pay their respects to Kuan-yin.
As the villagers start building a boat for the pilgrims, a turtle comes to shore and offers to take them across the river, as thanks for helping him recover his home from the monster. The turtle asks a favor—that the pilgrims ask Buddha how long it will be before he achieves human form—and then carries Tripitaka, Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy, and the horse across.
Chapters 25-27 Analysis
By this point in the story, the pilgrims have each started to overcome their primary flaws, with mixed success. Tripitaka becomes a bit more decisive in insisting they try to cross the ice, but unfortunately his decisiveness in this case means he doesn’t listen to good advice and gets himself in trouble. Monkey has relaxed a bit from wanting to do everything himself and has been traveling with Pigsy long enough to know when Pigsy is up to something. Pigsy, though still selfish and lazy, is quicker to appreciate Monkey’s talents and to apologize when he thinks he has accidentally lost Monkey. Sandy speaks up more and acts a mediator between Pigsy and Monkey, rationalizing their course of action when the monster takes Tripitaka. Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy work more as teammates taking on specific roles than as individuals pulling for their own way.
This section also features a unique situation within the text—an adventure based on what appears to be an accidental event rather than one determined by karma or divine intervention. Kuan-yin’s goldfish grows powerful through overhearing scripture, effectively stealing the knowledge, and then happens to be washed into the earthly world by a flood. Rather than knowing exactly what has happened, Kuan-yin spends many years trying to figure out where the goldfish has gone, only finding it once Tripitaka and his disciples arrive at the river. Kuan-yin’s haste to get to the river, and her lack of consideration for whether she is properly dressed, are a testament to the importance of the situation. As the goldfish was not meant to learn magic, and not meant to escape, Kuan-yin hurries to recover it and right the wrongs caused by a creature that was under her surveillance.
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