was made everywhere, until
Li T'ien-wang, by the help of his devil-finding mirror, detected the
quarry and informed Erh-lang, who rushed off in pursuit. Lao Chuen
hurled his magic ring on to the head of the fugitive, who stumbled
and fell. Quick as lightning, the celestial dog, T'ien Kou, who was
in Erh-lang's service, threw himself on him, bit him in the calf,
and caused him to stumble afresh. This was the end of the fight. Sun,
surrounded on all sides, was seized and chained. The battle was won.

Sun escapes from Lao Chuen's Furnace

The celestial armies now raised the siege, and returned to their
quarters. But a new and unexpected difficulty arose. Yue Huang condemned
the criminal to death, but when they went to carry out the sentence
the executioners learned that he was invulnerable; swords, iron,
fire, even lightning, could make no impression on his skin. Yue Huang,
alarmed, asked Lao Chuen the reason of this. The latter replied that
there was nothing surprising about it, seeing that the knave had
eaten the peaches of life in the garden of Heaven and the pills of
immortality which he had composed. "Hand him over to me," he added. "I
will distil him in my furnace of the Eight Trigrams, and extract from
his composition the elements which render him immortal."

Yue Huang ordered that the prisoner be handed over, and in the sight
of all he was shut up in Lao Chuen's alchemical furnace, which for
forty-nine days was heated white-hot. But at an unguarded moment
Sun lifted the lid, emerged in a rage, seized his magic staff, and
threatened to destroy Heaven and exterminate its inhabitants. Yue Huang,
at the end of his resources, summoned Buddha, who came and addressed
Sun as follows: "Why do you wish to possess yourself of the Kingdom
of the Heavens?"

"Have I not power enough to be the God of Heaven?" was the arrogant
reply.

"What qualifications have you?" asked Buddha. "Enumerate them."

"My qualifications are innumerable," replied Sun. "I am invulnerable,
I am immortal, I can change myself into seventy-two different forms,
I can ride on the clouds of Heaven and pass through the air at will,
with one leap I can traverse a hundred and eight thousand _li_."

"Well," replied Buddha, "have a match with me; I wager that in one
leap you cannot even jump out of the palm of my hand. If you succeed
I will bestow upon you the sovereignty of Heaven."

Broad-jump Competition

Sun rose into space, flew like lightning