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Gene Luen YangA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
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This section begins with a description of four “legendary” monks. The least remarkable of the four, Wong Lai-Tsao, is unable to meditate or fast for a long time, and his preaching makes little sense. However, Wong Lai-Tsao is reliable in his service to the less fortunate. Every day, he brings fruit to a group of vagrants and looks after their injuries, even as they criticize and insult him. One afternoon, after years go by, one of the vagrants ask Wong Lai-Tsao why he helps them day after day. His humble reply is deemed a “good answer,” and a group of vagrants reveal their true forms as the emissaries of Tze-Yo-Tzuh.
The emissaries tell Wong Lai-Tsao that he has been looked upon favorably by Tze-Yo-Tzuh and is being sent on a mission to deliver three packages to the West. They warn the monk of dangerous man-eating demons ahead and explain that he will have three disciples to accompany him on his journey. The first is a monkey deity who is trapped underneath a mountain of rock.
The next morning, Wong Lai-Tsao begins his journey. 40 days later, he finds the Monkey King and the rock mountain. Wong Lai-Tsao pleads with the Monkey King to free himself so that he can help him with his burden, and the Monkey King becomes irate because Wong Lai-Tsao refers to him as a monkey.
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