Journey to the West: The Monkey King · chapter 23 of 25
The Furnace
八卦炉
Swords, fire and thunder can't hurt Wukong, so Laozi locks him in his furnace for forty-nine days. Nobody in heaven is ready for what comes out.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 斩妖台上，天兵用刀，用火，用雷，可是怎么也打不动悟空。
Zhǎnyāo Tái shang, tiānbīng yòng dāo, yòng huǒ, yòng léi, kěshì zěnme yě dǎ bu dòng Wùkōng.
On the Demon-Executing Platform, heaven's soldiers tried swords, fire and thunder, but nothing could hurt Wukong.
- Sun Wukong 斩啊！再斩啊！老孙一点儿也不疼！
Zhǎn a! Zài zhǎn a! Lǎo Sūn yìdiǎnr yě bù téng!
Go on, chop! Chop again! Old Sun doesn't feel a thing!
- Sun Wukong 二郎的那只坏狗，咬得老孙好疼……
Èrláng de nà zhī huài gǒu, yǎo de Lǎo Sūn hǎo téng…
Now that nasty dog of Erlang's, that bite really hurt…
Chapter 23 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Part 1 of Journey to the West: The Monkey King (chapters 1–5) is free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and The Hound of the Baskervilles are free from start to finish.
- the Jade Emperor 刀、火、雷，都打不动他？老君，这怎么办？
Dāo, huǒ, léi, dōu dǎ bu dòng tā? Lǎojūn, zhè zěnme bàn?
Swords, fire, thunder, and none of them can hurt him? Laozi, what do we do now?
- Laozi, the Supreme Old Lord 陛下，他吃了蟠桃，喝了天上的酒，还吃了我五个葫芦的金丹。
Bìxià, tā chī le Pántáo, hē le tiānshàng de jiǔ, hái chī le wǒ wǔ gè húlu de jīndān.
Your Majesty, he ate the Peaches of Immortality, drank heaven's wine and ate five gourds of my golden pills.
- Laozi, the Supreme Old Lord 刀打在他身上，就像打在铁上。
Dāo dǎ zài tā shēnshang, jiù xiàng dǎ zài tiě shang.
A sword hitting him is like a sword hitting iron.
- Laozi, the Supreme Old Lord 把他给我。放进我的八卦炉，烧四十九天。
Bǎ tā gěi wǒ. Fàng jìn wǒ de bāguàlú, shāo sìshíjiǔ tiān.
Give him to me. I'll put him in my Eight Trigrams Furnace and burn him for forty-nine days.
- Laozi, the Supreme Old Lord 我的金丹会出来，他也就完了。
Wǒ de jīndān huì chūlai, tā yě jiù wán le.
My golden pills will come back out, and that will be the end of him.
- the Jade Emperor 好！老君，带他去吧！
Hǎo! Lǎojūn, dài tā qù ba!
Good! Laozi, take him away!
- Laozi, the Supreme Old Lord 猴子，四十九天以后，再放你出来。
Hóuzi, sìshíjiǔ tiān yǐhòu, zài fàng nǐ chūlai.
Monkey, I'll let you out in forty-nine days.
- Sun Wukong 好热！好热！八卦炉里都是火！
Hǎo rè! Hǎo rè! Bāguàlú li dōu shì huǒ!
So hot! So hot! There's fire all through the furnace!
- Sun Wukong 这个角……有风，没有火！老孙就在这儿！
Zhège jiǎo… yǒu fēng, méiyǒu huǒ! Lǎo Sūn jiù zài zhèr!
This corner… there's wind and no fire! Old Sun is staying right here!
- Sun Wukong 可是这烟……老孙的眼睛好疼，好红！
Kěshì zhè yān… Lǎo Sūn de yǎnjing hǎo téng, hǎo hóng!
But this smoke… Old Sun's eyes sting so much, they're all red!
- Sun Wukong 一天，两天，三天……四十九天！
Yì tiān, liǎng tiān, sān tiān… sìshíjiǔ tiān!
One day, two days, three days… forty-nine days!
- Narrator 老君打开了八卦炉。
Lǎojūn dǎkāi le bāguàlú.
Laozi opened the furnace.
- Sun Wukong 亮了！老孙出来了！
Liàng le! Lǎo Sūn chūlai le!
Light! Old Sun is coming out!
- Narrator 悟空跳了出来，一脚，八卦炉就倒了，老君也倒了。
Wùkōng tiào le chūlai, yì jiǎo, bāguàlú jiù dǎo le, Lǎojūn yě dǎo le.
Wukong leapt out, and with one kick the furnace went over, and Laozi went over too.
- Laozi, the Supreme Old Lord 我的八卦炉！我的金丹……也没出来！
Wǒ de bāguàlú! Wǒ de jīndān… yě méi chūlai!
My Eight Trigrams Furnace! And my golden pills… they never came out!
- Narrator 几块烧红的石头，掉到了下边。后来，那儿变成了火焰山。
Jǐ kuài shāo hóng de shítou, diào dào le xiàbian. Hòulái, nàr biànchéng le Huǒyàn Shān.
A few red-hot stones fell to the earth below. Later, that place became the Flaming Mountains.
- Laozi, the Supreme Old Lord 烟把他的眼睛变成了火眼金睛……
Yān bǎ tā de yǎnjing biànchéng le huǒyǎn jīnjīng…
The smoke has turned his eyes into fiery golden eyes…
- Sun Wukong 火眼金睛？哈哈，好！老孙什么都能看见！
Huǒyǎn jīnjīng? Hāhā, hǎo! Lǎo Sūn shénme dōu néng kànjiàn!
Fiery golden eyes? Ha ha, good! Now Old Sun can see everything!
- Sun Wukong 耳朵里的针……大！大！大！老孙要大闹天宫！
Ěrduo li de zhēn… Dà! Dà! Dà! Lǎo Sūn yào dà nào Tiāngōng!
The needle in my ear… Bigger! Bigger! Bigger! Old Sun is going to turn heaven upside down!
- Sun Wukong 星官们，你们怎么都关门了？出来打！
Xīngguānmen, nǐmen zěnme dōu guān mén le? Chūlai dǎ!
Star gods, why have you all shut your doors? Come out and fight!
- the Jade Emperor 又是那只猴子！快……叫雷神！
Yòu shì nà zhī hóuzi! Kuài… jiào léishén!
That monkey again! Quick… call the thunder gods!
- Narrator 在通明殿外边，三十六个雷神来了，悟空就在中间。
Zài Tōngmíng Diàn wàibian, sānshíliù gè léishén lái le, Wùkōng jiù zài zhōngjiān.
Outside the Hall of Brightness, thirty-six thunder gods closed in, with Wukong in the middle.
- Sun Wukong 三十六个雷神？好！老孙也有三个头，六只手，三条金箍棒！
Sānshíliù gè léishén? Hǎo! Lǎo Sūn yě yǒu sān gè tóu, liù zhī shǒu, sān tiáo jīn gū bàng!
Thirty-six thunder gods? Fine! Old Sun has three heads, six arms and three staffs too!
- the Jade Emperor 雷神也打不过他？麻烦了，天宫要完了！
Léishén yě dǎ bu guò tā? Máfan le, Tiāngōng yào wán le!
Even the thunder gods can't beat him? This is bad. Heaven is finished!
- the Jade Emperor 快！快去西天，请如来佛祖来救我们！
Kuài! Kuài qù Xītiān, qǐng Rúlái Fózǔ lái jiù wǒmen!
Quick! Go to the Western Heaven and bring the Buddha to save us!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why can't swords, fire and thunder hurt Wukong?
“他吃了蟠桃，喝了天上的酒，还吃了我五个葫芦的金丹”
- Where does Wukong hide inside the furnace?
“这个角……有风，没有火”
- What happens when Laozi opens the furnace?
“悟空跳了出来，一脚，八卦炉就倒了”
- What has the smoke done to Wukong's eyes?
“烟把他的眼睛变成了火眼金睛”
- Who does the Jade Emperor send for at the end?
“快去西天，请如来佛祖来救我们”