Wukong watched him for a while, then suddenly laughed.
"Well, lad, you've asked the right question."
Six-Eared Macaque smiled too, but remained seated.
Wukong shifted the Golden Cudgel on his knees to one side and looked at him. "My master goes without saying. Compassion fills his heart. Not just you-if anyone else came along willing to learn, he'd be willing to teach."
"Your fourth brother is much like you. He can't bear to turn down anyone who asks him for help. And the bond of friendship and karma between you and him runs deepest, which makes you all the more special to him."
Six-Eared Macaque nodded. "Fourth Brother has always treated me well."
"But I have some selfish reasons of my own."
Wukong reached out and patted his shoulder.
Six-Eared Macaque raised his head.
Resting his other hand on the cudgel, Wukong said slowly, "I, Old Sun, sprang out of a stone, born of heaven and nurtured by earth, with neither father nor mother."
"Later, I joined the troop and became the Great King. Only then did I have all those monkey children and grandchildren."
Six-Eared Macaque listened without interrupting.
Wukong lowered his head and rubbed his thumb twice over the Golden Cudgel. "And now, I've sent them all off with my own hands, into the cycle of reincarnation."
He stopped there.
Six-Eared Macaque's fingers curled. He looked at him, but did not ask any further.
Wukong turned his face and saw the little monkey looking down at the hand he had resting on the cudgel.
"Why've you gone quiet?"
Six-Eared Macaque lifted his eyes. "Brother Monkey, I don't know what to say."
Wukong watched him for a moment, then gave his little arm a squeeze.
"Silly Little Six. Heaven hasn't treated me badly. First it gave me my master