One day the Lady Queen Mother decided to open wide her treasure chamber and to give a banquet for the Grand Festival of Immortal Peaches, which was to be held in the Palace of the Jasper Pool. She ordered the various Immortal Maidens—Red Gown, Blue Gown, White Gown, Black Gown, Purple Gown, Yellow Gown, and Green Gown—to go with their flower baskets to the Garden of Immortal Peaches and pick the fruits for the festival.
The Seven Fairies picking immortal peaches
They gathered two basketfuls from the trees in front and filled three more baskets from the trees in the middle. When they went to the trees at the back of the grove, they found that the flowers were sparse and the fruits scanty. Only a few peaches with hairy stems and green skins were left, for the fact is that the Monkey King had eaten all the ripe ones.
“From what region have you come, monsters,” Wukong cried, “that you have the gall to steal my peaches?”
Terrified, the Seven Immortal Maidens knelt down together and pleaded, “Let the Great Sage calm himself! We are not monsters, but the Seven-Gown Immortal Maidens sent by the Lady Queen Mother to pluck the fruits needed for the Grand Festival of Immortal Peaches.”
“Am I invited?” asked the Great Sage, laughing.
“We haven’t heard your name mentioned,” said the Immortal Maidens.
“I am the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven,” said the Great Sage. “Why shouldn’t I, old Monkey, be made an honored guest at the party?”
Said the Great Sage again, “and I don’t blame you. You all just stand here and let old Monkey go and do a little detection to find out whether he’s invited or not.”
The Great Sage made a magic sign and recited a spell, saying to the various Immortal Maidens, “Stay! Stay! Stay!” This was the magic of immobilization, the effect of which was that the Seven-Gown Immortal Maidens all stood wide-eyed and transfixed beneath the peach trees. Leaping out of the garden, the Great Sage mounted his hallowed cloud and headed straight for the Jasper Pool.
Desecration of the Grand Festival of Immortal Peaches
It did not take him long before he reached the treasure chamber. He stopped his cloud and walked softly inside.
Everything was laid out in an orderly fashion, but no deity had yet arrived for the feast.
The Great Sage then took some of the rare delicacies and choicest dainties and ran into the corridor. Standing beside the jars and leaning on the barrels, he abandoned himself to drinking. Soon he became thoroughly drunk, but he turned this over in his mind, “Bad! Bad! In a little while, when the invited guests arrive, won’t they be indignant with me? What will happen to me once I’m caught? I’d better go back home now and sleep it off!”
Steal Laozi’s Elixir
Reeling from side to side, he stumbled along, and in a moment he lost his way. It was not the Equal to Heaven Residence that he went to, but the Tushita Palace. He said to himself: “The Tushita Palace is the home of Laozi. How did I get here? No matter, I’ve always wanted to see this old man but have never found the opportunity. Now that it’s on my way, I might as well pay him a visit.”
Searching around, our Great Sage went all the way to the alchemical room. He found no one but saw fire burning in an oven beside the hearth, and around the oven were five gourds in which finished elixir was stored.
“This thing is the greatest treasure of immortals,” said the Great Sage happily. “Good fortune has met me at the door today and presented me with this! As long as Laozi is not around, I’ll take a few tablets and try the taste of something new.” He poured out the contents of all the gourds and ate them like fried beans.
In a moment, the effect of the elixir had dispelled that of the wine, and he again thought to himself, “Bad! Bad! I have just brought on myself another calamity! If the Jade Emperor has knowledge of this, it’ll be difficult to preserve my life! Go! Go! Go! I’ll go back to the Region Below to be a king.”
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