Reading Notes: The Monkey King, Part A
Image of crown by Simon Rankin. Web source: Creative Commons.
People/Characters:
-Stone Ape/King of the Apes: magical existence, streams of gold come out of his eyes
- Lord of the Heavens: frightened by the Ape and his capabilities.
- Thousandmile-Eye and Fine-Ear: two Gods sent by the Lord of the Heavens to check out the Ape. They report that there is nothing to be concerned about.
Places:
- Mountain of Flowers and Fruits
Important things:
- The high rock- has all of the powers from the creation of the world. The rock burst one day and produced an egg of stone. An ape magically hatched out of the egg.
- Waterfall: the other apes decide that whoever can go down the waterfall without hurting themselves would be king.
-Once the Stone Ape becomes king, he appoints other monkeys to his court.
This is part of the story of the Monkey King. I think that it would be interesting to retell my own version of this story. I would make the magic creature of the stone ape a fairy or a witch in my telling, and maybe add some other creatures. In my story, I might add some more opposition from characters that are modeled after the Lord of the Heavens and the Gods.
Bibliography: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). Web source: the UN-Textbook.
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