Sunday, August 23, 2009

Sun WuKong Is Not My Story

There is a story that most of the us have known since we were small.

Sun Wukong, which means "Awakened to Emptiness" or Monkey King in English, was born from a rock on the mountain of flowers and fruits. Having the incredible power known as 72 transformations, when he failed to be granted an honorable place as one of the gods, he started to make trouble in Heaven and eventually was trapped under a mountain by Buddha. He was only released when the monk Xuanzang came by and accepted him as a disciple on his journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from India.

What can the Monkey King do with his 72 transformations? He can pull hairs from his body, blow on them and to transform them into whatever he wishes. Great?

These are parts of the story from novel "Journey to the West". I have mine in MyJourney.

I have confirmed that a giant turtle is trapped under Cerok Tokun, with only his head is visible to me. I have seen him for years, but he must be here for millennia. He was found still sleeping when I had my usual hiking early this morning. This is the reason, I believe, why nobody is aware of him; he just looked like an ordinary piece of rock covered by fern.


But I discovered this turtle has awakened accidentally when I was on my descending trail. You are the lucky one to know next. I am not trying to bluff something out of nothing. I have the evidence. You can see his eye is now widely open.


He has yet to recover to his full energy. What will happen to Cerok Tokun? You will be the first one to be informed.

23 comments:

Ginnymo said...

Very interesting..Ha! I'd be afraid of that giant turtle if he awakens...Ha! It does look like a turtle's head.

Kirigalpoththa said...

It sure looks like a turtle!

•°°• IcyBC •°°• said...

It sure does look like a giant turtle head, and I will be very frightened if it awakes..The story of the Monkey is fascinating!

Bengbeng said...

it does look like a turtle's head.. with this story soon there will b more people there

betchai said...

a wonderful and fascinating story rainfield. thanks for sharing.

Willie a.k.a Reptoz said...

If it is awaken, will it eat people? Uwaaa i'm scared lioa!

Harshi said...

Wow.. it does look like a giant turtle's head.. you've got very keen eyes Rain! But then it'll be totally scary if it were to be alive.. =D

PS: Thanks for relating that monkey king story.. when I was really small it was one of the adventure stories that I loved the most.

I've read a colorful story book on him, watched a cartoon series plus a Tele series which used to be my most favorite shows those days. He also had a long thin staff with golden bands, at its edges, that can stretch for miles right? I miss Monkey King and his dramatic pranks.. =D

Anonymous said...

Journey To The West was made into a Chinese movie if I am not mistaken. But I have never watched it though.

cherie said...

oh my God, rainfield, you kid me not!

Rick (Ratty) said...

Maybe when the turtle awakens it will fly away with Cerok Tokun still on its back. The turtle will carry it through space, and Cerok Tokun will become a beautiful new planet. I have read that giant turtles are magic.

rainfield61 said...

Ginnymo/Icy BC: Read the headline tomorrow. A sleeping turtle has awakened.

Kirigalpoththa: It sure looks like a turtle, because it is a turtle.

Bengbeng: I do not know whether will the Authority reward me with anything later. Maybe a Datukship?

betchai: I think you were in doubt at the first place. Have you seen his eye clearly by then?

Willie: You better don't wet your pent! Hahahahahahaha...

Harumi: I do not have keen eyes. The turtle just winked at me.

The Monkey King is a very interesting character in the story. He is as great as Superman, Batman, Spiderman, etc.

What you have mentioned must be a metal rod which can be shrinked to the size of a needle. It is then kept behind the ear of Monkey King.

I have reada about the story of Hanuman too.

Mei Teng: He is in the movie, books, cartoons, etc.

cherie: Am I kidding you? Go back to your paper, or CNN, then I must be really serious then.

lol..

Ratty: The Monkey King can perform cloudwalking. The clouds are his pair of boots. Both the monkey and turtle will meet and say Hai to each other.

George said...

You need to be careful when hiking past this turtle if he is waking up. But I am glad you discovered him.

Mother Goose said...

What a great story. I love traditional tales.

CH said...

Quite busy recently. Near miss your story on our hero. Where is this "landmark"?

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

Just imagine if thats the head, the body will be like 8 tonne lorry and the legs would probably be like coconut trunk... huh!
~bangchik

Harshi said...

Yep, but I think Monkey King is much more interesting than all those western cartoon heroes.. whose actions are almost always predictable.. while with the former we can never guess.. =D

Oh ya.. that's the rod I mentioned. If I remember right, Hanuman in Ramayana was not much of a prankster compared to Monkey King but he had a reputation for being a great fighter with divine powers and enormous strength.

Joanne Olivieri said...

The story is quite interesting. That turtle head is a bit scary but unique.

Redzlan aka Tabib said...

Beautiful ROCK pictures! ;)
That eye is a loop of grass/moss grow on it. But it looks like a head of dinosaur.

rainfield61 said...

George: I'll take your advice. Maybe I'll bring some vegetables for him. A good idea?

mother goose: Do you mean that our ancestors are more imaginative than us? lol.

CH: It is located before the top. You must have not seen him if you just hiked until the second stop.

Bangchik and Kakdah: Haha!! Welocme to the world of wild imagination.

Harumi: Yes, I agree with you. Hanuman in Ramayana was not much of a prankster compared to Monkey King but he had a reputation for being a great fighter with divine powers and enormous strength.


Poetic Shutterbug: If you keep reminding me about this, then I'll think he is scary. Sigh....


Tabib: You have seen his eye. Did he wink at you?

Heather Dugan ("Footsteps") said...

An interesting legend that certainly adds an extra element of adventure to your hiking!

Benghui said...

Mummy also cooks :) Why you don't cook?

rainfield61 said...

Heather Dugan: There are stories in every footstep that I have made. People see me float-walking, dream-walking, murmuring-walking....

benghui: I have Ninja Turtle to cook for me....

Ayie said...

the turtle head is a little creepy to me =(

such an interesting story