Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven · chapter 8 of 8
The Buddha's Palm
佛祖的手心
The Buddha offers the Monkey King a simple bet: jump out of his palm and win heaven. Easy, surely, for a monkey whose somersault covers a hundred and eight thousand li?
Read what you hear
- Narrator 如来佛祖从西天来了。他看着大圣，笑了笑。
Rúlái Fózǔ cóng Xītiān lái le. Tā kànzhe Dàshèng, xiào le xiào.
The Buddha came from the Western Heaven. He looked at the Great Sage and smiled.
- The Buddha 你就是孙悟空吗？你为什么要大闹天宫？
Nǐ jiù shì Sūn Wùkōng ma? Nǐ wèishénme yào dà nào Tiāngōng?
So you are Sun Wukong. Why are you raising havoc in heaven?
- Sun Wukong 玉帝坐天宫坐了太久了！该老孙来坐一坐了！
Yùdì zuò Tiāngōng zuò le tài jiǔ le! Gāi Lǎo Sūn lái zuò yi zuò le!
The Jade Emperor has ruled heaven for far too long! It's Old Sun's turn now!
Chapter 8 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- The Buddha 你有什么本领，要坐天宫？
Nǐ yǒu shénme běnlǐng, yào zuò Tiāngōng?
And what can you do, that you should rule heaven?
- Sun Wukong 老孙会七十二变，有火眼金睛，一个跟头就是十万八千里！
Lǎo Sūn huì qīshí'èr biàn, yǒu huǒyǎn jīnjīng, yí gè gēntou jiù shì shíwàn bāqiān lǐ!
I, Old Sun, know seventy-two transformations, I have fiery golden eyes, and one somersault carries me a hundred and eight thousand li!
- The Buddha 好，我们来比一比。你要是能跳出我的手心，天宫就给你。
Hǎo, wǒmen lái bǐ yi bǐ. Nǐ yàoshi néng tiào chū wǒ de shǒuxīn, Tiāngōng jiù gěi nǐ.
Very well, let's have a contest. If you can jump out of the palm of my hand, heaven is yours.
- The Buddha 要是跳不出去，你就回到下面去，再学很多很多年。
Yàoshi tiào bù chūqù, nǐ jiù huí dào xiàmiàn qù, zài xué hěn duō hěn duō nián.
If you can't, you go back down to the world below and study for many, many more years.
- Sun Wukong 哈哈，这个如来真笨！他的手心这么小，老孙一跳就出去了！
Hāhā, zhège Rúlái zhēn bèn! Tā de shǒuxīn zhème xiǎo, Lǎo Sūn yí tiào jiù chūqù le!
Ha! This Buddha is a fool! His palm is tiny. Old Sun will be out of it in one jump!
- Narrator 大圣跳到佛祖的手上，一个跟头，就飞得很远很远。
Dàshèng tiào dào Fózǔ de shǒu shàng, yí gè gēntou, jiù fēi de hěn yuǎn hěn yuǎn.
The Great Sage leapt onto the Buddha's hand, and with a single somersault, he flew far, far away.
- Sun Wukong 飞了这么远，一定到了天的最边上！前面还有五根大柱子……
Fēi le zhème yuǎn, yídìng dào le tiān de zuì biān shàng! Qiánmiàn hái yǒu wǔ gēn dà zhùzi…
I've flown so far, this must be the very edge of the sky! And look, there are five huge pillars up ahead…
- Sun Wukong 老孙在中间的柱子上写几个字：“齐天大圣到此一游”！回去给如来看看！
Lǎo Sūn zài zhōngjiān de zhùzi shang xiě jǐ gè zì: “Qítiān Dàshèng dào cǐ yì yóu”! Huíqù gěi Rúlái kànkan!
Old Sun will write a few words on the middle pillar: “The Great Sage Equal to Heaven was here”! Then I'll go back and show the Buddha!
- Sun Wukong 如来，老孙回来了！我到了天的最边上，天宫是我的了！
Rúlái, Lǎo Sūn huílái le! Wǒ dào le tiān de zuì biān shàng, Tiāngōng shì wǒ de le!
Buddha, Old Sun is back! I went all the way to the edge of the sky. Heaven is mine!
- The Buddha 猴子，你一直都在我的手心里啊。不信，你看看我的手指。
Hóuzi, nǐ yìzhí dōu zài wǒ de shǒuxīn lǐ a. Bú xìn, nǐ kànkan wǒ de shǒuzhǐ.
Monkey, you never left the palm of my hand. If you don't believe me, take a look at my finger.
- Sun Wukong 老孙用火眼金睛看看……“齐天大圣到此一游”！怎么在你的手指上？
Lǎo Sūn yòng huǒyǎn jīnjīng kànkan… “Qítiān Dàshèng dào cǐ yì yóu”! Zěnme zài nǐ de shǒuzhǐ shang?
Let me take a look with these fiery golden eyes of mine… “The Great Sage Equal to Heaven was here”! How did that get on your finger?
- Sun Wukong 老孙不信！我再去一次！
Lǎo Sūn bú xìn! Wǒ zài qù yí cì!
Old Sun doesn't believe it! I'm going again!
- Narrator 大圣刚要跳，佛祖就把手一翻。五根手指变成五座大山，压住了大圣。
Dàshèng gāng yào tiào, Fózǔ jiù bǎ shǒu yì fān. Wǔ gēn shǒuzhǐ biàn chéng wǔ zuò dà shān, yā zhù le Dàshèng.
Just as the Great Sage was about to jump, the Buddha turned his hand over. His five fingers became five great mountains, and they pinned the Great Sage beneath them.
- Sun Wukong 放我出去！放老孙出去！
Fàng wǒ chūqù! Fàng Lǎo Sūn chūqù!
Let me out! Let Old Sun out!
- The Buddha 这座山叫五行山。悟空，你就在这里，好好想一想吧。
Zhè zuò shān jiào Wǔxíng Shān. Wùkōng, nǐ jiù zài zhèlǐ, hǎohǎo xiǎng yi xiǎng ba.
This is Five Elements Mountain. Stay here, Wukong, and think things over.
- The Buddha 等到那一天，会有人来救你的。
Děng dào nà yì tiān, huì yǒu rén lái jiù nǐ de.
When the day comes, someone will come to set you free.
- Sun Wukong 那一天？是哪一天？谁会来救老孙呢？
Nà yì tiān? Shì nǎ yì tiān? Shéi huì lái jiù Lǎo Sūn ne?
The day? What day? Who's going to come and save Old Sun?
- Narrator 五百年以后，一个往西走的和尚，来到了五行山下……
Wǔbǎi nián yǐhòu, yí gè wǎng xī zǒu de héshang, láidào le Wǔxíng Shān xià…
Five hundred years later, a monk traveling west came to the foot of Five Elements Mountain…
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why does Wukong say he should rule heaven?
“玉帝坐天宫坐了太久了！该老孙来坐一坐了！”
- What bet does the Buddha offer?
“你要是能跳出我的手心，天宫就给你。”
- What does Wukong write, and where?
“老孙在中间的柱子上写几个字”……“齐天大圣到此一游”
- Where does Wukong find his writing?
“齐天大圣到此一游”……“怎么在你的手指上？”
- What happens to Wukong in the end?
“五根手指变成五座大山，压住了大圣。”……“这座山叫五行山。”