Journey to the West 12

\"A sage taught me secret formulas,\" said Wukong. \"I practiced them for many years. I am now equal to the Jade Emperor.\"

\"The Jade Emperor has been practicing the same formulas for many lifetimes,\" said Buddha. \"How can you think you're equal to him? Go back to your mountain now and behave yourself.\"

\"No,\" said Wukong. \"I'm not leaving until I get to rule Heaven.\"

Buddha thought for a minute. \"Sun Wukong, what powers do you have?\"

\"I can change into other animals,\" said Wukong. \"I can soar through the sky on clouds. I can do anything I want!\"

\"Then let's make a bet,\" said Buddha. \"If you win, you can rule Heaven. The Jade Emperor will come to live with me in the Western Paradise. But if you lose, you will be punished severely.\"

\"What do I have to do?\" asked Wukong.

\"It's simple,\" said Buddha. He held out his hand. \"You just have to jump off my hand.\"

Wukong laughed. \"That's easy! I can jump across entire oceans!\" Buddha smiled. \"Well then, let's see you do it.\" Wukong stepped up onto Buddha's palm.

\"You're a fool,\" he said to Buddha. \"I'm going to jump farther than you could ever imagine. When I return, I'll be the ruler of Heaven!\"

Wukong leaped and soared through the air. After a long time, he saw five enormous pillars. He landed in front of them.

\"This must be the end of the world,\" he said to himself. \"I'll go back now and tell Buddha to take the Jade Emperor away. Heaven is mine!\"

Wukong was just about to jump back when he thought of something.

\"There's nobody around,\" he thought. \"How will I prove that I was here?\" He tapped his chin. \"I'll write a note on this pillar. Buddha can come here and check.\" Wukong plucked two hairs and turned them into a brush and a jar of ink. On one of the pillars, he wrote: Sun Wukong was here.

\"There,\" said Wukong. \"Now I'll go and tell Buddha how far I jumped.\"

Wukong leaped once more. After a long time, he landed on Buddha's palm again.

\"I'm back!\" said Wukong. \"Tell the Jade Emperor to leave.\"

Buddha frowned. \"How can you say you're back? You never left my hand.\" Wukong was confused. \"Yes, I did! I reached the end of the world. There were five enormous pillars. I even wrote on one. Come with me and I'll show you.\" \"There's no need to go anywhere,\" said Buddha. \"Just look down.\"

Wukong looked down. Near the bottom of Buddha's middle finger was the note

:

Sun Wukong was here.

Wukong stomped his foot. \"It's a trick! You used some sort of magic!\" \"It's not a trick,\" said Buddha. \"You never left my palm.\" \"I did! I did!\" cried Wukong. \"I jumped all the way to—\"

\"You lost the bet, Sun Wukong,\" said Buddha. \"And now you will be punished.\" Holding Wukong tightly, Buddha reached down to Earth. His hand turned into

a mountain, which he placed on top of the monkey.

\"Grr!\" Wukong grunted, and pushed with all his strength. The mountain started to rise.

Buddha pulled a small sheet of magic paper from his sleeve. He laid the paper on top of the mountain. The mountain dropped back down.

Buddha turned to the Jade Emperor. \"Sun Wukong can't lift the mountain now,\" he said. \"He will be trapped until his punishment is over.\"