re by the way.
After many weary days of travelling this part of the journey was at
last accomplished, and they were about to separate at the foot of a
considerable hill which lay on the border line between China and the
country of the barbarians beyond, when a loud and striking voice was
heard exclaiming, "The priest has come! The priest has come!"
Sam-Chaong asked his companion the meaning of these words and to what
priest they referred.
"There is a tradition in this region," replied the man, "that five
hundred years ago, a certain fairy, inflamed with pride, dared to raise
himself in rebellion against the Goddess of Mercy in the Western
Heaven. To punish him she turned him into a monkey, and confined him
in a cave near the top of this hill. There she condemned him to remain
until Sam-Chaong should pass this way, when he could earn forgiveness
by leading the priest into the presence of the Goddess who had
commanded him to appear before her."
Ascending the hill in the direction of the spot from whence the cry
"The priest has come!" kept ringing through the air, they came upon a
natural cavern, the mouth of which was covered by a huge boulder,
nicely poised in such a position that all exit from it was rendered an
impossibility. Peering through the crevices at the side, they could
distinctly see the figure of a monkey raising its face with an eager
look of expectation in the direction of Sam-Chaong and his companion.
"Let me out," it cried, "and I will faithfully lead you to the Western
Heaven, and never leave you until you find yourself standing in the
presence of the Goddess of Mercy."
"But how am I to get you out?" asked Sam-Chaong. "The boulder that
shuts you in is too large for human hands to move, and so, though I
pity you in your misfortune and greatly desire your help to guide me
along the unknown paths that lie before me, I fear that the task of
setting you free must fall to other hands than mine."
"Deliverance is more easy than you imagine," replied the monkey. "Cast
your eye along the edge of this vast rock, which the Goddess with but a
simple touch of one of her fingers moved into its place five hundred
years ago, as though it had been the airiest down that ever floated in
a summer's breeze, and you will see something yellow standing out in
marked contrast to the black lichen-covered stone. That is the
sign-manual of the Goddess. She printed it on the rock when she
condemned me centuries
|