Week 6 Storytelling: Sapphire Boy

The Discerner was a wise man who knew a great many things about a great many things. He was never stingy with his knowledge, but he only shared his knowledge with those who he deemed worthy.

Because of this, he was able to make the most disciplined disciples in all the land. Everyone from villages near and far flocked to go have a chance to learn from him.

After many years of teaching countless disciples how to attain enlightenment, the Discerner found himself feeling sad. Although he had many accomplished disciples, he did not have a son to call his own.

The Discerner, being so wise, chose to make a pilgrimage to the Mountain of Birth in order to have his son. After performing an intricate ceremony, the Discerner was able to use the Mountan of Life to draw forth a precious strain of sapphire.

Immediately, the strain of sapphire began to move and take the form of a boy. Overjoyed, the Discerner began to teach the Sapphire Boy his ways and knowledge.

Within a short amount of time, Sapphire Boy grew and learned all that the Discerner had to teach. But because of his quick learning, Sapphire Boy never learned the value of having patience.

Because of his lack of patience, Sapphire Boy had trouble whenever he attempted to meditate. The Discerner eventually noticed Sapphire Boy's hard time and taught him all kinds of techniques that would aid in his meditation, but nothing helped.

Frustrated with himself, Sapphire Boy stormed off and found a place among the humans who regarded Sapphire Boy as a deity. Sapphire Boy quickly fell into the role of the humans' deity and began to think of how he could conquer the rest of the world.

The Discerner, upon seeing this, became distressed because his own son had failed at being his disciple. Despite this, however, the Discerner could not bring himself to take action against his own son.

While the Discerner contemplated on what to do, Sapphire Boy set out with his human followers to conquer the neighboring cities. Utilizing his vast knowledge of everything, Sapphire Boy first taught his humans how to organize their armies in order to outflank and outmaneuver their enemies in the most efficient manner possible.

Then, Sapphire Boy's army came to a completely walled city that seemed impenetrable. The humans decided to give up and just go home with their spoils from the first cities they conquered. But Sapphire Boy proceeded to teach the humans about siegecraft and how to use the equipment. After this, the humans made quick work of their enemies and attained more spoils than they could carry.

Dismayed, the humans wondered how they were going to carry all their treasure back home. Noticing their dismay, Sapphire Boy showed the humans how to make load-bearing devices that would allow them to carry much more than was natural.

One by one, the rest of the human cities fell to Sapphire Boy and his conquering armies. Realizing that Sapphire Boy was not going to stop until the Heavens themselves were conquered, the Discerner devised a plan to stop Sapphire Boy.

Gathering all of his disciples, the Discerner informed them that they would have to wage a single last defensive at the gates of Heaven itself in order to stop Sapphire Boy's advance. Agreeing with their master, they mustered at the gates of Heaven and waited for Sapphire Boy to approach.

Without wasting time, Sapphire Boy quickly advanced on Heaven's gates. However, the humans were no match for the Discerner's disciples, and they were quickly disposed of, except for a few.

Feeling the surge of confidence, the Discerner ordered a hasty assault against Sapphire Boy and his remaining humans. Without a proper strategy, the Discerner and his disciples rushed in for the kill and fell prey to Sapphire Boy's trap. They were caught in a pitfall that had no bottom and that could only be created in the Heavens. However, as the Discerner fell for the rest of eternity, he only felt pride for his son's accomplishments.

Author's Note: In the original story (The Monkey King), the Monkey King is born as a stone egg from the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits and eventually seeks out a saint in order to learn the secret to eternal life so that both he and his family of apes will not have to fear Death. The Monkey King finds his teacher and learns extremely fast, but he has a "monkey mind" that deters his focus from his spirit. He ends up getting banished and goes back to his ape family and proceeds to do many incredible feats. He even goes so far as to march up to the gates of the Underworld and take the book of life from the ten princes of the Underworld. He then strikes out all the names of his ape family and thus defeats death. I did not do part B of this reading so I don't know how the Monkey King ends up being stopped on his crazy adventures. Because of this I improvised on the ending and wrote it how I saw fit.

Bibliography: The Monkey King translated by Frederick H. Martens

Image: Bottomless Pit of Heaven