Week 7 Story: Sun Wu Kung and the Evil City
Sun Wu Kung and his band of travelers reached the top of a hill along a desert path. At the crest, they saw a formidable city that stretched across the barren desert. Among his company, were Tang, Zhu, and Sandy. Sun was an ape formally trained in the secrets of the world and magic. Tang was pious monk who was positioned by the Buddha to deliver holy sutras to India. Zhu was a flirtatious expelled naval officer of heaven and Sandy was a clumsy river ogre. Together, the four made an odd bunch.
The great city reeked of debauchery and mischief. Tang sat on the hill to meditate on the disgusting city. Sun began to pace in guard of the monk. As Tang recited incantations, an old vagabond approached the troupe. The leathery woman neared Sun and told them not to enter the city for it was a place of great evil. The kings of the city had promised the Devil-King of the North that they would kill 10,000 holy men.
Sun was suspicious of the vagabond. In a magical whisper, he transformed himself into a fly and flew to the city. Perched on the wall of the castle, he heard the devious plan of the monarchs to kill all priests who entered the city. Wrought with debauchery, there was theft and murder around very corner of the city. Therefore Sun surmised that a few missing cloaks and turbans would not raise any alarm. Transforming himself into a toucan, he scooped up the clothes and carried them back to his party.
The four holy men then walked into the city with dirty cloaks around their shoulders and enormous turbans hiding their shaved heads. They were anxious that their turbans would fall off and reveal their holiness. Fortune favored them and no one questioned their appearance. As night fell, the four prepared to rest. They were terrified that their turbans would loosen and fall during the night. Zhu proposed that they all sleep locked in a chest. They agreed, and all climbed into the chest. Due to their buddhist training, they were able to put the tightness an cramped quarters out of their minds and slept peacefully.
They were woken abruptly by the sounds of thieves. The chest in which they slept was being carried away, due to its weight, the themes thought it was full of gold. This set a panic in the hearts of Zhu, Tang, and Sandy who feared their exposure and death, for their turbans had fallen during the commotion and there was not space to right them. Sun bade them not to worry and transformed himself into an ant.
Once outside of the chest, Sun became a eagle and soared into the sky. He conjured a magical incantation to put the city to sleep until Sun clapped his hands thrice. He blew the magical spell into the wind to be carried throughout the entirety of the city. Sun plucked one of his hairs and wished it to become 5,000 versions of himself. He conjured 5,000 pairs of shears and ordered all of the apes to shave the heads of every person in the city. It took 5 hours to finish, but no man, woman, or child was left with a hair on their heads.
Sun made the duplicate apes vanish and transformed himself back into an ant so that he could crawl back into he chest with his comrades. Inside the chest, Sun regained his full form and clapped his hands three times. As the people of the city resumed life and realized their involuntary piety, panic ensued. Their chest was burst open. No one paid any attention to their shaved heads for they matched the heads of all people in the city.
The four left the city safely and continued on their journey.
Author's Note: I used the basic plot line from Shaving a Whole City, a small story within, Journey to the West, found in Myths and Legends of China by Edward TC Werner. In this story, Sun, the monkey king, saves his master, Tang from a bloodthirsty city with a vendetta against priests. I added a few details and changed others, but overall, the plot is similar to the original.
The great city reeked of debauchery and mischief. Tang sat on the hill to meditate on the disgusting city. Sun began to pace in guard of the monk. As Tang recited incantations, an old vagabond approached the troupe. The leathery woman neared Sun and told them not to enter the city for it was a place of great evil. The kings of the city had promised the Devil-King of the North that they would kill 10,000 holy men.
Sun was suspicious of the vagabond. In a magical whisper, he transformed himself into a fly and flew to the city. Perched on the wall of the castle, he heard the devious plan of the monarchs to kill all priests who entered the city. Wrought with debauchery, there was theft and murder around very corner of the city. Therefore Sun surmised that a few missing cloaks and turbans would not raise any alarm. Transforming himself into a toucan, he scooped up the clothes and carried them back to his party.
The four holy men then walked into the city with dirty cloaks around their shoulders and enormous turbans hiding their shaved heads. They were anxious that their turbans would fall off and reveal their holiness. Fortune favored them and no one questioned their appearance. As night fell, the four prepared to rest. They were terrified that their turbans would loosen and fall during the night. Zhu proposed that they all sleep locked in a chest. They agreed, and all climbed into the chest. Due to their buddhist training, they were able to put the tightness an cramped quarters out of their minds and slept peacefully.
They were woken abruptly by the sounds of thieves. The chest in which they slept was being carried away, due to its weight, the themes thought it was full of gold. This set a panic in the hearts of Zhu, Tang, and Sandy who feared their exposure and death, for their turbans had fallen during the commotion and there was not space to right them. Sun bade them not to worry and transformed himself into an ant.
Once outside of the chest, Sun became a eagle and soared into the sky. He conjured a magical incantation to put the city to sleep until Sun clapped his hands thrice. He blew the magical spell into the wind to be carried throughout the entirety of the city. Sun plucked one of his hairs and wished it to become 5,000 versions of himself. He conjured 5,000 pairs of shears and ordered all of the apes to shave the heads of every person in the city. It took 5 hours to finish, but no man, woman, or child was left with a hair on their heads.
Sun made the duplicate apes vanish and transformed himself back into an ant so that he could crawl back into he chest with his comrades. Inside the chest, Sun regained his full form and clapped his hands three times. As the people of the city resumed life and realized their involuntary piety, panic ensued. Their chest was burst open. No one paid any attention to their shaved heads for they matched the heads of all people in the city.
The four left the city safely and continued on their journey.
Author's Note: I used the basic plot line from Shaving a Whole City, a small story within, Journey to the West, found in Myths and Legends of China by Edward TC Werner. In this story, Sun, the monkey king, saves his master, Tang from a bloodthirsty city with a vendetta against priests. I added a few details and changed others, but overall, the plot is similar to the original.
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| The Monkey King by Maiss-Thro |
Haley, I liked this story and I thought your writing in it was really good! The descriptions were well described and I think we got enough background information that I was able to understand the story even without having read the original story. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through when one of your friends is able to convert himself into other forms at will, but I guess that is how these stories go haha. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Hayley! I really liked this story. I think that your narrative worked well but I think that you could have added some dialogue so something to make the scene clearer to the reader. Like the difference between a friend telling you a story second hand and being there yourself. And you managed to include everything with out it seeming like and information dump so that's great!
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