New Journey to The West
Kowloon Junior School , Jain , Sia - 9
Xuanzang was breathing heavily as he continued his long walk to the west . He was a young , brave monk who loved to explore . He had been surviving for days already . He had hiked over mountains , and had swum through rivers . He was exhausted but he still went on . The sun started to set and he decided that he was going to find a spot to rest for the night when suddenly he saw something run fast like a lightning bolt strikes . There it was again ! Xuanzang was starting to get a little anxious . Then he saw it . Was it a pig ? The ‘ pig ’ slowed down and looked at the monk , then started walking towards him . It was a pig after all . “ Hello there , what ’ s your name ?” asked Xuanzang . “ My name is Pigsy , how about you ?” replied the pig . The monk was very confused and quite surprised . A pig that can talk isn ’ t something you normally see . But the monk managed to stutter “ Xuanzang , nice to meet you Pigsy .” With a few minutes of talking to each other , it seemed like they were childhood friends . Then Xuanzang asked Pigsy whether he knew a place where Xuanzang could sleep , and Pigsy suggested that Xuanzang should sleep with him . They walked for a while until they reached a little den built of sticks , leaves and a few rocks . They talked for a while and then Pigsy insisted that he ’ d join Xuanzang throughout the adventurous journey ahead . The next day , Xuanzang and Pigsy set off hiking through the mountains , they stopped when they saw some apple trees . They were starving . So they decided to go ahead and pick some apples to munch on while they walked , since they didn ’ t want to waste time by stopping . Pigsy picked the first apple , but as soon as he did , he heard a voice whisper to him . At first the voice was too quiet , Pigsy didn ’ t understand . He heard it again , though this time it was louder . It was saying “ Go on , eat the apple . It ’ s not like it ’ ll harm your body .” That scared the life out of the pig ; he dropped the apple and ran straight to Xuanzang . Xuanzang didn ’ t believe a single word that Pigsy said . So , he went to check for himself . He heard it too but he was not scared . In fact , he replied . He asked , “ What is your challenge ? My little friend and I are starving ; please tell us how we can get you to tell us which apples are not poisonous .” The voice laughed , then spoke “ You must find me the four leafed clover from the pot of water in the centre of the trees .” When Xuanzang and Pigsy got there , they realised that the pot was large enough that you ’ d have to swim in it , you couldn ’ t just reach in . It was also made of glass , so it was possible to guide the person swimming to the clover . There were so many clovers , it would be impossible to find a four leafed one . Just then they both saw a man walk by , he looked like a helpful man . Therefore , they decided that they would ask him for help . “ Hi , I ’ m Xuanzang and this here is my friend Pigsy , we were wondering if you would be able to help us ,” said Xuanzang . “ Hi I ’ m Sandy . I ’ m a friar . I would be delighted to help you , what can I do ?” replied the man . Xuanzang said worriedly , “ Oh , you see , Pigsy and I are hungry and we love apples and luckily we found some apple trees to receive apples from but then ...” Sandy stopped him . “ Don ’ t worry . None of the apples are poisonous , he ’ s just tricking you . I was once stuck in his trap and after completing the task ; I found out that none of the apples were poisoned in the first place .” “ Oh ,” said Xuanzang “ thank you for telling us that , we ’ re on a journey to the West . We would love it if you could join !” Sandy agreed and so the three picked their apples and set off once again . They made a lot of progress later that day , by sunset they could already see their destination ! But they didn ’ t get too happy because they knew that it ’ s not the end and that there would be more challenges . Sandy tried to think of a spot to rest since he knew the area best . In the end they decided on the friar ’ s home as it was technically the closest option . Pigsy was the first to fall asleep , then Sandy , but Xuanzang was having a hard time because he was so excited . The next day they were ready to go earlier than usual because they were all really happy , with a good mood they all continued and got to a beautiful garden full of berries . Pigsy loved fruits so he ate as much as he wanted to ; Xuanzang also ate enough to last him a while . Xuanzang offered Sandy some before he ate it .