The Wood Star left a happy Wukong introducing himself to the deputy stablemaster, the assistant stable master, the recordkeeper, the stablehands – officials in positions big and small at the Imperial Stable. He toured the stables and found heavenly horses numbering in the thousands: chestnuts, bays, piebalds, thoroughbreds – each and every one spirited and swift. A herd of the steeds of heroes and kings the likes of Dragoness and Yellow Wings, Windchaser and Red Lightning, Cloudrunner and Blue Dragon, each one a legend in its own right. They galloped through the mists and ran upon the clouds tirelessly. The neighing of the herd was like the roar of the wind, and the sound of their hooves was like lightning.1 Wukong inspected each horse in the register.
Each day, the record keeper ordered fodder and supplies. The stablehands cleaned the stalls, curried the horses, prepared their grain mash, and kept the horses fed and watered. The deputy and assistant stablemasters oversaw all of the work. The Horses’ Fortune fussed over the horses day and night. He frolicked with the herd during the day and kept watch diligently through the night. He encouraged the sluggish2 ones to get up and eat. Those that ran wild3 he caught and placed in their stalls. The horses soon pricked up their ears and pawed the ground when they saw him, and under his care they grew fat and healthy. Before he knew it, more than two weeks had passed. One morning, the others at the stable organized a banquet to welcome Wukong into the ranks and celebrate his new Heavenly appointment.
The celebration was going strong when the Monkey King suddenly put down his goblet. “This position of mine – Horses’ Fortune – what kind of a position is it?” he inquired.
“It is what it sounds like, Horses’ Fortune,” the stablehands4 told him.
“But what kind of rank does this position have?” Wukong asked.
“It has no rank,” the others said.
“No rank?” Wukong said. “Then it must be very important.”
“No, no. The position is just unranked,” one of the stablemasters explained.
“What does unranked mean?” Wukong asked.
“This kind of position is about as good as dirt5,” a stablehand said. “That’s why it has no rank. You’re just a stablehand like us, raising horses for the emperor.”
“Just take you, my good Monkey,” said another, “who has worked diligently since the day you arrived. You have made the horses fat and healthy, and they’ll still only reward you with a “good job” and a pat on the back. On the other hand, if a horse is found with the slightest sign of ill health, you would be blamed and held personally responsible. And if a horse gets injured, you’d be fined as punishment.”
Hearing this, the Monkey King’s temper flared. “So this is how they despise old Sun! Old Sun was King and Patriarch of Huaguo Mountain, and they’ve tricked me to come be their stable boy! This is a job for children and servants, not the likes of me! That’s it! I’m leaving!” He upended the recordkeeper’s table and the food upon it, pulled out the Will-abiding Staff from his ear, and fought his way out of the Heavenly Stable and straight toward the South Heavenly Gate. He was a registered immortal, for all that he was just the Horses’ Fortune, and the Heavenly Guards didn’t dare stop him as he charged through the Heavenly Gate.
In a short time he had descended upon Huaguo Mountain to the welcome sight of his four loyal advisors and the mountain lords carrying out the regular drills and exercises. “Little ones, old Sun’s back!” the Monkey King called out. The monkeys ran to surround him with bowing and welcome, and the crowd swept him into the back of Shuilian Cave to his rightful place on his throne. Wine was brought to celebrate as the monkeys called, “Congratulations, your Majesty! You must have accomplished so much these last ten plus years in Heaven to have returned so triumphantly today?”
“Ten plus years?” the Monkey King said. “What do you mean? I’ve only been gone for half a month.”
“Heaven doesn’t feel the passage of time,” the monkeys said. “Every day that passes in Heaven is a whole year down here. If we may ask, what position was your Majesty appointed to?”
“I’d rather not talk about it,” the Monkey King said. “I could die of embarrassment. That Jade Emperor has no appreciation for talent. He took one look at old Sun and appoints me as some ‘Horses’ Fortune’. Turns out he made me a stable boy, a job too low to even be ranked! At first I didn’t know, and I had a good time in the Heavenly Stables. But today I asked my colleagues6 and learned what a low-ranking position it was. Old Sun was furious and knocked over the banquet table and quit the position. That’s why I’ve come back down here.”
“Good for you! Good for you!7” the monkeys said. “Your Majesty is so highly esteemed being king in our cave paradise, why would you give that up to be a stablehand? Everyone! Bring wine! Let’s cheer his majesty up!8”
As the wine was flowing freely, a report came: “Boss! Two one-horned demons are outside asking to see you.”
“Let them in,” the Monkey King ordered. The two demons came into the cave and fell to the floor before the stone throne. “What business do you have with me?” the Handsome Monkey King asked.
“We have long heard of your majesty’s prowess, but we have no reason to come pay our respects before now. We heard that your majesty has been registered among the heavenly immortals, so we have brought your majesty a humble gift of this yellow robe in honor of your triumphant return,” the first demon said. “We beg you to receive these two lowly demons into your service. We would be glad to serve in any way your majesty deems fit.9”
The Monkey King put the yellow robe on at once and appointed the two demons governors in his kingdom. The happy monkeys lined up in ranks to pay their respects to their king. After thanking the Monkey King, the demons once again brought up the sore subject: “Your majesty was up in Heaven for such a long time. May we ask what position your majesty held?”
“The Jade Emperor doesn’t know how to judge a person’s worth, and appointed me as a so-called Horses’ Fortune,” said the Monkey King.
“Why would one so powerful as your Majesty raise another man’s horses?” the demons said. “Your majesty could even become a great sage equal to heaven with no problem.”
“Yes! Yes, yes yes!” the Monkey King cried. He summoned his four advisors. “Erect a banner for me immediately that says Great Sage, Equal of Heaven! From now on, I shall only be addressed as ‘Great Sage, Equal of Heaven’, and no longer as ‘Boss’ or ‘Your majesty.’ Send news to the yao kings of the other mountain caves, so they they may all be informed!”
1 This was a poem filled with names of famous horses throughout Chinese history. ↩
2 I’m translating ‘those who slept’ as sluggish. ↩
3 The word here is actually ‘those who walked’. ↩
4 All of these lines from the others who work at the stable are from ‘the crowd’. For the sake of experimenting with narration, I’ve separated them out into different people. ↩
5 This is my own metaphor. The actual phrase is ‘the lowest, smallest position’ ↩
6 This word sounds so funny in this context and yet… ↩
7 Literally, this phrase is ‘Good coming! Good coming! ↩
8 Literally, ‘dissipate frustration with the king’ ↩
9 Literally, this sentence is something like, we would do the work of dogs and horses. ↩
Etymology Adventures 