Rizal's own story of his life
Sometimes she appeared as a simple country girl and helped the poor
old women to pick up firewood. Then she would slip gold nuggets,
coins and jewels into their bundles of wood.
A hunter was one day chasing a wild boar through the tall grass and
thorny bushes. Suddenly he came to a hut in which the animal hid. A
beautiful young woman came out and said:
"The wild boar belongs to me. You have done wrong to chase it, but
I see that you are very tired. Your arms and legs are covered with
blood. Come in and eat. Then you may go on your way."
The man was charmed by the beauty of the young woman. He went in and
ate everything she offered him. But he was not able to speak a single
word. Before the hunter left, the young woman gave him some pieces of
ginger. She told him to give them to his wife for her cooking. The
hunter thanked her and put the roots inside the crown of his broad
hat. On the way home his hat felt heavy. So he took out a number of
the pieces and threw them away. He was surprised and sorry the next
day when his wife discovered that what they had taken to be ginger
was solid gold. The supposed roots were bright as rays of sunshine.
But Mariang Makiling was not always kind and generous to the
hunters. Sometimes she punished them.
One afternoon two hunters were coming down the mountain, carrying
some wild boars and deer which they had killed during the day.
They met an old woman who begged them to give her a quarter. They
thought that was too much to give, so they refused. The old woman said
that she would go and tell the mistress of those animals, and she
left them. This threat made the hunters laugh heartily. When night
had fallen and the two were near the plain, they heard a distant
shout--very distant, as though it came from the top of the mountain:
"There they go-o-o--o!"
Then another even more distant cry replied:
"There they go-o-o--o!"
That cry surprised both the hunters, who could not account for it. On
hearing it, the dogs stuck up their ears. They uttered low growls
and drew nearer to their masters. In a few minutes the same cry was
heard again, this time from the mountain-side. On hearing it, the
dogs thrust their tails between their legs and came close to their
masters. The men stared at each other without saying a word. They
were astonished that the one who uttered the cry could travel so far
in such a short time. When they reached the plain, the fearful cry
was heard again. This time, it was so clear and distinct that both
looked back. In the moonlight, they could see two strange, gigantic
shapes coming down the mountain at full speed. Both hunters ran as
fast as they could with such heavy loads. Still the strange creatures
came nearer.
The men, coming to a spring called bukal, threw down their burdens,
and climbed a tree; and the dogs fled toward the town. The monsters
came up, and in a few seconds devoured the wild boars and deer and went
back toward the mountain. Only then, did the hunters recover. The more
courageous took aim but his gun missed fire and the monsters escaped.
No one ever knew whether Mariang Makiling had parents, brothers and
sisters, or other kin. Such persons spring up naturally, like the
stones the Tagalogs call mutya. No one ever knew her real name. She
was simply called Maria. No one ever saw her enter the town or take
part in any religious ceremony. She remained ever the same. The
five or six generations that knew her always saw her young, fresh,
sprightly, and pure.
For many years now no one has seen her on Makiling. Her vapor figure
no longer wanders through the deep valleys. It no longer hovers over
the waterfall on the serene moonlight nights. The melancholy tone
of her mysterious harp is no longer heard. Now lovers are married
without getting from her either jewels or presents. Mariang Makiling
has disappeared.
Some blame the people of a certain town who not only refused to give
her the customary white pullet but even failed to return the jewels
and clothing borrowed. Others say that Mariang Makiling is offended
because some landlords are trying to take half of the mountain.
A CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF JOSÉ RIZAL
1848, June 28.--Rizal's parents married in Kalamba, La Laguna:
Francisco Rizal-Mercado y Alejandra (born in Biñan, April 18,1818)
and Teodora Morales Alonso-Realonda y Quintos (born in Sta. Cruz,
Manila, Nov. 14, 1827).
1861, June 19.--Rizal born, their seventh child.
June 22.--Christened as José Protasio Rizal-Mercado y Alonso-Realonda.
1870, Age 9.--In school at Biñan under Master Justiniano Aquin Cruz.
1871, Age 10.--In Kalamba public school under Master Lucas Padua.
1872, June 10. Age 11.--Examined in San Juan de Letran college, Manila,
which, during the Spanish time, as part of Sto. Tomás University,
controlled entrance to all higher institutions.
June 26.--Entered the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, then a public school,
as a day scholar.
1875, June 14. Age 14.--Became a boarder in the Ateneo.
1876, March 23. Age 15.--Received the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree,
with highest honors, from Ateneo de Manila.
June.--Entered Sto. Tomás University in Philosophy course.
1877, June. Age 16.--Matriculated in medical course. Won Liceo
Artístico-Literario prize, in poetical competition for "Indians and
Mestizos", with poem "To Philippine Youth."
Nov. 29.--Awarded diploma of honorable mention and merit by Royal
Economic Society of Friends of the Country, Amigos del País, for
prize poem.
1880, April 23. Age 19.--Received Liceo Artístico-Literario diploma
of honorable mention for allegory "The Council of the Gods," in
competition open to "Spaniards, mestizos and Indians." Unjustly
deprived of first prize.
Dec. 8.--Operetta "On the Banks of the Pasig" produced.
1881. Age 20.--Submitted winning wax model design for commemorative
medal for Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country centennial.
Wounded in the back for not saluting a Guardia Civil lieutenant whom
he had not seen. His complaint was ignored by the authorities.
1882, May 3. Age 21.--Secretly left Manila, with passport of a cousin,
taking at Singapore a French mail steamer for Marseilles and entering
Spain at Port Bou by railroad. Money furnished. by his brother,
Paciano Mercado.
June.--Absence noted at Sto. Tomás University, which owned Kalamba
estate. Rizal's father was compelled to prove that he had had no
knowledge of his son's plan in order to hold the land on which he
was the University's tenant.
July-Nov.--A student in Barcelona.
Nov. 3.--Began studies in Madrid.
1885, June 19. Age 24--Received degree of Licentiate in Medicine with
honors from Central University of Madrid.
1886, June. Age 25--Received degree of Licentiate in Philosophy,
with honors and special mention in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, from
Central University of Madrid.
Clinical assistant to Dr. L. de Weckert, a Paris oculist.
Visited Universities of Heidelberg, Leipzig, and Berlin.
1887, Feb. 21. Age 26--Finished novel Noli Me Tangere in Berlin.
Travelled in Austria, Switzerland and Italy.
July 3.--Sailed from Marseilles.
Aug. 5.--Arrived in Manila. Travelled in nearby provinces with a
Spanish lieutenant, detailed by the Governor-General, as escort.
1888, Feb.--Sailed for Japan via Hongkong.
Feb. 28.-Apr. 13. Age 27--A guest at Spanish Legation, Tokyo, and
travelling in Japan.
April-May.--Travelling in the United States.
May 24.--In London, studying in the British Museum to edit Morga's
1609 Philippine History.
1889, March. Age 28.--In Paris, publishing Morga's History. Published
"The Philippines A Century Hence" in La Solidaridad, a Filipino
fortnightly review, first of Barcelona and later of Madrid.
1890, Feb.-July. Age 29.--In Belgium and Holland, finishing El
Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed), which is the sequel to Noli
Me Tangere.
Published "The Indolence of the Filipino" in La Solidaridad.
Aug. 4.--Returned to Madrid to confer with countrymen on the Philippine
situation, then constantly growing worse.
1891, Jan. 27.--Left Madrid for France.
Nov. Age 30.--Arranging for a Filipino agricultural colony in British
North Borneo.
Practiced medicine in Hongkong.
1892, June 26. Age 31--Returned to Manila under Governor-General
Despujol's safe conduct.
Organized mutual aid economic society Liga Filipina.
July 6.--Ordered deported to Dapitan, but the decree and charges were
kept secret from him.
Taught school and conducted a hospital during exile, patients coming
from China coast ports for treatment. Fees thus earned were used to
beautify the town. Arranged a water system and had the plaza lighted.
1896, Aug. 1. Age 35--Left Dapitan en route to Spain as a volunteer
surgeon for the Cuban yellow fever hospitals. Carried letters of
recommendation from Governor-General Blanco.
Aug. 7.-Sept. 3.--On Spanish cruiser Castilla in Manila Bay.
Sailed for Spain on Spanish mail steamer and just after leaving
Port Said was confined to cabin as a prisoner on cabled order from
Manila. (Governor-General Blanco's promotion had been purchased by
Rizal's enemies to secure appointment of a governor-general subservient
to them, the servile Polavieja.)
Oct. 5.--Placed in Montjuich Castle dungeon on arrival in Barcelona
and the same day re-embarked for Manila. Friends and countrymen in
London by cable made an unsuccessful effort for a Habeas Corpus writ
at Singapore. On arrival in Manila was placed in Fort Santiago dungeon.
Dec. 3.--Charged with treason, sedition and forming illegal societies,
the prosecution arguing that he was responsible for the deeds of
those who read his writings.
Dec. 12.--Wrote poem "My Last Farewell" and concealed it in an alcohol
cooking lamp, after appearing in a courtroom where the judges made
no effort to check those who cried out for his death.
Dec. 15.--Wrote an address to insurgent Filipinos to lay down their
arms because their insurrection was at that time hopeless. Address
not made public but added to the charges against him.
Dec. 26.--Formally condemned to death by Spanish court martial.
Pi y Margall, who had been president of the Spanish Republic, pleaded
with the Prime Minister for Rizal's life, but the Queen Regent could
not forgive his having referred in one of his writings to the murder
by, and suicide of, her relative, Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria.
Dec. 30.--Married in Fort Santiago death cell to Josephine Bracken,
Irish, the adopted daughter of a blind American who came to Dapitan
for treatment.
Age 35 years, 6 months, 11 days. Shot on the Luneta, Manila, at 7:30
a. m., and buried in a secret grave in Paco Cemetery. (Entry of death
made on back flyleaf of Paco Church Register, among suicides.)
1897, Jan.--Commemorated by Spanish Freemasons who dedicated a tablet
to his memory, in their Grand Lodge hall in Madrid, as a martyr
to Liberty.
1898, Aug.--Grave sought, immediately after the American capture of
Manila, by Filipinos who placed over it, in Paco cemetery, a cross
inscribed simply "December 30, 1896." Since his death his name had
never been spoken by his countrymen, but all references had been to
"The Dead" (El Difunto).
Dec. 30.--Memorial services held by Filipinos, and American soldiers
on duty carried their arms reversed.
1911, June 19.--Birth semi-centennial observed in all public schools
by act of Philippine Legislature.
1912, Dec. 30.--Ashes transferred to the Rizal Mausoleum on the Luneta
with impressive public ceremonies.
REFERENCES
A READING LIST
RIZAL, JOSÉ.--The Monkey and the Tortoise. A Tagalog tale told in
English and illustrated by Rizal. Manila, 1912.
--Elias and Salome. An unpublished chapter from the original Noli Me
Tangere manuscript.