' Said, Monkey '...

"If it were just a matter of playing football with the firmament, stirring up the ocean, turning back rivers, carrying away mountains, seizing the moon, moving the Pole-star or shifting a planet, I could manage it easily enough.

Even if it were a question of my head being cut off or my belly being ripped open and my heart cut out or any kind of transference or transformation, I would take on the job at once,' said Monkey.

'But if it comes to sitting still and meditating, I am bound to come off badly. It's quite against my nature.'"



Wu Cheng'en,
Monkey: Journey to the West
Chapter XXIV