The Reign of Greed - 10

They had to accept this proposition, agreeing that Isagani should
talk to Señor Pasta that very day, and in the afternoon report to
his associates at the University the result of the interview.


CHAPTER XV
SEÑOR PASTA

Isagani presented himself in the house of the lawyer, one of the
most talented minds in Manila, whom the friars consulted in their
great difficulties. The youth had to wait some time on account of the
numerous clients, but at last his turn came and he entered the office,
or _bufete_, as it is generally called in the Philippines. The lawyer
received him with a slight cough, looking down furtively at his feet,
but he did not rise or offer a seat, as he went on writing. This gave
Isagani an opportunity for observation and careful study of the lawyer,
who had aged greatly. His hair was gray and his baldness extended
over nearly the whole crown of his head. His countenance was sour
and austere.
There was complete silence in the study, except for the whispers of the
clerks and understudies who were at work in an adjoining room. Their
pens scratched as though quarreling with the paper.
At length the lawyer finished what he was writing, laid down his pen,
raised his head, and, recognizing the youth, let his face light up
with a smile as he extended his hand affectionately.
"Welcome, young man! But sit down, and excuse me, for I didn't know
that it was you. How is your uncle?"
Isagani took courage, believing that his case would get on well. He
related briefly what had been done, the while studying the effect of
his words. Señor Pasta listened impassively at first and, although
he was informed of the efforts of the students, pretended ignorance,
as if to show that he had nothing to do with such childish matters,
but when he began to suspect what was wanted of him and heard mention
of the Vice-Rector, friars, the Captain-General, a project, and so on,
his face slowly darkened and he finally exclaimed, "This is the land
of projects! But go on, go on!"
Isagani was not yet discouraged. He spoke of the manner in which a
decision was to be reached and concluded with an expression of the
confidence which the young men entertained that he, Señor Pasta,
would _intercede_ in their behalf in case Don Custodio should consult
him, as was to be expected. He did not dare to say would _advise_,
deterred by the wry face the lawyer put on.
But Señor Pasta had already formed his resolution, and it was not
to mix at all in the affair, either as consulter or consulted. He
was familiar with what had occurred at Los Baños, he knew that there
existed two factions, and that Padre Irene was not the only champion
on the side of the students, nor had he been the one who proposed
submitting the petition to the Commission of Primary Instruction,
but quite the contrary. Padre Irene, Padre Fernandez, the Countess,
a merchant who expected to sell the materials for the new academy,
and the high official who had been citing royal decree after royal
decree, were about to triumph, when Padre Sibyla, wishing to gain
time, had thought of the Commission. All these facts the great lawyer
had present in his mind, so that when Isagani had finished speaking,
he determined to confuse him with evasions, tangle the matter up,
and lead the conversation to other subjects.
"Yes," he said, pursing his lips and scratching his head, "there is
no one who surpasses me in love for the country and in aspirations
toward progress, but--I can't compromise myself, I don't know whether
you clearly understand my position, a position that is very delicate,
I have so many interests, I have to labor within the limits of strict
prudence, it's a risk--"
The lawyer sought to bewilder the youth with an exuberance of words,
so he went on speaking of laws and decrees, and talked so much that
instead of confusing the youth, he came very near to entangling
himself in a labyrinth of citations.
"In no way do we wish to compromise you," replied Isagani with great
calmness. "God deliver us from injuring in the least the persons
whose lives are so useful to the rest of the Filipinos! But, as
little versed as I may be in the laws, royal decrees, writs, and
resolutions that obtain in this country, I can't believe that there
can be any harm in furthering the high purposes of the government,
in trying to secure a proper interpretation of these purposes. We
are seeking the same end and differ only about the means."
The lawyer smiled, for the youth had allowed himself to wander away
from the subject, and there where the former was going to entangle
him he had already entangled himself.
"That's exactly the _quid_, as is vulgarly said. It's clear that it
is laudable to aid the government, when one aids it submissively,
following out its desires and the true spirit of the laws in agreement
with the just beliefs of the governing powers, and when not in
contradiction to the fundamental and general way of thinking of the
persons to whom is intrusted the common welfare of the individuals that
form a social organism. Therefore, it is criminal, it is punishable,
because it is offensive to the high principle of authority, to attempt
any action contrary to its initiative, even supposing it to be better
than the governmental proposition, because such action would injure
its prestige, which is the elementary basis upon which all colonial
edifices rest."
Confident that this broadside had at least stunned Isagani, the old
lawyer fell back in his armchair, outwardly very serious, but laughing
to himself.
Isagani, however, ventured to reply. "I should think that governments,
the more they are threatened, would be all the more careful to seek
bases that are impregnable. The basis of prestige for colonial
governments is the weakest of all, since it does not depend upon
themselves but upon the consent of the governed, while the latter
are willing to recognize it. The basis of justice or reason would
seem to be the most durable."
The lawyer raised his head. How was this--did that youth dare to reply
and argue with him, _him_, Señor Pasta? Was he not yet bewildered
with his big words?
"Young man, you must put those considerations aside, for they are
dangerous," he declared with a wave of his hand. "What I advise is
that you let the government attend to its own business."
"Governments are established for the welfare of the peoples, and
in order to accomplish this purpose properly they have to follow
the suggestions of the citizens, who are the ones best qualified to
understand their own needs."
"Those who constitute the government are also citizens, and among
the most enlightened."
"But, being men, they are fallible, and ought not to disregard the
opinions of others."
"They must be trusted, they have to attend to everything."
"There is a Spanish proverb which says, 'No tears, no milk,' in other
words, 'To him who does not ask, nothing is given.' "
"Quite the reverse," replied the lawyer with a sarcastic smile;
"with the government exactly the reverse occurs--"
But he suddenly checked himself, as if he had said too much and
wished to correct his imprudence. "The government has given us things
that we have not asked for, and that we could not ask for, because
to ask--to ask, presupposes that it is in some way incompetent and
consequently is not performing its functions. To suggest to it a course
of action, to try to guide it, when not really antagonizing it, is to
presuppose that it is capable of erring, and as I have already said
to you such suppositions are menaces to the existence of colonial
governments. The common crowd overlooks this and the young men who
set to work thoughtlessly do not know, do not comprehend, do not try
to comprehend the counter-effect of asking, the menace to order there
is in that idea--"
"Pardon me," interrupted Isagani, offended by the arguments the jurist
was using with him, "but when by legal methods people ask a government
for something, it is because they think it good and disposed to grant a
blessing, and such action, instead of irritating it, should flatter it
--to the mother one appeals, never to the stepmother. The government,
in my humble opinion, is not an omniscient being that can see and
anticipate everything, and even if it could, it ought not to feel
offended, for here you have the church itself doing nothing but asking
and begging of God, who sees and knows everything, and you yourself
ask and demand many things in the courts of this same government,
yet neither God nor the courts have yet taken offense. Every one
realizes that the government, being the human institution that it is,
needs the support of all the people, it needs to be made to see and
feel the reality of things. You yourself are not convinced of the
truth of your objection, you yourself know that it is a tyrannical
and despotic government which, in order to make a display of force
and independence, denies everything through fear or distrust, and
that the tyrannized and enslaved peoples are the only ones whose duty
it is never to ask for anything. A people that hates its government
ought to ask for nothing but that it abdicate its power."
The old lawyer grimaced and shook his head from side to side, in sign
of discontent, while he rubbed his hand over his bald pate and said
in a tone of condescending pity: "Ahem! those are bad doctrines, bad
theories, ahem! How plain it is that you are young and inexperienced
in life. Look what is happening with the inexperienced young men
who in Madrid are asking for so many reforms. They are accused of
filibusterism, many of them don't dare return here, and yet, what
are they asking for? Things holy, ancient, and recognized as quite
harmless. But there are matters that can't be explained, they're so
delicate. Let's see--I confess to you that there are other reasons
besides those expressed that might lead a sensible government to
deny systematically the wishes of the people--no--but it may happen
that we find ourselves under rulers so fatuous and ridiculous--but
there are always other reasons, even though what is asked be quite
just--different governments encounter different conditions--"
The old man hesitated, stared fixedly at Isagani, and then with a
sudden resolution made a sign with his hand as though he would dispel
some idea.
"I can guess what you mean," said Isagani, smiling sadly. "You mean
that a colonial government, for the very reason that it is imperfectly
constituted and that it is based on premises--"
"No, no, not that, no!" quickly interrupted the old lawyer, as he
sought for something among his papers. "No, I meant--but where are
my spectacles?"
"There they are," replied Isagani.
The old man put them on and pretended to look over some papers, but
seeing that the youth was waiting, he mumbled, "I wanted to tell you
something, I wanted to say--but it has slipped from my mind. You
interrupted me in your eagerness--but it was an insignificant
matter. If you only knew what a whirl my head is in, I have so much
to do!"
Isagani understood that he was being dismissed. "So," he said, rising,
"we--"
"Ah, you will do well to leave the matter in the hands of the
government, which will settle it as it sees fit. You say that the
Vice-Rector is opposed to the teaching of Castilian. Perhaps he may
be, not as to the fact but as to the form. It is said that the Rector
who is on his way will bring a project for reform in education. Wait
a while, give time a chance, apply yourself to your studies as
the examinations are near, and--_carambas!_--you who already speak
Castilian and express yourself easily, what are you bothering yourself
about? What interest have you in seeing it specially taught? Surely
Padre Florentino thinks as I do! Give him my regards."
"My uncle," replied Isagani, "has always admonished me to think of
others as much as of myself. I didn't come for myself, I came in the
name of those who are in worse condition."
"What the devil! Let them do as you have done, let them singe their
eyebrows studying and come to be bald like myself, stuffing whole
paragraphs into their memories! I believe that if you talk Spanish it
is because you have studied it--you're not of Manila or of Spanish
parents! Then let them learn it as you have, and do as I have done:
I've been a servant to all the friars, I've prepared their chocolate,
and while with my right hand I stirred it, with the left I held a
grammar, I learned, and, thank God! have never needed other teachers
or academies or permits from the government. Believe me, he who wishes
to learn, learns and becomes wise!"
"But how many among those who wish to learn come to be what you
are? One in ten thousand, and more!"
"Pish! Why any more?" retorted the old man, shrugging his
shoulders. "There are too many lawyers now, many of them become mere
clerks. Doctors? They insult and abuse one another, and even kill
each other in competition for a patient. Laborers, sir, laborers,
are what we need, for agriculture!"
Isagani realized that he was losing time, but still could not forbear
replying: "Undoubtedly, there are many doctors and lawyers, but I won't
say there are too many, since we have towns that lack them entirely,
and if they do abound in quantity, perhaps they are deficient in
quality. Since the young men can't be prevented from studying, and
no other professions are open to us, why let them waste their time
and effort? And if the instruction, deficient as it is, does not keep
many from becoming lawyers and doctors, if we must finally have them,
why not have good ones? After all, even if the sole wish is to make
the country a country of farmers and laborers, and condemn in it all
intellectual activity, I don't see any evil in enlightening those
same farmers and laborers, in giving them at least an education that
will aid them in perfecting themselves and in perfecting their work,
in placing them in a condition to understand many things of which
they are at present ignorant."
"Bah, bah, bah!" exclaimed the lawyer, drawing circles in the air
with his hand to dispel the ideas suggested. "To be a good farmer no
great amount of rhetoric is needed. Dreams, illusions, fancies! Eh,
will you take a piece of advice?"
He arose and placed his hand affectionately on the youth's shoulder,
as he continued: "I'm going to give you one, and a very good one,
because I see that you are intelligent and the advice will not be
wasted. You're going to study medicine? Well, confine yourself to
learning how to put on plasters and apply leeches, and don't ever try
to improve or impair the condition of your kind. When you become a
licentiate, marry a rich and devout girl, try to make cures and charge
well, shun everything that has any relation to the general state of
the country, attend mass, confession, and communion when the rest do,
and you will see afterwards how you will thank me, and I shall see
it, if I am still alive. Always remember that charity begins at home,
for man ought not to seek on earth more than the greatest amount of
happiness for himself, as Bentham says. If you involve yourself in
quixotisms you will have no career, nor will you get married, nor
will you ever amount to anything. All will abandon you, your own
countrymen will be the first to laugh at your simplicity. Believe
me, you will remember me and see that I am right, when you have gray
hairs like myself, gray hairs such as these!"
Here the old lawyer stroked his scanty white hair, as he smiled sadly
and shook his head.
"When I have gray hairs like those, sir," replied Isagani with equal
sadness, "and turn my gaze back over my past and see that I have
worked only for myself, without having done what I plainly could
and should have done for the country that has given me everything,
for the citizens that have helped me to live--then, sir, every gray
hair will be a thorn, and instead of rejoicing, they will shame me!"
So saying, he took his leave with a profound bow. The lawyer remained
motionless in his place, with an amazed look on his face. He listened
to the footfalls that gradually died away, then resumed his seat.
"Poor boy!" he murmured, "similar thoughts also crossed my mind
once! What more could any one desire than to be able to say: 'I
have done this for the good of the fatherland, I have consecrated
my life to the welfare of others!' A crown of laurel, steeped in
aloes, dry leaves that cover thorns and worms! That is not life,
that does not get us our daily bread, nor does it bring us honors--
the laurel would hardly serve for a salad, nor produce ease, nor aid
us in winning lawsuits, but quite the reverse! Every country has its
code of ethics, as it has its climate and its diseases, different
from the climate and the diseases of other countries."
After a pause, he added: "Poor boy! If all should think and act as
he does, I don't say but that--Poor boy! Poor Florentino!"


CHAPTER XVI
THE TRIBULATIONS OF A CHINESE

In the evening of that same Saturday, Quiroga, the Chinese, who
aspired to the creation of a consulate for his nation, gave a dinner
in the rooms over his bazaar, located in the Escolta. His feast was
well attended: friars, government employees, soldiers, merchants,
all of them his customers, partners or patrons, were to be seen
there, for his store supplied the curates and the conventos with
all their necessities, he accepted the chits of all the employees,
and he had servants who were discreet, prompt, and complaisant. The
friars themselves did not disdain to pass whole hours in his store,
sometimes in view of the public, sometimes in the chambers with
agreeable company.
That night, then, the sala presented a curious aspect, being filled
with friars and clerks seated on Vienna chairs, stools of black wood,
and marble benches of Cantonese origin, before little square tables,
playing cards or conversing among themselves, under the brilliant glare
of the gilt chandeliers or the subdued light of the Chinese lanterns,
which were brilliantly decorated with long silken tassels. On the
walls there was a lamentable medley of landscapes in dim and gaudy
colors, painted in Canton or Hongkong, mingled with tawdry chromos
of odalisks, half-nude women, effeminate lithographs of Christ,
the deaths of the just and of the sinners--made by Jewish houses in
Germany to be sold in the Catholic countries. Nor were there lacking
the Chinese prints on red paper representing a man seated, of venerable
aspect, with a calm, smiling face, behind whom stood a servant, ugly,
horrible, diabolical, threatening, armed with a lance having a wide,
keen blade. Among the Indians some call this figure Mohammed, others
Santiago, [34] we do not know why, nor do the Chinese themselves give
a very clear explanation of this popular pair. The pop of champagne
corks, the rattle of glasses, laughter, cigar smoke, and that odor
peculiar to a Chinese habitation--a mixture of punk, opium, and dried
fruits--completed the collection.
Dressed as a Chinese mandarin in a blue-tasseled cap, Quiroga moved
from room to room, stiff and straight, but casting watchful glances
here and there as though to assure himself that nothing was being
stolen. Yet in spite of this natural distrust, he exchanged handshakes
with each guest, greeted some with a smile sagacious and humble,
others with a patronizing air, and still others with a certain shrewd
look that seemed to say, "I know! You didn't come on my account,
you came for the dinner!"
And Quiroga was right! That fat gentleman who is now praising him
and speaking of the advisability of a Chinese consulate in Manila,
intimating that to manage it there could be no one but Quiroga, is the
Señor Gonzalez who hides behind the pseudonym _Pitilí_ when he attacks
Chinese immigration through the columns of the newspapers. That
other, an elderly man who closely examines the lamps, pictures,
and other furnishings with grimaces and ejaculations of disdain,
is Don Timoteo Pelaez, Juanito's father, a merchant who inveighs
against the Chinese competition that is ruining his business. The
one over there, that thin, brown individual with a sharp look and a
pale smile, is the celebrated originator of the dispute over Mexican
pesos, which so troubled one of Quiroga's protéges: that government
clerk is regarded in Manila as very clever. That one farther on, he
of the frowning look and unkempt mustache, is a government official
who passes for a most meritorious fellow because he has the courage
to speak ill of the business in lottery tickets carried on between
Quiroga and an exalted dame in Manila society. The fact is that
two thirds of the tickets go to China and the few that are left in
Manila are sold at a premium of a half-real. The honorable gentleman
entertains the conviction that some day he will draw the first prize,
and is in a rage at finding himself confronted with such tricks.
The dinner, meanwhile, was drawing to an end. From the dining-room
floated into the sala snatches of toasts, interruptions, bursts and
ripples of laughter. The name of Quiroga was often heard mingled with
the words "consul," "equality," "justice." The amphitryon himself
did not eat European dishes, so he contented himself with drinking
a glass of wine with his guests from time to time, promising to dine
with those who were not seated at the first table.
Simoun, who was present, having already dined, was in the sala talking
with some merchants, who were complaining of business conditions:
everything was going wrong, trade was paralyzed, the European exchanges
were exorbitantly high. They sought information from the jeweler
or insinuated to him a few ideas, with the hope that these would be
communicated to the Captain-General. To all the remedies suggested
Simoun responded with a sarcastic and unfeeling exclamation about
nonsense, until one of them in exasperation asked him for his opinion.
"My opinion?" he retorted. "Study how other nations prosper, and then
do as they do."
"And why do they prosper, Señor Simoun?"
Simoun replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"The port works, which weigh so heavily upon commerce, and the port
not yet completed!" sighed Don Timoteo Pelaez. "A Penelope's web,
as my son says, that is spun and unspun. The taxes--"
"You complaining!" exclaimed another. "Just as the General has decreed
the destruction of houses of light materials! [35] And you with a
shipment of galvanized iron!"
"Yes," rejoined Don Timoteo, "but look what that decree cost me! Then,
the destruction will not be carried out for a month, not until Lent
begins, and other shipments may arrive. I would have wished them
destroyed right away, but--Besides, what are the owners of those
houses going to buy from me if they are all poor, all equally beggars?"
"You can always buy up their shacks for a trifle."
"And afterwards have the decree revoked and sell them back at double
the price--that's business!"
Simoun smiled his frigid smile. Seeing Quiroga approach, he left the
querulous merchants to greet the future consul, who on catching sight
of him lost his satisfied expression and assigned a countenance like
those of the merchants, while he bent almost double.
Quiroga respected the jeweler greatly, not only because he knew him
to be very wealthy, but also on account of his rumored influence
with the Captain-General. It was reported that Simoun favored
Quiroga's ambitions, that he was an advocate for the consulate,
and a certain newspaper hostile to the Chinese had alluded to him
in many paraphrases, veiled allusions, and suspension points, in the
celebrated controversy with another sheet that was favorable to the
queued folk. Some prudent persons added with winks and half-uttered
words that his Black Eminence was advising the General to avail himself
of the Chinese in order to humble the tenacious pride of the natives.
"To hold the people in subjection," he was reported to have said,
"there's nothing like humiliating them and humbling them in their
own eyes."
To this end an opportunity had soon presented itself. The guilds
of mestizos and natives were continually watching one another,
venting their bellicose spirits and their activities in jealousy
and distrust. At mass one day the gobernadorcillo of the natives was
seated on a bench to the right, and, being extremely thin, happened
to cross one of his legs over the other, thus adopting a nonchalant
attitude, in order to expose his thighs more and display his pretty
shoes. The gobernadorcillo of the guild of mestizos, who was seated on
the opposite bench, as he had bunions, and could not cross his legs on
account of his obesity, spread his legs wide apart to expose a plain
waistcoat adorned with a beautiful gold chain set with diamonds. The
two cliques comprehended these maneuvers and joined battle. On the
following Sunday all the mestizos, even the thinnest, had large
paunches and spread their legs wide apart as though on horseback,
while the natives placed one leg over the other, even the fattest,
there being one cabeza de barangay who turned a somersault. Seeing
these movements, the Chinese all adopted their own peculiar attitude,
that of sitting as they do in their shops, with one leg drawn back
and upward, the other swinging loose. There resulted protests and
petitions, the police rushed to arms ready to start a civil war,
the curates rejoiced, the Spaniards were amused and made money out
of everybody, until the General settled the quarrel by ordering that
every one should sit as the Chinese did, since they were the heaviest
contributors, even though they were not the best Catholics. The
difficulty for the mestizos and natives then was that their trousers
were too tight to permit of their imitating the Chinese. But to make
the intention of humiliating them the more evident, the measure was
carried out with great pomp and ceremony, the church being surrounded
by a troop of cavalry, while all those within were sweating. The matter
was carried to the Cortes, but it was repeated that the Chinese, as
the ones who paid, should have their way in the religious ceremonies,
even though they apostatized and laughed at Christianity immediately
after. The natives and the mestizos had to be content, learning thus
not to waste time over such fatuity. [36]
Quiroga, with his smooth tongue and humble smile, was lavishly and
flatteringly attentive to Simoun. His voice was caressing and his
bows numerous, but the jeweler cut his blandishments short by asking
brusquely:
"Did the bracelets suit her?"
At this question all Quiroga's liveliness vanished like a dream. His
caressing voice became plaintive; he bowed lower, gave the Chinese
salutation of raising his clasped hands to the height of his face,
and groaned: "Ah, Señor Simoun! I'm lost, I'm ruined!" [37]
"How, Quiroga, lost and ruined when you have so many bottles of
champagne and so many guests?"
Quiroga closed his eyes and made a grimace. Yes, the affair of that
afternoon, that affair of the bracelets, had ruined him. Simoun smiled,
for when a Chinese merchant complains it is because all is going well,
and when he makes a show that things are booming it is quite certain
that he is planning an assignment or flight to his own country.
"You didn't know that I'm lost, I'm ruined? Ah, Señor Simoun, I'm
_busted!_" To make his condition plainer, he illustrated the word by
making a movement as though he were falling in collapse.
Simoun wanted to laugh, but restrained himself and said that he knew
nothing, nothing at all, as Quiroga led him to a room and closed the
door. He then explained the cause of his misfortune.
Three diamond bracelets that he had secured from Simoun on pretense
of showing them to his wife were not for her, a poor native shut up in
her room like a Chinese woman, but for a beautiful and charming lady,
the friend of a powerful man, whose influence was needed by him in