Happy Land of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, Cave Heaven of the Water Curtain

In spring they picked flowers for food and drink,

In summer they lived off fruit.

In autumn they gathered taro and chesnuts,

They got through the winter on Solomon's-seal.

~

A light glow suffused the boudless sky;

A few crows were late in finding their roosts.

Lights were lit throughout the city as all fell still;

It was just the hour for the monks to enter the trance.

~

Palace of immortals: yellow shoots and white snow.
Home of men who can fly: rare and wonderful flowers.

~

 The Tang Priest,

Shivering and shaking,

Weeping and lost for words.

Zhu Bajie,

Muttering and grumbling,

Full of complaints.

Friar Sand,

Talking away,

While secretly feeling uncertain.

Sun the Novice,

Chuckling merrily,

Ready to use his powers.

~


Precious flames and golden light dazzled the eye,
While the rare incense and delicacies were marvellously fine.
The thousand-storeyed golden pavilion was infinitely lovely,
And pure sounded immortals' music on the ear.
Meatless food and magic flowers of the sort that are rare on earth,
Fragrant teas and exotic dishes that give eternal life.
After a long period of enduring a thousand kinds of suffering,
Today comes the glorious happiness of the Way completed.


~


The holy monk long strove to fetch the scriptures;
For fourteen years across the West he strayed.
He journeyed hard and met with much disaster;
By mountain and by rivers long delayed.
Completing eight times nine and one nine more,
His deeds filled worlds in numbers beyond measure.
He went back to his country taking sutras
That people in the East will always treasure.

~

This post was inspired by the 1996 Journey to the West / 西遊記 TV series produced and broadcasted by TVB HK.

Glossary

Absinthe - The green fairy
Beige - Distressed oatmeal
Dark pink - Crushed strawberry
Female human - Daughter of Eve
Male human - Son of Adam
Mascara - Censorship for eyelashes
Moths - The Devil's butterfly
Music - Wordless sound poems
Pinky-purple - Heliotrope
Red - Crimson glow
Shoes - Cinema for the toes
Video - The device that killed the radio star
Vitriol - Mortal poison, a disease of the soul


* The above definitions have been inspired by, and taken from, many sources *

Prince Pondicherry

"Greetings to you, the lucky finder of this Golden Ticket, from Mr Willy Wonka! I shake you warmly by the hand! Tremendous things are in store for you!".


Confections made in the Wonka Factory include:
Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight
Nutty Crunch Surprise
Everlasting Gobstoppers
Hair Toffee
Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum
Eatable Marshmallow Pillows
Lickable Wallpaper for Nurseries
Hot Ice-Cream for Cold Days
Fizzy Lifting Drinks


Jealous Competitors:
Fickelgruber
Prodnose
Slugworth


There are five children in this story:
AUGUSTUS GLOOP
A greedy boy

VERUCA SALT
A girl who is spoiled by her parents

VIOLET BEAUREGARDE
A girl who chews gum all day long

MIKE TEAVEE
A boy who does nothing but watch television

CHARLIE BUCKET
The hero


Sample of Oompa-Loompa Songs:
Augustus Gloop! Augustus Gloop!
The great big greedy nincompoop!

Dear friends, we surely all agree,
There's almost nothing worst to see,
Than some repulsive little bum,
Who's always chewing chewing-gum.

Veruca Salt, the little brute,
Has just gone down the rubbish chute.

The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set -
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.




* My preferred edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is published by Puffin Books and illustrated by Michael Foreman *

* Domestic Goblin claims no credit for the image used in this post. All visual content in this blog is copyright to their respectful owners *