The Master

Years passed as the Monkey King sailed away from his kingdom and into the unknown. When he finally landed on the shore of a different continent he was shocked to find humans running about. “I must learn about these creatures’ ways,” he thought to himself. The Monkey King left his raft and wandered about the lands. However, no matter how far and wide he traveled, the Monkey King could not find any Immortals to teach him their ways.

One day after months of searching the Monkey King stumbled upon a baby bird who had fallen out of his nest. The Monkey King took pity on this bird and put him back in his nest. As the Monkey King was leaving, the bird’s mother returned with worms for her babies. “Hello there, mother bird! I was wondering if you knew where I could find the home of an Immortal?” called out the Monkey King. “Normally I would not say. For as you know it is forbidden to reveal their location to those who do not know it. But since you helped my baby I shall tell you. There is a great sage on the next mountain over. You must go to his home in the river by the cave. Do not enter but instead wait outside his door. He will send for you,” replied the mother bird.

The very next day the Monkey King found the home of the great sage who would hopefully become his teacher. As eager as he was to get his training started, he remembered the words of the mother bird and instead waited on a tree by the gate. After waiting patiently for some time, the gate opened and a young man came out and invited the Monkey King inside. He was led into a large sitting area a man sitting on what looked like a small throne called out to him, “What do they call you stone monkey?”

“They call me the Monkey King,” replied the Monkey King.

“Well, that won’t do as I am the only master around here. From this day on you shall be known as Wukong,” said the sage.

And so the Wukong began his training. Wukong was determined to excel in his studies as he could not wait to return home to his kingdom. Every day he sat with the other students and listened to his master’s teachings. However, at night when the other students would go to sleep, Wukong would sit in his room and practice the sage’s teachings. By training at night Wukong progressed faster in his studies than the rest of the students. He eventually overtook all of the other students in his studies and caught the eye of the sage. “Wukong, I see that you are progressing farther and faster than your peers in all of your studies. Tell me what is it you wish to learn from your time here?” asked the sage.

“I wish to learn the secret to immortality,” replied Wukong.

“The Jade Emperor has outlawed the teaching of immortality to those he has not deemed worthy. However, I believe that you have more than proven yourself these past few years. I will teach you not only the secret to immortality but also 72 transformations to protect yourself and your people. All that I ask is you do not tell anyone where you learned this,” replied the sage.

“Of course master! I would sooner die than betray you,” said Wukong.

Wukong remained with his master for a few years, where he learned not only the secret to immorality but also the 72 transformations. Eventually he was driven away from his master by the bullying of his peers.

Author’s Note: In the original story the Monkey King meets a woodcutter who leads tells him where the sage is. In my version I changed the woodcutter into a bird because I wanted an animal to help Wukong instead of human. I also added the small bit where Wukong helps the baby bird because I wanted my retelling of the story to make Wukong a more sympathetic character. In the original story Wukong leaves his master because his master is tired of how he acts like a monkey all the time. In my story I made Wukong leave because of the bullying he received while training under the sage. In my revision of the story I want to expand on that more. I think I can develop Wukong’s character more by making him resent those around him because of the way he was treated as a student. I picked this story because I think it is important to know how Wukong learns the secret to immorality as well as how he attained knowledge of the 72 transformations that allow him to beat Heaven’s best generals in combat. I picked the banner image because it shows a master and his disciples which is what this story is all about.