The Reign of Greed - 25

center of Manila.--Tr.
[56] "The manager of this restaurant warns the public to leave
absolutely nothing on any table or chair."--Tr.
[57] "We do not believe in the verisimilitude of this dialogue,
fabricated by the author in order to refute the arguments of the
friars, whose pride was so great that it would not permit any
Isagani to tell them these truths face to face. The _invention_ of
Padre Fernandez as a Dominican professor is a stroke of generosity
on Rizal's part, in conceding that there could have existed _any_
friar capable of talking frankly with an _Indian_."--_W. E. Retana,
in note to this chapter in the edition published by him at Barcelona
in 1908_. Retana ought to know of what he is writing, for he was in
the employ of the friars for several years and later in Spain wrote
extensively for the journal supported by them to defend their position
in the Philippines. He has also been charged with having strongly urged
Rizal's execution in 1896. Since 1898, however, he has doubled about,
or, perhaps more aptly, performed a journalistic somersault--having
written a diffuse biography and other works dealing with Rizal. He
is strong in unassorted facts, but his comments, when not inane and
wearisome, approach a maudlin wail over "spilt milk," so the above
is given at its face value only.--Tr.
[58] Quite suggestive of, and perhaps inspired by, the author's own
experience.--Tr.
[59] The Walled City, the original Manila, is still known to the
Spaniards and older natives exclusively as such, the other districts
being referred to by their distinctive names.--Tr.
[60] Nearly all the dialogue in this chapter is in the mongrel
Spanish-Tagalog "market language," which cannot be reproduced in
English.--Tr.
[61] Doubtless a reference to the author's first work, _Noli Me
Tangere_, which was tabooed by the authorities.--Tr.
[62] Such inanities as these are still a feature of Manila
journalism.--Tr.
[63] "Whether there would be a _talisain_ cock, armed with a sharp
gaff, whether the blessed Peter's fighting-cock would be a _bulik_--"
_Talisain_ and _bulik_ are distinguishing terms in the vernacular for
fighting-cocks, _tari_ and _sasabungin_ the Tagalog terms for "gaff"
and "game-cock," respectively.
The Tagalog terminology of the cockpit and monkish Latin certainly
make a fearful and wonderful mixture--nor did the author have to
resort to his imagination to get samples of it.--Tr.
[64] This is Quiroga's pronunciation of _Christo_.--Tr.
[65] The native priests Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora, charged with
complicity in the uprising of 1872, and executed.--Tr.
[66] This versicle, found in the booklets of prayer, is common on the
scapularies, which, during the late insurrection, were easily converted
into the _anting-anting_, or amulets, worn by the fanatics.--Tr.
[67] This practise--secretly compelling suspects to sign a request
to be transferred to some other island--was by no means a figment of
the author's imagination, but was extensively practised to anticipate
any legal difficulties that might arise.--Tr.
[68] "Hawk-Eye."--Tr.
[69] Ultima Razón de Reyes: the last argument of
kings--force. (Expression attributed to Calderon de la Barca, the
great Spanish dramatist.)--Tr.
[70] Curiously enough, and by what must have been more than a mere
coincidence, this route through Santa Mesa from San Juan del Monte was
the one taken by an armed party in their attempt to enter the city at
the outbreak of the Katipunan rebellion on the morning of August 30,
1896. (Foreman's _The Philippine Islands_, Chap. XXVI.)
It was also on the bridge connecting these two places that the first
shot in the insurrection against American sovereignty was fired on
the night of February 4, 1899.--Tr.
[71] Spanish etiquette requires a host to welcome his guest with the
conventional phrase: "The house belongs to you."--Tr.
[72] The handwriting on the wall at Belshazzar's feast, foretelling
the destruction of Babylon. Daniel, v, 25-28.--Tr.
[73] A town in Ciudad Real province, Spain.--Tr.
[74] The italicized words are in English in the original.--Tr.
[75] A Spanish hero, whose chief exploit was the capture of Gibraltar
from the Moors in 1308.--Tr.
[76] Emilio Castelar (1832-1899), generally regarded as the greatest
of Spanish orators.--Tr.
[77] In the original the message reads: "Español escondido casa Padre
Florentino cojera remitirá vivo muerto." Don Tiburcio understands
_cojera_ as referring to himself; there is a play upon the Spanish
words _cojera_, lameness, and _cogerá_, a form of the verb _coger_,
to seize or capture--_j_ and _g_ in these two words having the same
sound, that of the English _h_.--Tr.