Christmas Eve
High up on the slope of the mountain near a roaring stream a hut built
on the gnarled logs hides itself among the trees. Over its kogon
thatch clambers the branching gourd-vine, laden with flowers and
fruit. Deer antlers and skulls of wild boar, some with long tusks,
adorn this mountain home, where lives a Tagalog family engaged in
hunting and cutting firewood.
In the shade of a tree the grandsire was making brooms from the fibers
of palm leaves, while a young woman was placing eggs, limes, and some
vegetables in a wide basket. Two children, a boy and a girl, were
playing by the side of another, who, pale and sad, with large eyes
and a deep gaze, was seated on a fallen tree-trunk. In his thinned
features we recognize Sisa's son, Basilio, the brother of Crispin.
"When your foot gets well," the little girl was saying to him,
"we'll play hide-and-seek. I'll be the leader."
"You'll go up to the top of the mountain with us," added the little
boy, "and drink deer blood with lime-juice and you'll get fat, and
then I'll teach you how to jump from rock to rock above the torrent."
Basilio smiled sadly, stared at the sore on his foot, and then turned
his gaze toward the sun, which shone resplendently.
"Sell these brooms," said the grandfather to the young woman, "and
buy something for the children, for tomorrow is Christmas."
"Firecrackers, I want some firecrackers!" exclaimed the boy.
"I want a head for my doll," cried the little girl, catching hold of
her sister's tapis.
"And you, what do you want?" the grandfather asked Basilio, who at
the question arose laboriously and approached the old man.
"Sir," he said, "I've been sick more than a month now, haven't I?"
"Since we found you lifeless and covered with wounds, two moons have
come and gone. We thought you were going to die."
"May God reward you, for we are very poor," replied Basilio. "But now
that tomorrow is Christmas I want to go to the town to see my mother
and my little brother. They will be seeking for me."
"But, my son, you're not yet well, and your town is far away. You
won't get there by midnight."
"That doesn't matter, sir. My mother and my little brother must be
very sad. Every year we spend this holiday together. Last year the
three of us had a whole fish to eat. My mother will have been mourning
and looking for me."
"You won't get to the town alive, boy! Tonight we're going to have
chicken and wild boar's meat. My sons will ask for you when they come
from the field."
"You have many sons while my mother has only us two. Perhaps she
already believes that I'm dead! Tonight I want to give her a pleasant
surprise, a Christmas gift, a son."
The old man felt the tears springing up into his eyes, so, placing
his hands on the boy's head, he said with emotion: "You're like an
old man! Go, look for your mother, give her the Christmas gift--from
God, as you say. If I had known the name of your town I would have
gone there when you were sick. Go, my son, and may God and the Lord
Jesus go with you. Lucia, my granddaughter, will go with you to the
nearest town."
"What! You're going away?" the little boy asked him. "Down there are
soldiers and many robbers. Don't you want to see my firecrackers? Boom,
boom, boom!"
"Don't you want to play hide-and-seek?" asked the little girl. "Have
you ever played it? Surely there's nothing any more fun than to be
chased and hide yourself?"
Basilio smiled, but with tears in his eyes, and caught up his
staff. "I'll come back soon," he answered. "I'll bring my little
brother, you'll see him and play with him. He's just about as big as
you are."
"Does he walk lame, too?" asked the little girl. "Then we'll make him
'it' when we play hide-and-seek."
"Don't forget us," the old man said to him. "Take this dried meat as
a present to your mother."
The children accompanied him to the bamboo bridge swung over the
noisy course of the stream. Lucia made him support himself on her arm,
and thus they disappeared from the children's sight, Basilio walking
along nimbly in spite of his bandaged leg.
The north wind whistled by, making the inhabitants of San Diego
shiver with cold. It was Christmas Eve and yet the town was wrapped
in gloom. Not a paper lantern hung from the windows nor did a single
sound in the houses indicate the rejoicing of other years.
In the house of Capitan Basilio, he and Don Filipo--for the misfortunes
of the latter had made them friendly--were standing by a window-grating
and talking, while at another were Sinang, her cousin Victoria,
and the beautiful Iday, looking toward the street.
The waning moon began to shine over the horizon, illumining the clouds
and making the trees and houses east long, fantastic shadows.
"Yours is not a little good fortune, to get off free in these
times!" said Capitan Basilio to Don Filipo. "They've burned your books,
yes, but others have lost more."
A woman approached the grating and gazed into the interior. Her
eyes glittered, her features were emaciated, her hair loose and
dishevelled. The moonlight gave her a weird aspect.
"Sisal" exclaimed Don Filipo in surprise. Then turning to Capitan
Basilio, as the madwoman ran away, he asked, "Wasn't she in the house
of a physician? Has she been cured?"
Capitan Basilio smiled bitterly. "The physician was afraid they
would accuse him of being a friend of Don Crisostomo's, so he drove
her from his house. Now she wanders about again as crazy as ever,
singing, harming no one, and living in the woods."
"What else has happened in the town since we left it? I know that we
have a new curate and another alferez."
"These are terrible times, humanity is retrograding," murmured Capitan
Basilio, thinking of the past. "The day after you left they found the
senior sacristan dead, hanging from a rafter in his own house. Padre
Salvi was greatly affected by his death and took possession of all
his papers. Ah, yes, the old Sage, Tasio, also died and was buried
in the Chinese cemetery."
"Poor old man!" sighed Don Filipo. "What became of his books?"
"They were burned by the pious, who thought thus to please God. I was
unable to save anything, not even Cicero's works. The gobernadorcillo
did nothing to prevent it."
Both became silent. At that moment the sad and melancholy song of
the madwoman was heard.
"Do you know when Maria Clara is to be married?" Iday asked Sinang.
"I don't know," answered the latter. "I received a letter from her
but haven't opened it for fear of finding out. Poor Crisostomo!"
"They say that if it were not for Linares, they would hang Capitan
Tiago, so what was Maria Clara going to do?" observed Victoria.
A boy limped by, running toward the plaza, whence came the notes of
Sisa's song. It was Basilio, who had found his home deserted and in
ruins. After many inquiries he had only learned that his mother was
insane and wandering about the town--of Crispin not a word.
Basilio choked back his tears, stifled any expression of his sorrow,
and without resting had started in search of his mother. On reaching
the town he was just asking about her when her song struck his
ears. The unhappy boy overcame the trembling in his limbs and ran to
throw himself into his mother's arms.
The madwoman left the plaza and stopped in front of the house of
the new alferez. Now, as formerly, there was a sentinel before the
door, and a woman's head appeared at the window, only it was not the
Medusa's but that of a comely young woman: alferez and unfortunate
are not synonymous terms.
Sisa began to sing before the house with her gaze fixed on the
moon, which soared majestically in the blue heavens among golden
clouds. Basilio saw her, but did not dare to approach' her. Walking
back and forth, but taking care not to get near the barracks, he
waited for the time when she would leave that place.
The young woman who was at the window listening attentively to the
madwoman's song ordered the sentinel to bring her inside, but when
Sisa saw the soldier approach her and heard his voice she was filled
with terror and took to flight at a speed of which only a demented
person is capable. Basilio, fearing to lose her, ran after her,
forgetful of the pains in his feet.
"Look how that boy's chasing the madwoman!" indignantly exclaimed
a woman in the street. Seeing that he continued to pursue her, she
picked up a stone and threw it at him, saying, "Take that! It's a
pity that the dog is tied up!"
Basilio felt a blow on his head, but paid no attention to it as he
continued running. Dogs barked, geese cackled, several windows opened
to let out curious faces but quickly closed again from fear of another
night of terror.
Soon they were outside of the town. Sisa began to moderate her flight,
but still a great distance separated her from her pursuer.
"Mother!" he called to her when he caught sight of her. Scarcely had
the madwoman heard his voice when she again took to flight.
"Mother, it's I!" cried the boy in desperation, but the madwoman
did not heed him, so he followed panting. They had now passed the
cultivated fields and were near the wood; Basilio saw his mother enter
it and he also went in. The bushes and shrubs, the thorny vines and
projecting roots of trees, hindered the movements of both. The son
followed his mother's shadowy form as it was revealed from time to
time by the moonlight that penetrated through the foliage and into
the open spaces. They were in the mysterious wood of the Ibarra family.
The boy stumbled and fell several times, but rose again, each time
without feeling pain. All his soul was centered in his eyes, following
the beloved figure. They crossed the sweetly murmuring brook where
sharp thorns of bamboo that had fallen on the sand at its margin
pierced his bare feet, but he did not stop to pull them out.
To his great surprise he saw that his mother had plunged into the
thick undergrowth and was going through the wooden gateway that opened
into the tomb of the old Spaniard at the foot of the balete. Basilio
tried to follow her in, but found the gate fastened. The madwoman
defended the entrance with her emaciated arms and disheveled head,
holding the gate shut with all her might.
"Mother, it's I, it's I! I'm Basilio, your son!" cried the boy as he
let himself fall weakly.
But the madwoman did not yield. Bracing herself with her feet on
the ground, she offered an energetic resistance. Basilio beat the
gate with his fists, with his Mood-stained head, he wept, but in
vain. Painfully he arose and examined the wall, thinking to scale it,
but found no way to do so. He then walked around it and noticed that
a branch of the fateful balete was crossed with one from another
tree. This he climbed and, his filial love working miracles, made
his way from branch to branch to the balete, from which he saw his
mother still holding the gate shut with her head.
The noise made by him among the branches attracted Sisa's
attention. She turned and tried to run, but her son, letting himself
fall from the tree, caught her in his arms and covered her with kisses,
losing consciousness as he did so.
Sisa saw his blood-stained forehead and bent over him. Her eyes seemed
to start from their sockets as she peered into his face. Those pale
features stirred the sleeping cells of her brain, so that something
like a spark of intelligence flashed up in her mind and she recognized
her son. With a terrible cry she fell upon the insensible body of
the boy, embracing and kissing him. Mother and son remained motionless.
When Basilio recovered consciousness he found his mother lifeless. He
called to her with the tenderest names, but she did not awake. Noticing
that she was not even breathing, he arose and went to the neighboring
brook to get some water in a banana leaf, with which to rub the pallid
face of his mother, but the madwoman made not the least movement and
her eyes remained closed.
Basilio gazed at her in terror. He placed his ear over her heart,
but the thin, faded breast was cold, and her heart no longer beat. He
put his lips to hers, but felt no breathing. The miserable boy threw
his arms about the corpse and wept bitterly.
The moon gleamed majestically in the sky, the wandering breezes sighed,
and down in the grass the crickets chirped. The night of light and joy
for so many children, who in the warm bosom of the family celebrate
this feast of sweetest memories--the feast which commemorates the
first look of love that Heaven sent to earth--this night when in all
Christian families they eat, drink, dance, sing, laugh, play, caress,
and kiss one another--this night, which in cold countries holds such
magic for childhood with its traditional pine-tree covered with lights,
dolls, candies, and tinsel, whereon gaze the round, staring eyes in
which innocence alone is reflected--this night brought to Basilio
only orphanhood. Who knows but that perhaps in the home whence came
the taciturn Padre Salvi children also played, perhaps they sang
"La Nochebuena se viene,
La Nochebuena se va." [172]
For a long time the boy wept and moaned. When at last he raised his
head he saw a man standing over him, gazing at the scene in silence.
"Are you her son?" asked the unknown in a low voice.
The boy nodded.
"What do you expect to do?"
"Bury her!"
"In the cemetery?"
"I haven't any money and, besides, the curate wouldn't allow it."
"Then?"
"If you would help me--"
"I'm very weak," answered the unknown as he sank slowly to the ground,
supporting himself with both hands. "I'm wounded. For two days I
haven't eaten or slept. Has no one come here tonight?"
The man thoughtfully contemplated the attractive features of the boy,
then went on in a still weaker voice, "Listen! I, too, shall be dead
before the day comes. Twenty paces from here, on the other side of
the brook, there is a big pile of firewood. Bring it here, make a
pyre, put our bodies upon it, cover them over, and set fire to the
whole--fire, until we are reduced to ashes!"
Basilio listened attentively.
"Afterwards, if no one comes, dig here. You will find a lot of gold
and it will all be yours. Take it and go to school."
The voice of the unknown was becoming every moment more
unintelligible. "Go, get the firewood. I want to help you."
As Basilio moved away, the unknown turned his face toward the east
and murmured, as though praying:
"I die without seeing the dawn brighten over my native land! You,
who have it to see, welcome it--and forget not those who have fallen
during the night!"
He raised his eyes to the sky and his lips continued to move, as if
uttering a prayer. Then he bowed his head and sank slowly to the earth.
Two hours later Sister Rufa was on the back veranda of her house
making her morning ablutions in order to attend mass. The pious woman
gazed at the adjacent wood and saw a thick column of smoke rising
from it. Filled with holy indignation, she knitted her eyebrows
and exclaimed:
"What heretic is making a clearing on a holy day? That's why so many
calamities come! You ought to go to purgatory and see if you could
get out of there, savage!"
EPILOGUE
Since some of our characters are still living and others have been lost
sight of, a real epilogue is impossible. For the satisfaction of the
groundlings we should gladly kill off all of them, beginning with Padre
Salvi and ending with Doña Victorina, but this is not possible. Let
them live! Anyhow, the country, not ourselves, has to support them.
After Maria Clara entered the nunnery, Padre Damaso left his town
to live in Manila, as did also Padre Salvi, who, while he awaits a
vacant miter, preaches sometimes in the church of St. Clara, in whose
nunnery he discharges the duties of an important office. Not many
months had passed when Padre Damaso received an order from the Very
Reverend Father Provincial to occupy a curacy in a remote province. It
is related that he was so grievously affected by this that on the
following day he was found dead in his bedchamber. Some said that
he had died of an apoplectic stroke, others of a nightmare, but his
physician dissipated all doubts by declaring that he had died suddenly.
None of our readers would now recognize Capitan Tiago. Weeks before
Maria Clara took the vows he fell into a state of depression so great
that he grew sad and thin, and became pensive and distrustful, like
his former friend, Capitan Tinong. As soon as the doors of the nunnery
closed he ordered his disconsolate cousin, Aunt Isabel, to collect
whatever had belonged to his daughter and his dead wife and to go to
make her home in Malabon or San Diego, since he wished to live alone
thenceforward, tie then devoted himself passionately to _liam-pó_ and
the cockpit, and began to smoke opium. He no longer goes to Antipolo
nor does he order any more masses, so Doña Patrocinia, his old rival,
celebrates her triumph piously by snoring during the sermons. If at
any time during the late afternoon you should walk along Calle Santo
Cristo, you would see seated in a Chinese shop a small man, yellow,
thin, and bent, with stained and dirty finger nails, gazing through
dreamy, sunken eyes at the passers-by as if he did not see them. At
nightfall you would see him rise with difficulty and, supporting
himself on his cane, make his way to a narrow little by-street to
enter a grimy building over the door of which may be seen in large
red letters: FUMADERO PUBLICO DE ANFION. [173] This is that Capitan
Tiago who was so celebrated, but who is now completely forgotten,
even by the very senior sacristan himself.
Doña Victorina has added to her false frizzes and to her
_Andalusization_, if we may be permitted the term, the new custom
of driving the carriage horses herself, obliging Don Tiburcio to
remain quiet. Since many unfortunate accidents occurred on account
of the weakness of her eyes, she has taken to wearing spectacles,
which give her a marvelous appearance. The doctor has never been
called upon again to attend any one and the servants see him many
days in the week without teeth, which, as our readers know, is a
very bad sign. Linares, the only defender of the hapless doctor,
has long been at rest in Paco cemetery, the victim of dysentery and
the harsh treatment of his cousin-in-law.
The victorious alferez returned to Spain a major, leaving his
amiable spouse in her flannel camisa, the color of which is now
indescribable. The poor Ariadne, finding herself thus abandoned,
also devoted herself, as did the daughter of Minos, to the cult of
Bacchus and the cultivation of tobacco; she drinks and smokes with
such fury that now not only the girls but even the old women and
little children fear her.
Probably our acquaintances of the town of San Diego are still alive,
if they did not perish in the explosion of the steamer "_Lipa_," which
was making a trip to the province. Since no one bothered himself to
learn who the unfortunates were that perished in that catastrophe or to
whom belonged the legs and arms left neglected on Convalescence Island
and the banks of the river, we have no idea whether any acquaintance
of our readers was among them or not. Along with the government and
the press at the time, we are satisfied with the information that
the only friar who was on the steamer was saved, and we do not ask
for more. The principal thing for us is the existence of the virtuous
priests, whose reign in the Philippines may God conserve for the good
of our souls. [174]
Of Maria Clara nothing more is known except that the sepulcher seems
to guard her in its bosom. We have asked several persons of great
influence in the holy nunnery of St. Clara, but no one has been
willing to tell us a single word, not even the talkative devotees
who receive the famous fried chicken-livers and the even more famous
sauce known as that "of the nuns," prepared by the intelligent cook
of the Virgins of the Lord.
Nevertheless: On a night in September the hurricane raged over
Manila, lashing the buildings with its gigantic wings. The thunder
crashed continuously. Lightning flashes momentarily revealed the havoc
wrought by the blast and threw the inhabitants into wild terror. The
rain fell in torrents. Each flash of the forked lightning showed a
piece of roofing or a window-blind flying through the air to fall
with a horrible crash. Not a person or a carriage moved through the
streets. When the hoarse reverberations of the thunder, a hundred
times re-echoed, lost themselves in the distance, there was heard
the soughing of the wind as it drove the raindrops with a continuous
tick-tack against the concha-panes of the closed windows.
Two patrolmen sheltered themselves under the eaves of a building near
the nunnery, one a private and the other a _distinguido_.
"What's the use of our staying here?" said the private.
"No one is moving about the streets. We ought to get into a house. My
_querida_ lives in Calle Arzobispo."
"From here over there is quite a distance and we'll get wet," answered
the _distinguido_.
"What does that matter just so the lightning doesn't strike us?"
"Bah, don't worry! The nuns surely have a lightningrod to protect
them."
"Yes," observed the private, "but of what use is it when the night
is so dark?"
As he said this he looked upward to stare into the darkness. At
that moment a prolonged streak of lightning flashed, followed by a
terrific roar.
"_Nakú! Susmariosep!_" exclaimed the private, crossing himself and
catching hold of his companion. "Let's get away from here."
"What's happened?"
"Come, come away from here," he repeated with his teeth rattling
from fear.
"What have you seen?"
"A specter!" he murmured, trembling with fright.
"A specter?"
"On the roof there. It must be the nun who practises magic during
the night."
The _distinguido_ thrust his head out to look, just as a flash of
lightning furrowed the heavens with a vein of fire and sent a horrible
crash earthwards. "_Jesús!_" he exclaimed, also crossing himself.
In the brilliant glare of the celestial light he had seen a white
figure standing almost on the ridge of the roof with arms and face
raised toward the sky as if praying to it. The heavens responded with
lightning and thunderbolts!
As the sound of the thunder rolled away a sad plaint was heard.
"That's not the wind, it's the specter," murmured the private, as if
in response to the pressure of his companion's hand.
"Ay! Ay!" came through the air, rising above the noise of the rain,
nor could the whistling wind drown that sweet and mournful voice
charged with affliction.
Again the lightning flashed with dazzling intensity.
"No, it's not a specter!" exclaimed the _distinguido_.
"I've seen her before. She's beautiful, like the Virgin! Let's get
away from here and report it."
The private did not wait for him to repeat the invitation, and both
disappeared.
Who was moaning in the middle of the night in spite of the wind and
rain and storm? Who was the timid maiden, the bride of Christ, who
defied the unchained elements and chose such a fearful night under the
open sky to breathe forth from so perilous a height her complaints
to God? Had the Lord abandoned his altar in the nunnery so that He
no longer heard her supplications? Did its arches perhaps prevent the
longings of the soul from rising up to the throne of the Most Merciful?
The tempest raged furiously nearly the whole night, nor did a single
star shine through the darkness. The despairing plaints continued to
mingle with the soughing of the wind, but they found Nature and man
alike deaf; God had hidden himself and heard not.
On the following day, after the dark clouds had cleared away and the
sun shone again brightly in the limpid sky, there stopped at the door
of the nunnery of St. Clara a carriage, from which alighted a man
who made himself known as a representative of the authorities. He
asked to be allowed to speak immediately with the abbess and to see
all the nuns.
It is said that one of these, who appeared in a gown all wet and torn,
with tears and tales of horror begged the man's protection against
the outrages of hypocrisy. It is also said that she was very beautiful
and had the most lovely and expressive eyes that were ever seen.
The representative of the authorities did not accede to her request,
but, after talking with the abbess, left her there in spite of her
tears and pleadings. The youthful nun saw the door close behind him
as a condemned person might look upon the portals of Heaven closing
against him, if ever Heaven should come to be as cruel and unfeeling
as men are. The abbess said that she was a madwoman. The man may
not have known that there is in Manila a home for the demented;
or perhaps he looked upon the nunnery itself as an insane asylum,
although it is claimed that he was quite ignorant, especially in a
matter of deciding whether a person is of sound mind.
It is also reported that General J---- thought otherwise, when the
matter reached his ears. He wished to protect the madwoman and asked
for her. But this time no beautiful and unprotected maiden appeared,
nor would the abbess permit a visit to the cloister, forbidding it
in the name of Religion and the Holy Statutes. Nothing more was said
of the affair, nor of the ill-starred Maria Clara.
GLOSSARY
_abá_: A Tagalog exclamation of wonder, surprise, etc., often used
to introduce or emphasize a contradictory statement.
_abaka_: "Manila hemp," the fiber of a plant of the banana family.
_achara_: Pickles made from the tender shoots of bamboo, green
papayas, etc.
_alcalde_: Governor of a province or district with both executive
and judicial authority.
_alferez_: Junior officer of the Civil Guard, ranking next below
a lieutenant.
_alibambang_: A leguminous plant whose acid leaves are used in cooking.
_alpay_: A variety of nephelium, similar but inferior to the Chinese
lichi.
_among_: Term used by the natives in addressing a priest, especially
a friar: from the Spanish _amo_, master.
_amores-secos_: "Barren loves," a low-growing weed whose small,
angular pods adhere to clothing.
_andas_: A platform with handles, on which an image is borne in
a procession.
_asuang_: A malignant devil reputed to feed upon human flesh, being
especially fond of new-born babes.
_até_: The sweet-sop.
_Audiencia_: The administrative council and supreme court of the
Spanish régime.
_Ayuntamiento_: A city corporation or council, and by extension
the building in which it has its offices; specifically, in Manila,
the capitol.
_azotea_: The flat roof of a house or any similar platform;
a roof-garden.
_babaye_: Woman (the general Malay term).
_baguio_: The local name for the typhoon or hurricane.
_bailúhan_: Native dance and feast: from the Spanish _baile_.
_balete_: The Philippine banyan, a tree sacred in Malay folk-lore.
_banka_: A dugout canoe with bamboo supports or outriggers.
_Bilibid_: The general penitentiary at Manila.
_buyo_: The masticatory prepared by wrapping a piece of areca-nut
with a little shell-lime in a betel-leaf: the _pan_ of British India.
_cabeza de barangay_: Headman and tax collector for a group of about
fifty families, for whose "tribute" he was personally responsible.
_calle_: Street.
_camisa_: 1. A loose, collarless shirt of transparent material worn
by men outside the trousers.
2. A thin, transparent waist with flowing sleeves, worn by women.
_camote_: A variety of sweet potato.
_capitan_: "Captain," a title used in addressing or referring to the
gobernadorcillo or a former occupant of that office.
_carambas_: A Spanish exclamation denoting surprise or displeasure.
_carbineer_: Internal-revenue guard.
_cedula_: Certificate of registration and receipt for poll-tax.
_chico_: The sapodilla plum.
_Civil Guard_: Internal quasi-military police force of Spanish officers
and native soldiers.
_cochero_: Carriage driver: coachman.
_Consul_: A wealthy merchant; originally, a member of the _Consulado_,
the tribunal, or corporation, controlling the galleon trade.
_cuadrillero_: Municipal guard.
_cuarto_: A copper coin, one hundred and sixty of which were equal
in value to a silver peso.
_cuidao_: "Take care!" "Look out!" A common exclamation, from the
Spanish _cuidado_.
_dálag_: The Philippine _Ophiocephalus_, the curious walking mudfish
that abounds in the paddy-fields during the rainy season.
_dalaga_: Maiden, woman of marriageable age.
_dinding_: House-wall or partition of plaited bamboo wattle.
_director, directorcillo_: The town secretary and clerk of the
gobernadorcillo.
_distinguido_: A person of rank serving as a private soldier but
exempted from menial duties and in promotions preferred to others of
equal merit.
_escribano_: Clerk of court and official notary.
_filibuster_: A native of the Philippines who was accused of advocating
their separation from Spain.
_gobernadorcillo_: "Petty governor," the principal municipal official.
_gogo_: A climbing, woody vine whose macerated stems are used as soap;
"soap-vine."
_guingón_: Dungaree, a coarse blue cotton cloth.
_hermano mayor_: The manager of a fiesta.
_husi_: A fine cloth made of silk interwoven with cotton, abaka,
or pineapple-leaf fibers.
_ilang-ilang_: The Malay "flower of flowers," from which the well-known
essence is obtained.
_Indian_: The Spanish designation for the Christianized Malay of the
Philippines was _indio_ (Indian), a term used rather contemptuously,
the name _Filipino_ being generally applied in a restricted sense to
the children of Spaniards born in the Islands.
_kaingin_: A woodland clearing made by burning off the trees and
underbrush, for planting upland rice or camotes.
_kalan_: The small, portable, open, clay fireplace commonly used
in cooking.
_kalao_: The Philippine hornbill. As in all Malay countries, this bird
is the object of curious superstitions. Its raucous cry, which may
be faintly characterized as hideous, is said to mark the hours and,
in the night-time, to presage death or other disaster.
_kalikut_: A short section of bamboo in which the _buyo_ is mixed;
a primitive betel-box.
_kamagon_: A tree of the ebony family, from which fine cabinet-wood
is obtained. Its fruit is the _mabolo_, or date-plum.
_kasamá_: Tenants on the land of another, to whom they render payment
in produce or by certain specified services.
_kogon_: A tall, rank grass used for thatch.
_kris_: A Moro dagger or short sword with a serpentine blade.
_kundíman_: A native song.
_kupang_: A large tree of the Mimosa family.
_kuriput_: Miser, "skinflint."
_lanson_: The langsa, a delicious cream-colored fruit about the size
of a plum. In the Philippines, its special habitat is the country
around the Lake of Bay.
_liam-pó_: A Chinese game of chance (?).
_lomboy_: The jambolana, a small, blue fruit with a large stone.
_Malacañang_: The palace of the Captain-General in Manila: from the
vernacular name of the place where it stands, "fishermen's resort."
_mankukúlan_: An evil spirit causing sickness and other misfortunes,
and a person possessed of such a demon.
_morisqueta_: Rice boiled without salt until dry, the staple food of
the Filipinos.
_Moro_: Mohammedan Malay of southern Mindanao and Sulu.
_mutya_: Some object with talismanic properties, "rabbit's foot."
_nakú_: A Tagalog exclamation of surprise, wonder, etc.
_nipa_: Swamp-palm, with the imbricated leaves of which the roots
and sides of the common Filipino houses are constructed.
_nito_: A climbing fern whose glossy, wiry leaves are used for making
fine hats, cigar-cases, etc.
_novena_: A devotion consisting of prayers recited on nine consecutive
days, asking for some special favor; also, a booklet of these prayers.
_oy_: An exclamation to attract attention, used toward inferiors
and in familiar intercourse: probably a contraction of the Spanish
imperative, _oye_, "listen!"
_pakó_: An edible fern.
_palasán_: A thick, stout variety of rattan, used for walking-sticks.
_pandakaki_: A low tree or shrub with small, star-like flowers.
_pañuelo_: A starched neckerchief folded stiffly over the shoulders,
fastened in front and falling in a point behind: the most distinctive
portion of the customary dress of the Filipino women.
_papaya_: The tropical papaw, fruit of the "melon-tree."
_paracmason_: Freemason, the _bête noire_ of the Philippine friar.
_peseta_: A silver coin, in value one-fifth of a peso or thirty-two
cuartos.
_peso_: A silver coin, either the Spanish peso or the Mexican dollar,
about the size of an American dollar and of approximately half
its value.
_piña_: Fine cloth made from pineapple-leaf fibers.
_proper names_: The author has given a simple and sympathetic touch
to his story throughout by using the familiar names commonly employed
among the Filipinos in their home-life. Some of these are nicknames
or pet names, such as Andong, Andoy, Choy, Neneng ("Baby"), Puté,
Tinchang, and Yeyeng. Others are abbreviations or corruptions of
the Christian names, often with the particle ng or ay added, which
is a common practice: Andeng, Andrea; Doray, Teodora; Iday, Brigida
(Bridget); Sinang, Lucinda (Lucy); Sipa, Josefa; Sisa, Narcisa; Teo,
Teodoro (Theodore); Tiago, Santiago (James); Tasio, Anastasio; Tiká,
Escolastica; Tinay, Quintina; Tinong, Saturnino.
_Provincial_: Head of a religious order in the Philippines.
_querida_: Paramour, mistress: from the Spanish, "beloved."
_real_: One-eighth of a peso, twenty cuartos.
_sala_: The principal room in the more pretentious Philippine houses.
_salabat_: An infusion of ginger.
_salakot_: Wide hat of palm or bamboo and rattan, distinctively
Filipino.
_sampaguita_: The Arabian jasmine: a small, white, very fragrant
flower, extensively cultivated, and worn in chaplets and rosaries by
the women and girls--the typical Philippine flower.
_santol_: The Philippine sandal-tree.
_sawali_: Plaited bamboo wattle.
_sinamay_: A transparent cloth woven from abaka fibers.
_sinigang_: Water with vegetables or some acid fruit, in which fish
are boiled; "fish soup."
_Susmariosep_: A common exclamation: contraction of the Spanish,
_Jesús, María, y José_, the Holy Family.
_tabí_: The cry of carriage drivers to warn pedestrians.
_talibon_: A short sword, the "war bolo."
_tapa_: Jerked meat.
_tápis_: A piece of dark cloth or lace, often richly worked or
embroidered, worn at the waist somewhat in the fashion of an apron:
a distinctive portion of the native women's attire, especially among
the Tagalogs.
_tarambulo_: A low weed whose leaves and fruit pedicles are covered
with short, sharp spines.
_teniente-mayor_: Senior lieutenant, the senior member of the town
council and substitute for the gobernadorcillo.
_tikas-tikas_: A variety of canna bearing bright red flowers.
_tertiary brethren_: Members of a lay society affiliated with a
regular monastic order, especially the Venerable Tertiary Order of
the Franciscans.
_timbaín_: The "water-cure," and hence, any kind of torture. The
primary meaning is "to draw water from a well," from _timba_, pail.
_tikbalang_: An evil spirit, capable of assuming various forms,
but said to appear usually in the shape of a tall black man with
disproportionately long legs: the "bogey man" of Tagalog children.
_tulisan_: Outlaw, bandit. Under the old régime in the Philippines the
tulisanes were those who, on account of real or fancied grievances
against the authorities, or from fear of punishment for crime,
or from an instinctive desire to return to primitive simplicity,
foreswore life in the towns "under the bell," and made their homes
in the mountains or other remote places. Gathered in small bands with
such arms as they could secure, they sustained themselves by highway
robbery and the levying of blackmail from the country folk.
_zacate_: Native grass used for feeding livestock.
NOTES
[1] Quoted by Macaulay: _Essay on the Succession in Spain_.
[2] The ruins of the _Fuerza de Playa Honda, ó Real de Paynavén_, are
still to be seen in the present municipality of Botolan, Zambales. The
walls are overgrown with rank vegetation, but are well preserved, with
the exception of a portion looking toward the Bankal River, which has
been undermined by the currents and has fallen intact into the stream.
[3] _Relation of the Zambals_, by Domingo Perez, O.P.; manuscript
dated 1680. The excerpts are taken from the translation in Blair and
Robertson, _The Philippine Islands_, Vol. XLVII, by courtesy of the
Arthur H. Clark Company, Cleveland, Ohio.
[4] _"Estadismo de las Islas Filipinas, ó Mis Viages por Este Pais_,
por Fray Joaquin Martinez de Zuñiga, Agustino calzado." Padre Zuñiga
was a parish priest in several towns and later Provincial of his
Order. He wrote a history of the conquest, and in 1800 accompanied
Alava, the _General de Marina_, on his tours of investigation looking
toward preparations for the defense of the islands against another
attack of the British, with whom war threatened. The _Estadismo_,
which is a record of these journeys, with some account of the rest of
the islands, remained in manuscript until 1893, when it was published
in Madrid.
[5] Secular, as distinguished from the regulars, i.e., members of
the monastic orders.
[6] Sinibaldo de Mas, _Informe sobre el estado de las Islas Filipinas
en 1842_, translated in Blair and Robertson's _The Philippine Islands_,
Vol. XXVIII, p. 254.
[7] _Sic_. St. John xx, 17.
[8] This letter in the original French in which it was written is
reproduced in the _Vida y Escritos del Dr. José Rizal_, by W. E. Retana
(Madrid, 1907).
[9] _Filipinas dentro de Cien Años_, published in the organ of the
Filipinos in Spain, _La Solidaridad_, in 1889-90. This is the most
studied of Rizal's purely political writings, and the completest
exposition of his views concerning the Philippines.
[10] An English version of _El Filibusterismo_, under the title _The
Reign of Greed_, has been prepared to accompany the present work.
[11] "Que todo el monte era orégano." W.E. Retana, in the appendix to
Fray Martinez de Zuñiga's _Estadismo_, Madrid, 1893, where the decree
is quoted. The rest of this comment of Retana's deserves quotation
as an estimate of the living man by a Spanish publicist who was at
the time in the employ of the friars and contemptuously hostile
to Rizal, but who has since 1898 been giving quite a spectacular
demonstration of waving a red light after the wreck, having become his
most enthusiastic, almost hysterical, biographer: "Rizal is what is
commonly called a character, but he has repeatedly demonstrated very
great inexperience in the affairs of life. I believe him to be now
about thirty-two years old. He is the Indian of most ability among
those who have written."
[12] From Valenzuela's deposition before the military tribunal,
September sixth, 1896.
[13] _Capilla_: the Spanish practise is to place a condemned person
for the twenty-four hours preceding his execution in a _chapel_, or
a cell fitted up as such, where he may devote himself to religious
exercises and receive the final ministrations of the Church.
[14] But even this conclusion is open to doubt: there is no proof
beyond the unsupported statement of the Jesuits that he made a written
retraction, which was later destroyed, though why a document so
interesting, and so important in support of their own point of view,
should not have been preserved furnishes an illuminating commentary
on the whole confused affair. The only unofficial witness present was
the condemned man's sister, and her declaration, that she was at the
time in such a state of excitement and distress that she is unable to
affirm positively that there was a real marriage ceremony performed,
can readily be accepted. It must be remembered that the Jesuits were
themselves under the official and popular ban for the part they had
played in Rizal's education and development and that they were seeking
to set themselves right in order to maintain their prestige. Add to
this the persistent and systematic effort made to destroy every scrap
of record relating to the man--the sole gleam of shame evidenced in
the impolitic, idiotic, and pusillanimous treatment of him--and the
whole question becomes such a puzzle that it may just as well be left
in darkness, with a throb of pity for the unfortunate victim caught
in such a maelstrom of panic-stricken passion and selfish intrigue.
[15] A similar picture is found in the convento at Antipolo.--_Author's
note_.
[16] A school of secondary instruction conducted by the Dominican
Fathers, by whom it was taken over in 1640. "It had its first beginning
in the house of a pious Spaniard, called Juan Geronimo Guerrero,
who had dedicated himself, with Christian piety, to gathering orphan
boys in his house, where he raised, clothed, and sustained them, and
taught them to read and to write, and much more, to live in the fear
of God."--Blair and Robertson, _The Philippine Islands_, Vol. XLV,
p. 208.--TR.
[17] The Dominican friars, whose order was founded by Dominic de
Guzman.--TR.
[18] In the story mentioned, the three monks were the old Roman god
Bacchus and two of his satellites, in the disguise of Franciscan
friars,--TR.
[19] According to a note to the Barcelona edition of this novel,
Mendieta was a character well known in Manila, doorkeeper at
the Alcaldía, impresario of children's theaters, director of a
merry-go-round, etc.--TR.
[20] See Glossary.
[21] The "tobacco monopoly" was established during the administration
of Basco de Vargas (1778-1787), one of the ablest governors Spain
sent to the Philippines, in order to provide revenue for the local
government and to encourage agricultural development. The operation
of the monopoly, however, soon degenerated into a system of "graft"
and petty abuse which bore heartily upon the natives (see Zuñiga's
_Estadismo_), and the abolition of it in 1881 was one of the heroic
efforts made by the Spanish civil administrators to adjust the archaic
colonial system to the changing conditions in the Archipelago.--TR.
[22] As a result of his severity in enforcing the payment of sums
due the royal treasury on account of the galleon trade, in which
the religious orders were heavily interested, Governor Fernando de
Bustillos Bustamente y Rueda met a violent death at the hands of a
mob headed by friars, October 11, 1719. See Blair and Robertson,
_The Philippine Islands_, Vol. XLIV; Montero y Vidal, _Historia
General de Filipinas_, Vol. I, Chap. XXXV.--TR.
[23] A reference to the fact that the clerical party in Spain refused
to accept the decree of Ferdinand VII setting aside the Salic law
and naming his daughter Isabella as his successor, and, upon the
death of Ferdinand, supported the claim of the nearest male heir,
Don Carlos de Bourbon, thus giving rise to the Carlist movement. Some
writers state that severe measures had to be adopted to compel many
of the friars in the Philippines to use the feminine pronoun in their
prayers for the sovereign, just whom the reverend gentlemen expected
to deceive not being explained.--TR.
[24] An apothegm equivalent to the English, "He'll never set any
rivers on fire."--TR.
[25] The name of a Carlist leader in Spain.--TR.
[26] A German Franciscan monk who is said to have invented gunpowder
about 1330.
[27] "He says that he doesn't want it when it is exactly what he
does want." An expression used in the mongrel Spanish-Tagalog
'market language' of Manila and Cavite, especially among the
children,--somewhat akin to the English 'sour grapes.'--TR.
[28] Arms should yield to the toga (military to civil power). Arms
should yield to the surplice (military to religious power),--TR.
[29] For _Peninsula_, i.e., Spain. The change of _n_ to _ñ_ was common
among ignorant Filipinos.--TR.
[30] The syllables which constitute the first reading lesson in
Spanish primers.--TR.
[31] A Spanish colloquial term ("cracked"), applied to a native of
Spain who was considered to be mentally unbalanced from too long
residence in the islands,--TR.
[32] This celebrated Lady was first brought from Acapulco, Mexico,
by Juan Niño de Tabora, when he came to govern the Philippines in
1626. By reason of her miraculous powers of allaying the storms she was
carried back and forth in the state galleons on a number of voyages,
until in 1672 she was formally installed in a church in the hills
northeast of Manila, under the care of the Augustinian Fathers. While
her shrine was building she is said to have appeared to the faithful in
the top of a large breadfruit tree, which is known to the Tagalogs as
"antipolo"; hence her name. Hers is the best known and most frequented
shrine in the country, while she disputes with the Holy Child of Cebu
the glory of being the wealthiest individual in the whole archipelago.
There has always existed a pious rivalry between her and the
Dominicans' Lady of the Rosary as to which is the patron saint of the
Philippines, the contest being at times complicated by counterclaims
on the part of St. Francis, although the entire question would seem
to have been definitely settled by a royal decree, published about
1650, officially conferring that honorable post upon St. Michael the
Archangel (San Miguel). A rather irreverent sketch of this celebrated
queen of the skies appears in Chapter XI of Foreman's _The Philippine
Islands_.--TR.
[33] Santa Cruz, Paco, and Ermita are districts of Manila, outside
the Walled City.--TR.
[34] John xviii. 10.
[35] A town in Laguna Province, noted for the manufacture of
furniture.--TR.
[36] God grant that this prophecy may soon be fulfilled for the author
of the booklet and all of us who believe it. Amen.--_Author's note_.
[37] "Blessed are the poor in spirit" and "blessed are the
possessors."--TR.
[38] The annual celebration of the Dominican Order held in October in
honor of its patroness, the Virgin of the Rosary, to whose intervention
was ascribed the victory over a Dutch fleet in 1646, whence the
name. See _Guía Oficial de Filipinas_, 1885, pp. 138, 139; Montero
y Vidal, _Historia General de Filipinas_, Vol. I, Chap. XXIII; Blair
and Robertson, _The Philippine Islands_, Vol. XXXV, pp. 249, 250.--TR.
[39] Members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, whose chief
business is preaching and teaching. They entered the Philippines
in 1862.--TR.
[40] "Kaysaysay: A celebrated sanctuary in the island of Luzon,
province of Batangas, jurisdiction, of Taal, so called because there
is venerated in it a Virgin who bears that name ....
"The image is in the center of the high altar, where there is seen an
eagle in half-relief, whose abdomen is left open in order to afford a
tabernacle for the Virgin: an idea enchanting to many of the Spaniards
established in the Philippines during the last century, but which in
our opinion any sensible person will characterize as extravagant.
"This image of the Virgin of Kaysaysay enjoys the fame of being very
miraculous, so that the Indians gather from great distances to hear
mass in her sanctuary every Saturday. Her discovery, over two and a
half centuries ago, is notable in that she was found in the sea during
some fisheries, coming up in a drag-net with the fish. It is thought
that this venerable image of the Filipinos may have been in some ship
which was wrecked and that the currents carried her up to the coast,
where she was found in the manner related.
"The Indians, naturally credulous and for the most part quite
superstitious, in spite of the advancements in civilization and
culture, relate that she appeared afterwards in some trees, and
in memory of these manifestations an arch representing them was
erected at a short distance from the place where her sanctuary is
now located."--Buzeta and Bravo's _Diccionario_, Madrid, 1850, but
copied "with proper modifications for the times and the new truths"
from Zuñiga's _Estadismo_, which, though written in 1803 and not
published until 1893, was yet used by later writers, since it was
preserved in manuscript in the convent of the Augustinians in Manila,
Buzeta and Bravo, as well as Zuñiga, being members of that order.
So great was the reverence for this Lady that the Acapulco galleons on
their annual voyages were accustomed to fire salutes in her honor as
they passed along the coast near her shrine.--Foreman. _The Philippine
Islands_, quoting from the account of an eruption of Taal Volcano in
1749, by Fray Francisco Vencuchillo.
This Lady's sanctuary, where she is still "enchanting" in her "eagle
in half-relief," stands out prominently on the hill above the town
of Taal, plainly visible from Balayan Bay.--TR.
[41] A Tagalog term meaning "to tumble," or "to caper about,"
doubtless from the actions of the Lady's devotees. Pakil is a town
in Laguna Province.--TR.
[42] A work on scholastic philosophy, by a Spanish prelate of that
name.--TR.
[43] The nunnery and college of St. Catherine of Sienna ("Santa
Catalina de la Sena") was founded by the Dominican Fathers in
1696.--TR.
[44] The "Ateneo Municipal," where the author, as well as nearly every
other Filipino of note in the past generation, received his early
education, was founded by the Jesuits shortly after their return to
the islands in 1859.--TR.
[45] The patron saint of Tondo, Manila's Saint-Antoine. He is invoked
for aid in driving away plagues,--TR.
[46] Now Plaza Cervantes.--TR.
[47] Now Plaza Lawton and Bagumbayan; see note, _infra.--_ TR.
[48] The Field of Bagumbayan, adjoining the Luneta, was the place where
political prisoners were shot or garroted, and was the scene of the
author's execution on December 30, 1906. It is situated just outside
and east of the old Walled City (Manila proper), being the location to
which the natives who had occupied the site of Manila moved their town
after having been driven back by the Spaniards--hence the name, which
is a Tagalog compound meaning "new town." This place is now called
Wallace Field, the name Bagumbayan being applied to the driveway
which was known to the Spaniards as the _Paseo de las Aguadas_,
or _de Vidal_, extending from the Luneta to the Bridge of Spain,
just outside the moat that, formerly encircled the Walled City.--TR.
[49] Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.--TR.
[50] We have been unable to find any town of this name, but many of
these conditions.--_Author's note_.
San Diego and Santiago are variant forms of the name of the patron
saint of Spain, St. James.--TR.
[51] The "sacred tree" of Malaya, being a species of banyan that begins
life as a vine twining on another tree, which it finally strangles,
using the dead trunk as a support until it is able to stand alone. When
old it often covers a large space with gnarled and twisted trunks
of varied shapes and sizes, thus presenting a weird and grotesque
appearance. This tree was held in reverent awe by the primitive
Filipinos, who believed it to be the abode of the _nono_, or ancestral
ghosts, and is still the object of superstitious beliefs,--TR.
[52] "Petty governor," the chief municipal official, chosen annually
from among their own number, with the approval of the parish priest
and the central government, by the _principalía_, i.e., persons who
owned considerable property or who had previously held some municipal
office. The manner of his selection is thus described by a German
traveler (Jagor) in the Philippines in 1860: "The election is held
in the town hall. The governor or his representative presides, having
on his right the parish priest and on his left a clerk, who also acts
as interpreter. All the cabezas de barangay, the gobernadorcillo, and
those who have formerly occupied the latter position, seat themselves
on benches. First, there are chosen by lot six cabezas de barangay and
six ex-gobernadorcillos as electors, the actual gobernadorcillo being
the thirteenth. The rest leave the hall. After the presiding officer
has read the statutes in a loud voice and reminded the electors of
their duty to act in accordance with their consciences and to heed
only the welfare of the town, the electors move to a table and write
three names on a slip of paper. The person receiving a majority
of votes is declared elected gobernadorcillo for the ensuing year,
provided that there is no protest from the curate or the electors,
and always conditioned upon the approval of the superior authority
in Manila, which is never withheld, since the influence of the curate
is enough to prevent an unsatisfactory election."--TR.
[53] St. Barbara is invoked during thunder-storms as the special
protectress against lightning.--TR.
[54] In possibility (i.e., latent) and not: in fact.--TR.
[55]
"For this are various penances enjoined;
And some are hung to bleach upon the wind;
Some plunged in waters, others purged in fires,
Till all the dregs are drained, and all the rust expires."
Dryden, _Virgil's Aeneid_, VI.
[56] "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."--Luke xxiii, 43.
[57] It should be believed that for some light faults there is a
purgatorial fire before the judgment.
[58] Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth.--Matt, xvi, 19.
[59] Even up to purgatory.
[60] Dream or reality, we do not know whether this may have happened
to any Franciscan, but something similar is related of the Augustinian
Padre Piernavieja.--_Author's note_.
Fray Antonio Piernavieja, O.S.A., was a parish curate in the province
of Bulacan when this work was written. Later, on account of alleged
brutality similar to the incident used here, he was transferred
to the province of Cavite, where, in 1896, he was taken prisoner
by the insurgents and by them made "bishop" of their camp. Having
taken advantage of this position to collect and forward to the
Spanish authorities in Manila information concerning the insurgents'
preparations and plans, he was tied out in an open field and left to
perish of hunger and thirst under the tropical sun. See _Guía Oficial
de Filipinas_, 1885, p. 195; _El Katipunan ó El Filibusterismo en
Filipinas_ (Madrid, 1897), p. 347; Foreman's _The Philippine Islands_,
Chap. XII.--TR.
[61] The Philippine civet-cat, quite rare, and the only wild carnivore
in the Philippine Islands.--TR.
[62] The common crowd is a fool and since it pays for it, it is proper
to talk to it foolishly to please it.
[63] "The schools are under the inspection of the parish
priests. Reading and writing in Spanish are taught, or at least it
is so ordered; but the schoolmaster himself usually does not know
it, and on the other hand the Spanish government employees do not
understand the vernacular. Besides, the curates, in order to preserve
their influence intact, do not look favorably upon the spread of
Castilian. About the only ones who know Spanish are the Indians who
have been in the service of Europeans. The first reading exercise
is some devotional book, then the catechism; the reader is called
_Casaysayan_. On the average half of the children between seven and ten
years attend school; they learn to read fairly well and some to write
a little, but they soon forget it."--Jagor, _Viajes por Filipinas_
(Vidal's Spanish version). Jagor was speaking particularly of the
settled parts of the Bicol region. Referring to the islands generally,
his "half of the children" would be a great exaggeration.--TR.
[64] A delicate bit of sarcasm is lost in the translation here. The
reference to _Maestro Ciruela_ in Spanish is somewhat similar to a
mention in English of Mr. Squeers, of Dotheboys Hall fame.--TR.
[65] By one of the provisions of a royal decree of December 20,
1863, the _Catecismo de la Doctrina Cristina_, by Gaspar Astete,
was prescribed as the text-book for primary schools, in the
Philippines. See Blair and Robertson's _The Philippine Islands_,
Vol. XLVI, p. 98; _Census of the Philippine Islands_ (Washington,
1905), p. 584.--TR.
[66] The municipal police of the old régime. They were thus described
by a Spanish writer, W. E. Retana, in a note to Ventura F. Lopez's
_El Filibustero_ (Madrid, 1893): "Municipal guards, whose duties are
principally rural. Their uniform is a disaster; they go barefoot;
on horseback, they hold the reins in the right hand and a lance in
the left. They are usually good-for-nothing, but to their credit it
must be said that they do no damage. Lacking military instruction,
provided with fire-arms of the first part of the century, of which one
in a hundred might go off in case of need, and for other arms bolos,
talibons, old swords, etc., the cuadrilleros are truly a parody on
armed force."--TR.
[67] Headman and tax-collector of a district, generally including
about fifty families, for whose annual tribute he was personally
responsible. The "barangay" is a Malay boat of the kind supposed to
have been used by the first emigrants to the Philippines. Hence, at
first, the "head of a barangay" meant the leader or chief of a family
or group of families. This office, quite analogous to the old Germanic
or Anglo-Saxon "head of a hundred," was adopted and perpetuated by
the Spaniards in their system of local administration.--TR.
[68] The _hermano mayor_ was a person appointed to direct the
ceremonies during the fiesta, an appointment carrying with it great
honor and importance, but also entailing considerable expense,
as the appointee was supposed to furnish a large share of the
entertainments. Hence, the greater the number of _hermanos mayores_
the more splendid the fiesta,--TR.
[69] Mt. Makiling is a volcanic cone at the southern end of the Lake
of Bay. At its base is situated the town of Kalamba, the author's
birthplace. About this mountain cluster a number of native legends
having as their principal character a celebrated sorceress or
enchantress, known as "Mariang Makiling."--TR.
[70] With uncertain pace, in wandering flight, for an instant
only--without rest.
[71] The _chinela_, the Philippine slipper, is a soft leather sole,
heelless, with only a vamp, usually of plush or velvet, to hold
it on.--TR.
[72] "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." The words inscribed over
the gate of Hell: Dante's _Inferno_, III, 9.--TR.
[73] "Listening Sister," the nun who acts as spy and monitor over
the girls studying in a convent.--TR.
[74] "Más sabe el loco en su casa que el cuerdo en la ajena." The fool
knows more in his own house than a wise man does in another's.--TR.
[75] The College of Santo Tomas was established in 1619 through a
legacy of books and money left for that purpose by Fray Miguel de
Benavides, O. P., second archbishop of Manila. By royal decree and
papal bull, it became in 1645 the Royal and Pontifical University
of Santo Tomas, and never, during the Spanish régime, got beyond the
Thomistic theology in its courses of instruction.--TR.
[76] Take heed lest you fall!
[77] Ferdinand and Isabella, the builders of Spain's greatness,
are known in Spanish history as "Los Reyes Católicos."--TR.
[78] These spectacular performances, known as "Moro-Moro," often
continued for several days, consisting principally of noisy combats
between Moros and Christians, in which the latter were, of course,
invariably victorious. Typical sketches of them may be found in
Foreman's _The Philippine Islands_, Chap. XXIII, and Stuntz's _The
Philippines and the Far East_, Chap. III.--TR.
[79] "The Willow."
[80] The capital of Laguna Province, not to be confused with the Santa
Cruz mentioned before, which is a populous and important district in
the city of Manila. Tanawan, Lipa, and Batangas are towns in Batangas
Province, the latter being its capital.--TR.
[81] "If on your return you are met with a smile, beware! for it
means that you have a secret enemy."--From the _Florante_, being the
advice given to the hero by his old teacher when he set out to return
to his home.
Francisco Baltazar was a Tagalog poet, native of the province of
Bulacan, born about 1788, and died in 1862. The greater part of his
life was spent in Manila,--in Tondo and in Pandakan, a quaint little
village on the south bank of the Pasig, now included in the city,
where he appears to have shared the fate largely of poets of other
lands, from suffering "the pangs of disprized love" and persecution
by the religious authorities, to seeing himself considered by the
people about him as a crack-brained dreamer. He was educated in the
Dominican school of San Juan de Letran, one of his teachers being Fray
Mariano Pilapil, about whose services to humanity there may be some
difference of opinion on the part of those who have ever resided in
Philippine towns, since he was the author of the "Passion Song" which
enlivens the Lenten evenings. This "Passion Song," however, seems to
have furnished the model for Baltazar's _Florante_, with the pupil
surpassing the master, for while it has the subject and characters
of a medieval European romance, the spirit and settings are entirely
Malay. It is written in the peculiar Tagalog verse, in the form of a
_corrido_ or metrical romance, and has been declared by Fray Toribio
Menguella, Rizal himself, and others familiar with Tagalog, to be
a work of no mean order, by far the finest and most characteristic
composition in that, the richest of the Malay dialects.--TR.
[82] Every one talks of the fiesta according to the way he fared at it.
[83] A Spanish prelate, notable for his determined opposition in
the Constituent Cortes of 1869 to the clause in the new Constitution
providing for religious liberty.--TR.
[84] "Camacho's wedding" is an episode in _Don Quixote_, wherein a
wealthy man named Camacho is cheated out of his bride after he has
prepared a magnificent wedding-feast.--TR.
[85] The full dress of the Filipino women, consisting of the _camisa,
pañuelo_, and _saya suelta_, the latter a heavy skirt with a long
train. The name _mestiza_ is not inappropriate, as well from its
composition as its use, since the first two are distinctly native,
antedating the conquest, while the _saya suelta_ was no doubt
introduced by the Spaniards.
[86] The nunnery of St. Clara, situated on the Pasig River just east
of Fort Santiago, was founded in 1621 by the Poor Clares, an order of
nuns affiliated with the Franciscans, and was taken under the royal
patronage as the "Real Monasterio de Santa Clara" in 1662. It is still
in existence and is perhaps the most curious of all the curious relics
of the Middle Ages in old Manila.--TR.
[87] The principal character in Calderon de la Barca's _La Vida
es Sueño_. There is also a Tagalog _corrido_, or metrical romance,
with this title.--TR.
[88] The Douay version.--TR.
[89] "Errare humanum est": "To err is human."
[90] To the Philippine Chinese "d" and "l" look and sound about
the same.--TR.
[91] "Brothers in Christ."
[92] "Venerable patron saint."
[93] _Muy Reverendo Padre_: Very Reverend Father.
[94] Very rich landlord. The United States Philippine Commission,
constituting the government of the Archipelago, paid to the religious
orders "a lump sum of $7,239,000, more or less," for the bulk of
the lands claimed by them. See the _Annual Report of the Philippine
Commission to the Secretary of War_, December 23, 1903.--TR.
[95] _Cumare_ and _cumpare_ are corruptions of the Spanish _comadre_
and _compadre_, which have an origin analogous to the English "gossip"
in its original meaning of "sponsor in baptism." In the Philippines
these words are used among the simpler folk as familiar forms of
address, "friend," "neighbor."--TR.
[96] Dominus vobiscum.
[97] The Spanish proverb equivalent to the English "Birds of a feather
flock together."--TR.
[98] For "filibustero."
[99] _Tarantado_ is a Spanish vulgarism meaning "blunderhead,"
"bungler." _Saragate_ (or _zaragate_) is a Mexican provincialism
meaning "disturber," "mischief-maker."--TR.
[100] _Vete á la porra_ is a vulgarism almost the same in meaning
and use as the English slang, "Tell it to the policeman," _porra_
being the Spanish term for the policeman's "billy."--TR.
[101] For _sospechoso_, "a suspicious character."--TR.
[102] _Sanctus Deus_ and _Requiem aeternam_ (so called from their
first words) are prayers for the dead.--TR.
[103] Spanish etiquette requires that the possessor of an object
immediately offer it to any person who asks about it with the
conventional phrase, "It is yours." Capitan Tiago is rather overdoing
his Latin refinement.--TR.
[104] A metrical discourse for a special occasion or in honor of some
distinguished personage. Padre Zuñiga (_Estadismo_, Chap. III) thus
describes one heard by him in Lipa, Batangas, in 1800, on the occasion
of General Alava's visit to that place: "He who is to recite the _loa_
is seen in the center of the stage dressed as a Spanish cavalier,
reclining in a chair as if asleep, while behind the scenes musicians
sing a lugubrious chant in the vernacular. The sleeper awakes and
shows by signs that he thinks he has heard, or dreamed of hearing, some
voice. He again disposes himself to sleep, and the chant is repeated
in the same lugubrious tone. Again he awakes, rises, and shows that
he has heard a voice. This scene is repeated several times, until at
length he is persuaded that the voice is announcing the arrival of the
hero who is to be eulogized. He then commences to recite his _loa_,
carrying himself like a clown in a circus, while he sings the praises
of the person in whose honor the fiesta has been arranged. This _loa_,
which was in rhetorical verse in a diffuse style suited to the Asiatic
taste, set forth the general's naval expeditions and the honors he
had received from the King, concluding with thanks and acknowledgment
of the favor that he had conferred in passing through their town and
visiting such poor wretches as they. There were not lacking in it
the wanderings of Ulysses, the journeys of Aristotle, the unfortunate
death of Pliny, and other passages from ancient history, which they
delight in introducing into their stories. All these passages are
usually filled with fables touching upon the marvelous, such as the
following, which merit special notice: of Aristotle it was said that
being unable to learn the depth of the sea he threw himself into its
waves and was drowned, and of Pliny that he leaped into Vesuvius
to investigate the fire within the volcano. In the same way other
historical accounts are confused. I believe that these _loas_ were
introduced by the priests in former times, although the fables with
which they abound would seem to offer an objection to this opinion,
as nothing is ever told in them that can be found in the writings
of any European author; still they appear to me to have been suited
to the less critical taste of past centuries. The verses are written
by the natives, among whom there are many poets, this art being less
difficult in Tagalog than in any other language."--TR.
[105] "The old man of the village," patriarch.--TR.
[106] The secular name of St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the
Franciscan order.--TR.
[107] A Spanish official, author of several works relating to the
Philippines, one of which, _Recuerdos de Filipinas_ (Madrid, 1877 and
1880), a loose series of sketches and impressions giving anything but
a complimentary picture of the character and conduct of the Spaniards
in the Islands, and in a rather naive and perhaps unintentional way
throwing some lurid side-lights on the governmental administration
and the friar régime,--enjoyed the distinction of being officially
prohibited from circulation in the archipelago.--TR.
[108] "_Magcanta-ca!_" "(You) sing!"--TR.
[109] Europea: European woman.--TR.
[110] In 1527-29 _Alvaro_ de Saavedra led an unsuccessful expedition to
take possession of the "Western Isles." The name "Filipina," in honor
of the Prince of the Asturias, afterwards Felipe II (Philip II), was
first applied to what is probably the present island of Leyte by Ruy
Lopez de Villalobos, who led another unsuccessful expedition thither
in 1542-43, this name being later extended to the whole group.--TR.
[111] A barrio of Tanawan, Batangas, noted for the manufacture of
horsewhips.--TR.
[112] The actors named were real persons. Ratia was a Spanish-Filipino
who acquired quite a reputation not only in Manila but also in
Spain. He died in Manila in 1910.--TR.
[113] In the year 1879.--_Author's note_.
[114] A similar incident occurred in Kalamba.--_Author's note_.
[115] "The Maid of Saragossa," noted for her heroic exploits during
the siege of that city by the French in 1808-09.--TR.
[116] A region in southwestern Spain, including the provinces of
Badajoz and Caceres.--TR.
[117] Author of a little book of fables in Castilian verse for the
use of schools. The fable of the young philosopher illustrates the
thought in Pope's well-known lines:
"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace."--TR.
[118] Bones for those who come late.
[119] According to Spanish custom, a matron is known by prefixing
her maiden name with _de_ (possessive _of_) to her husband's name.--TR.
[120] The marble-shop of Rodoreda is still in existence on Calle
Carriedo, Santa Cruz.--TR.
[121] There is a play on words here, _Campanario_ meaning belfry and
_Torre_ tower.--TR.
[122] The Roman Catholic decalogue does not contain the commandment
forbidding the worship of "graven images," its second being the
prohibition against "taking His holy name in vain." To make up the ten,
the commandment against covetousness is divided into two.--TR.
[123] The famous Virgin of Saragossa, Spain, and patroness of Santa
Cruz, Manila.--TR.
[124] In 1883 the old system of "tribute" was abolished and in its
place a graduated personal tax imposed. The certificate that this
tax had been paid, known as the _cédula personal_, which also served
for personal identification, could be required at any time or place,
and failure to produce it was cause for summary arrest. It therefore
became, in unscrupulous hands, a fruitful source of abuse, since any
"undesirable" against whom no specific charge could be brought might
be put out of the way by this means.--TR.
[125] Tanawan or Pateros?--_Author's note_. The former is a town in
Batangas Province, the latter a village on the northern shore of the
Lake of Bay, in what is now Rizal Province.--TR.
[126] The Spanish Parliament.--TR.
[127] _Lásak, talisain_, and _bulik_ are some of the numerous terms
used in the vernacular to describe fighting-cocks.--TR.
[128] Another form of the corruption of _compadre_, "friend,"
"neighbor."--TR.
[129] It is a superstition of the cockpit that the color of the victor
in the first bout decides the winners for that session: thus, the red
having won, the _lásak_, in whose plumage a red color predominates,
should be the victor in the succeeding bout.--TR.
[130] The dark swallows will return.
[131] General Carlos Maria de let Torte y Nava Carrada, the first
"liberal" governor of the Philippines, was Captain-General from 1869
to 1871. He issued an amnesty to the outlaws and created the Civil
Guard, largely from among those who surrendered themselves in response
to it.--TR.
[132] After the conquest (officially designated as the "pacification"),
the Spanish soldiers who had rendered faithful service were allotted
districts known as _encomiendas_, generally of about a thousand
natives each. The _encomendero_ was entitled to the tribute from the
people in his district and was in return supposed to protect them and
provide religious instruction. The early friars alleged extortionate
greed and brutal conduct on the part of the _encomenderos_ and made
vigorous protests in the natives' behalf.--TR.
[133] Horse and cow.
[134] Fray Gaspar de San Agustin, O.S.A., who came to the Philippines
in 1668 and died in Manila in 1724, was the author of a history
of the conquest, but his chief claim to immortality comes from a
letter written in 1720 on the character and habits of "the Indian
inhabitants of these islands," a letter which was widely circulated
and which has been extensively used by other writers. In it the
writer with senile querulousness harped up and down the whole gamut
of abuse in describing and commenting upon the vices of the natives,
very artlessly revealing the fact in many places, however, that his
observations were drawn principally from the conduct of the servants
in the conventos and homes of Spaniards. To him in this letter is
due the credit of giving its wide popularity to the specious couplet:
El bejuco crece (The rattan thrives
Donde el indio nace, Where the Indian lives,)
which the holy men who delighted in quoting it took as an additional
evidence of the wise dispensation of the God of Nature, rather
inconsistently overlooking its incongruity with the teachings of Him
in whose name they assumed their holy office.
It seems somewhat strange that a spiritual father should have written
in such terms about his charges until the fact appears that the letter
was addressed to an influential friend in Spain for use in opposition
to a proposal to carry out the provisions of the Council of Trent by
turning the parishes in the islands over to the secular, and hence,
native, clergy. A translation of this bilious tirade, with copious
annotations showing to what a great extent it has been used by other
writers, appears in Volume XL of Blair and Robertson's _The Philippine
Islands.--_ TR.
[135] The Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion Concordia, situated
near Santa Ana in the suburbs of Manila, was founded in 1868 for
the education of native girls, by a pious Spanish-Filipino lady,
who donated a building and grounds, besides bearing the expense of
bringing out seven Sisters of Charity to take charge of it.--TR.
[136] The execution of the Filipino priests Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora,
in 1872.--TR.
[137] The fair day is foretold by the morn.
[138] _Paracmason_, i.e. freemason.
[139] Scholastic theologians.--TR.
[140] And yet it does move!
[141] I am a man and nothing that concerns humanity do I consider
foreign to me.
[142] A portion of the closing words of Virgil's third eclogue,
equivalent here to "Let the curtain drop."--TR.
[143] "Whatever is hidden will be revealed, nothing will remain
unaccounted for." From _Dies Irae_, the hymn in the mass for the dead,
best known to English readers from the paraphrase of it in Scott's
_Lay of the Last Minstrel_. The lines here quoted were thus metrically
translated by Macaulay:
"What was distant shall be near,
What was hidden shall be clear."--TR.
[144] A common nickname. See the Glossary, under _Nicknames.--TR_.
[145] The Marianas, or Ladrone Islands, were used as a place of
banishment for political prisoners.--TR.
[146] "Evil Omen," a nickname applied by the friars to General Joaquin
Jovellar, who was governor of the Islands from 1883 to 1885. It fell
to the lot of General Jovellar, a kindly old man, much more soldier
than administrator, to attempt the introduction of certain salutary
reforms tending toward progress, hence his disfavor with the holy
fathers. The mention of "General J----" in the last part of the
epilogue probably refers also to him.--TR.
[147] A celebrated Italian astronomer, member of the Jesuit Order. The
Jesuits are still in charge of the Observatory of Manila.--TR.
[148] "Our Lady of the Girdle" is the patroness of the Augustinian
Order.--TR.
[149] This image is in the six-million-peso steel church of
St. Sebastian in Manila. Something of her early history is thus given
by Fray Luis de Jesus in his _Historia_ of the Recollect Order (1681):
"A very holy image is revered there under the title of Carmen. Although
that image is small in stature, it is a great and perennial spring
of prodigies for those who invoke her. Our religious took it from
Nueva España (Mexico), and even in that very navigation she was able
to make herself known by her miracles .... That most holy image is
daily frequented with vows, presents, and novenas, thank-offerings
of the many who are daily favored by that queen of the skies."--Blair
and Robertson, _The Philippine Islands_, Vol. XXI, p. 195.
[150] The oldest and most conservative newspaper in Manila at the
time this work was written.--TR.
[151] Following closely upon the liberal administration of La Torre,
there occurred in the Cavite arsenal in 1872 a mutiny which was
construed as an incipient rebellion, and for alleged complicity in it
three native priests, Padres Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora, were garroted,
while a number of prominent Manilans were deported.--TR.
[152] What do I see? ... Wherefore?
[153] What do you wish? Nothing is in the intellect which has not first
passed through the senses; nothing is willed that is not already in
the mind.
[154] Where in the world are we?
[155] The uprising of Ibarra suppressed by the alferez of the Civil
Guard? And now?
[156] Friend, Plato is dear but truth is dearer ... It's a bad business
and a horrible result from these things is to be feared.
[157] Against him who denies the fundamentals, clubs should be used
as arguments.
[158] Latin prayers. "Agnus Dei Catolis" for "Agnus Dei qui tollis"
(John I. 29).
[159] Woe unto them! Where there's smoke there's fire! Like seeks like;
and if Ibarra is hanged, therefore you will be hanged.
[160] I do not fear death in bed, but upon the mount of Bagumbayan.
[161] The first part of a Spanish proverb: "Gifts break rocks, and
enter without gimlets."
[162] What is written is evidence! What medicines do not cure, iron
cures; what iron does not cure, fire cures.
[163] In extreme cases, extreme measures.
[164] Do you wish to keep it also, traitress?
[165] Go, accursed, into the fire of the kalan.
[166] The first part of a Spanish proverb: "Cría cuervos y te sacarán
los ojos," "Rear crows and they will pick your eyes out."--TR.
[167] Believe me, cousin ... what has happened, has happened; let
us give thanks to God that you are not in the Marianas Islands,
planting camotes. (It may be observed that here, as in some of his
other speeches, Don Primitivo's Latin is rather Philippinized.)--TR.
[168] The original is in the _lingua franca_ of the Philippine Chinese,
a medium of expression _sui generis_, being, like, Ulysses, "a part
of all that he has met," and defying characteristic translation:
"No siya ostí gongon; miligen li Antipolo esi! Esi pueli más con tolo;
no siya ostí gongong!"--TR.
[169] "Si esi no hómole y no pataylo, mujé juete-juete!"
[170] The Spanish battle-cry: "St. James, and charge, Spain!"--TR.
[171] The "wide rock" that formerly jutted out into the river just
below the place where the streams from the Lake of Bay join the
Mariquina to form the Pasig proper. This spot was celebrated in the
demonology of the primitive Tagalogs and later, after the tutelar
devils had been duly exorcised by the Spanish padres, converted into
a revenue station. The name is preserved in that of the little barrio
on the river bank near Fort McKinley.--TR.
[172] A Christmas carol: "Christmas night is coming, Christmas night
is going."--TR.
[173] Public Opium-Smoking Room.
[174] January 2, 1883.--_Author's note_.