The Social Cancer - 35

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