Rizal's own story of his life
had bars, and overlooked the wall and the beach; the third served
also as a door and had a padlock. Two artillerymen were on guard as
sentinels. They had orders to fire on anyone who tried to make signs
from the beach. I could not talk with anyone except the officer of
the guard, and I was not allowed to write.
Don Enrique Villamor, the commander of the fort, gave me books from
the library.
Each day the corporal of the guard proved to be a sergeant. They
cleaned the room every morning. For breakfast, I had coffee with milk,
a roll, and coffee-cake. Lunch was at 12:30, and consisted of four
courses. Dinner was at 8:30, and was similar to the lunch. Commander
Villamor's orderly waited on me.
On Thursday, the 14th, about 5:30 or 6 p. m., the nephew notified me
that at ten o'clock that night I should sail for Dapitan. I prepared
my baggage, and at 10 was ready, but as no one came to get me, I went
to sleep. At 12:15, the aide arrived with the same carriage which had
brought me there. By way of the Santa Lucia gate, they took me to the
Malecon, where were General Ahumada and some other people. Another
aide and two of the Guardia Veterana were waiting for me in a boat.
The "Cebu" sailed in the morning at nine. They gave me a good stateroom
on the upper deck. Above the doors could be read "Chief". Next to my
cabin was that of Capt. Delgras, who had charge of the party.
Ten from each branch of the military service were in the party. There
were artillery, infantry of the 70th, 71st, 72nd, 73rd, and 74th
regiments, carbineers, cavalry and engineers, and Guardia Civil. Of
artillerymen there were at least twelve.
We were carrying prisoners loaded with chains, among whom were a
sergeant and a corporal, both Europeans. The sergeant was to be shot
because he had ordered his superior officer, who had misbehaved while
in Mindanao, to be tied up. The soldiers who obeyed orders and tied
the officer up were given twenty years' imprisonment; and the officer
himself was dismissed from the service because he had let them tie
him up.
I ate in my stateroom, the food being the same as the officers had. I
always had a sentinel and a corporal on guard. Every night, Captain
Delgras took me for a promenade on deck till 9 o'clock.
We passed along the east coast of Mindoro and the west coast of
Panay. We came to Dapitan on Sunday, at seven in the evening. Captain
Delgras and three artillerymen accompanied me in a boat rowed by
eight sailors. There was a heavy sea.
The beach seemed very gloomy. We were in the dark, except for our
lantern, which showed a roadway grown up with weeds.
In the town we met the governor, or commandant, Captain Ricardo
Carnicero. There was also a Spanish ex-exile, and the practicante,
Don Cosme. We went to the town hall, which was a large building.
My life now is quiet, peaceful, retired and without glory, but I
think it is useful too. I teach reading, Spanish, English, mathematics
and geometry to the poor but intelligent boys here. Moreover I teach
them to behave like men. I have taught the men how to get a better
way of earning their living and they think I am right. We have begun
and success is crowning our trials.
ADVICE TO A NEPHEW
Written from Dapitan. Rizal took great interest in the education
of his sisters' children and in Germany had made for them a
translation into Tagalog of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy
tales. This he embellished with many appropriate drawings and
wrote out very plainly, making a book of eighty pages.
I think that I ought to mention to you a slight error which I have
noticed in your letter. It is a little error which many in society
make.
One should not say, "I and my sisters greet you," but "My sisters and
I greet you." Always you have to put yourself last. You should say:
"Emilio and I," "You and I," "My friend and I," and so on. For the
rest, your letter is well written. In it you express your thoughts
clearly. You use only the necessary words, and your spelling is good.
Keep on advancing. Learn, learn and think much about what you
learn. Life is a very serious matter. It goes well only for those
who have intelligence and heart. To live is to be among men, and to
be among men is to strive.
But this strife is not a brute-like, selfish struggle,--nor with men
alone. It is a strife with men, and at the same time with one's own
passions. It is a struggle with the proprieties, with errors, with
prejudices. It is a never-ending striving, with a smile on the lips
and the tears in the heart.
On this battlefield, man has no better weapon than his intelligence. He
possesses no more force than he has spirit. Bring out your
intelligence, then, and improve it. Strengthen and educate yourself
that you may be prepared for the struggle.
FILIPINO PROVERBS
The Proverbs and the Puzzles were published, with comments here
omitted, in Truebner's Oriental Magazine, London, June and July
issues of 1889.
Rizal's own English.
1. Low words are stronger than loud words.
2. A petted child is generally naked (i. e. poor).
3. Parents' punishment makes one fat.
4. New king, new fashion.
5. Man promises while in need.
6. He who believes in tales has no mind of his own.
7. The most difficult to rouse from sleep is the man who pretends to
be asleep.
8. Too many words, too little work.
9. The sleeping shrimp is carried away by the current.
10. The fish is caught through the mouth.
FILIPINO PUZZLES
He carries me, I carry him.--The shoes.
A deep well filled with steel blades.--The mouth.
RIZAL'S DON'TS
Condensed from the regulations of the Philippine League (Liga
Filipino), a co-operative economic society which Rizal organized
in Manila just before his deportation, in 1892.
DON'T gamble.
DON'T be a drunkard.
DON'T break the laws.
DON'T be cruel in any way.
DON'T be a rabid partisan.
DON'T be merely a faultfinding critic.
DON'T put yourself in the way of humiliation.
DON'T treat anyone with haughtiness or contempt.
DON'T condemn anyone without first hearing his side.
DON'T abandon the poor man who has right on his side.
DON'T forget those who, worthily, have come to want.
DON'T fail those without means who show application and ability.
DON'T associate with immoral persons or with persons of bad habits.
DON'T overlook the value to our country of new machinery and
industries.
DON'T ever cease working for the prosperity and welfare of our
native land.
HYMN TO LABOR
(Written expressly for the exercises celebrating the erection of
the pueblo of Lipa, Batangas, into a villa, but received too late
to be used on that occasion.)--Translation by Charles Derbyshire.
Men:
Now the east with light is reddening,
And to our fields and tasks we fare;
By the toil of man sustaining
Life and home and country there.
Though the earth be hard and stubborn,
And the sun unpitying glow,
For our country and our homes
Love an easy way will show.
Chorus:
For his country in peace,
For his country in war,
Let the Filipino work,
Let him live, let him die.
Matrons:
Go then joyous to your labor,
While the wife awaits you here;
With the children learning from her
To hold truth and country dear.
When night brings you weary homeward
May peace and joy await you there;
But if fate unkindly frown,
She your stubborn task will share.
Chorus:
For his country in peace,
For his country in war,
Let the Filipino work,
Let him live, let him die.
Maidens:
Hail to labor! Blessed be it,
For it brings our country wealth;
May we ever hold it sacred,--
'Tis our country's life and health!
If the youth would win our favor
By his work his faith be shown;
Only he who toils and struggles
Will support and keep his own.
Chorus:
For his country in peace,
For his country in war,
Let the Filipino work,
Let him live, let him die.
Boys:
Show us then the way to labor,--
The road you ope to guide our feet;
So that when our country calls us,
We your task may then complete,
And the old men then will bless us,
Saying: "They are worthy of their sires;
For the dead are honored most
By sons whom true worth inspires."
Chorus:
For his country in peace,
For his country in war,
Let the Filipino work,
Let him live, let him die.
MEMORY GEMS FROM RIZAL'S WRITINGS
Without liberty there is no light.
One evil does not correct another.
My dearest wish is the happiness of my country.
It is a useless life which is not consecrated to a great idea.
A man keeps his independence while he holds to his own way of thinking.
If our country is ever to be free it will not be through vice and
crime.
Knowledge is the heritage of mankind, but only the courageous
inherit it.
It is better to honor a good man in life than to worship him after
he is dead.
Resignation is not always a virtue; it is a crime when it encourages
tyrants.
In the flames of war those who suffer most are the defenceless and
the innocent.
I have worked for the good of my native land, I have consecrated my
life to the welfare of others.
We need criticism to keep us awake. It makes us see our weaknesses
so that we may correct them.
There are three ways in which one may accompany the course of progress:
in front of, beside, or behind it.
Where are the young men who will consecrate their best years, their
ambitions and their enthusiasms to the welfare of their native land?
MARIANG MAKILING
(This story is a favorite in my town.)
Mariang Makiling was a young woman. She lived somewhere on the
beautiful mountain Makiling, between Laguna province and Tayabas
province. No one knew just where or how she lived. Some said she
lived in a beautiful palace surrounded by gardens. Others said she
lived in a poor hut made of nipa and bamboo.
Maria was tall and graceful. Her color was a clear, pure brown,
kayumanging kaligatan, as the Tagalogs say. Her eyes were big
and black. Her hair was long and thick. Her hands and feet were
small and delicate. She was a fairy-like creature born under the
moon-beams of the Philippines. She flitted in and out among the woods
of Makiling. She was the ruling spirit of the mountain; but she seldom
came within sight of man.
Hunters sometimes saw Maria on the night of Good Friday when they
went out to trap deer. She would be standing motionless on the
edge of some great cliff. Her long hair floated in the wind. She
sometimes approached them. She would salute them gravely, then pass
on and disappear among the shadows of the trees. They never dared to
question her, to follow her, or to watch her.
She liked best to appear after a storm. Then she would scurry over the
fields bringing back life to the fallen plants, and setting everything
to rights. The trees straightened up their wind-blown trunks. The
streams went back into their beds. All signs of the storm disappeared
as she passed.
Mariang Makiling had a very good heart. She used to lend the poor
country folk clothing or jewels for weddings, baptisms and feast
days. All she asked in return was a pullet as white as milk. It had
to be a dumalaga; that is, one that had never laid an egg.