Chapter Chapter 65 · Chapter LXIII（3）

[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_.