The Social Cancer: A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere
[40] "Kaysaysay: A celebrated sanctuary in the island of Luzon,
province of Batangas, jurisdiction, of Taal, so called because there
is venerated in it a Virgin who bears that name ....
"The image is in the center of the high altar, where there is seen an
eagle in half-relief, whose abdomen is left open in order to afford a
tabernacle for the Virgin: an idea enchanting to many of the Spaniards
established in the Philippines during the last century, but which in
our opinion any sensible person will characterize as extravagant.
"This image of the Virgin of Kaysaysay enjoys the fame of being very
miraculous, so that the Indians gather from great distances to hear
mass in her sanctuary every Saturday. Her discovery, over two and a
half centuries ago, is notable in that she was found in the sea during
some fisheries, coming up in a drag-net with the fish. It is thought
that this venerable image of the Filipinos may have been in some ship
which was wrecked and that the currents carried her up to the coast,
where she was found in the manner related.
"The Indians, naturally credulous and for the most part quite
superstitious, in spite of the advancements in civilization and
culture, relate that she appeared afterwards in some trees, and
in memory of these manifestations an arch representing them was
erected at a short distance from the place where her sanctuary is
now located."--Buzeta and Bravo's _Diccionario_, Madrid, 1850, but
copied "with proper modifications for the times and the new truths"
from Zuñiga's _Estadismo_, which, though written in 1803 and not
published until 1893, was yet used by later writers, since it was
preserved in manuscript in the convent of the Augustinians in Manila,
Buzeta and Bravo, as well as Zuñiga, being members of that order.
So great was the reverence for this Lady that the Acapulco galleons on
their annual voyages were accustomed to fire salutes in her honor as
they passed along the coast near her shrine.--Foreman. _The Philippine
Islands_, quoting from the account of an eruption of Taal Volcano in
1749, by Fray Francisco Vencuchillo.
This Lady's sanctuary, where she is still "enchanting" in her "eagle
in half-relief," stands out prominently on the hill above the town
of Taal, plainly visible from Balayan Bay.--TR.
[41] A Tagalog term meaning "to tumble," or "to caper about,"
doubtless from the actions of the Lady's devotees. Pakil is a town
in Laguna Province.--TR.
[42] A work on scholastic philosophy, by a Spanish prelate of that
name.--TR.
[43] The nunnery and college of St. Catherine of Sienna ("Santa
Catalina de la Sena") was founded by the Dominican Fathers in
1696.--TR.
[44] The "Ateneo Municipal," where the author, as well as nearly every
other Filipino of note in the past generation, received his early
education, was founded by the Jesuits shortly after their return to
the islands in 1859.--TR.
[45] The patron saint of Tondo, Manila's Saint-Antoine. He is invoked
for aid in driving away plagues,--TR.
[46] Now Plaza Cervantes.--TR.
[47] Now Plaza Lawton and Bagumbayan; see note, _infra.--_ TR.
[48] The Field of Bagumbayan, adjoining the Luneta, was the place where
political prisoners were shot or garroted, and was the scene of the
author's execution on December 30, 1906. It is situated just outside
and east of the old Walled City (Manila proper), being the location to
which the natives who had occupied the site of Manila moved their town
after having been driven back by the Spaniards--hence the name, which
is a Tagalog compound meaning "new town." This place is now called
Wallace Field, the name Bagumbayan being applied to the driveway
which was known to the Spaniards as the _Paseo de las Aguadas_,
or _de Vidal_, extending from the Luneta to the Bridge of Spain,
just outside the moat that, formerly encircled the Walled City.--TR.
[49] Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.--TR.
[50] We have been unable to find any town of this name, but many of
these conditions.--_Author's note_.
San Diego and Santiago are variant forms of the name of the patron
saint of Spain, St. James.--TR.
[51] The "sacred tree" of Malaya, being a species of banyan that begins
life as a vine twining on another tree, which it finally strangles,
using the dead trunk as a support until it is able to stand alone. When
old it often covers a large space with gnarled and twisted trunks
of varied shapes and sizes, thus presenting a weird and grotesque
appearance. This tree was held in reverent awe by the primitive
Filipinos, who believed it to be the abode of the _nono_, or ancestral
ghosts, and is still the object of superstitious beliefs,--TR.
[52] "Petty governor," the chief municipal official, chosen annually
from among their own number, with the approval of the parish priest
and the central government, by the _principalía_, i.e., persons who
owned considerable property or who had previously held some municipal
office. The manner of his selection is thus described by a German
traveler (Jagor) in the Philippines in 1860: "The election is held
in the town hall. The governor or his representative presides, having
on his right the parish priest and on his left a clerk, who also acts
as interpreter. All the cabezas de barangay, the gobernadorcillo, and
those who have formerly occupied the latter position, seat themselves
on benches. First, there are chosen by lot six cabezas de barangay and
six ex-gobernadorcillos as electors, the actual gobernadorcillo being
the thirteenth. The rest leave the hall. After the presiding officer
has read the statutes in a loud voice and reminded the electors of
their duty to act in accordance with their consciences and to heed
only the welfare of the town, the electors move to a table and write
three names on a slip of paper. The person receiving a majority
of votes is declared elected gobernadorcillo for the ensuing year,
provided that there is no protest from the curate or the electors,
and always conditioned upon the approval of the superior authority
in Manila, which is never withheld, since the influence of the curate
is enough to prevent an unsatisfactory election."--TR.
[53] St. Barbara is invoked during thunder-storms as the special
protectress against lightning.--TR.
[54] In possibility (i.e., latent) and not: in fact.--TR.
[55]
"For this are various penances enjoined;
And some are hung to bleach upon the wind;
Some plunged in waters, others purged in fires,
Till all the dregs are drained, and all the rust expires."
Dryden, _Virgil's Aeneid_, VI.
[56] "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."--Luke xxiii, 43.
[57] It should be believed that for some light faults there is a
purgatorial fire before the judgment.
[58] Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth.--Matt, xvi, 19.
[59] Even up to purgatory.
[60] Dream or reality, we do not know whether this may have happened
to any Franciscan, but something similar is related of the Augustinian
Padre Piernavieja.--_Author's note_.
Fray Antonio Piernavieja, O.S.A., was a parish curate in the province
of Bulacan when this work was written. Later, on account of alleged
brutality similar to the incident used here, he was transferred
to the province of Cavite, where, in 1896, he was taken prisoner
by the insurgents and by them made "bishop" of their camp. Having
taken advantage of this position to collect and forward to the
Spanish authorities in Manila information concerning the insurgents'
preparations and plans, he was tied out in an open field and left to
perish of hunger and thirst under the tropical sun. See _Guía Oficial
de Filipinas_, 1885, p. 195; _El Katipunan ó El Filibusterismo en
Filipinas_ (Madrid, 1897), p. 347; Foreman's _The Philippine Islands_,
Chap. XII.--TR.
[61] The Philippine civet-cat, quite rare, and the only wild carnivore
in the Philippine Islands.--TR.
[62] The common crowd is a fool and since it pays for it, it is proper
to talk to it foolishly to please it.
[63] "The schools are under the inspection of the parish
priests. Reading and writing in Spanish are taught, or at least it
is so ordered; but the schoolmaster himself usually does not know
it, and on the other hand the Spanish government employees do not
understand the vernacular. Besides, the curates, in order to preserve
their influence intact, do not look favorably upon the spread of
Castilian. About the only ones who know Spanish are the Indians who
have been in the service of Europeans. The first reading exercise
is some devotional book, then the catechism; the reader is called
_Casaysayan_. On the average half of the children between seven and ten
years attend school; they learn to read fairly well and some to write
a little, but they soon forget it."--Jagor, _Viajes por Filipinas_
(Vidal's Spanish version). Jagor was speaking particularly of the
settled parts of the Bicol region. Referring to the islands generally,
his "half of the children" would be a great exaggeration.--TR.
[64] A delicate bit of sarcasm is lost in the translation here. The
reference to _Maestro Ciruela_ in Spanish is somewhat similar to a
mention in English of Mr. Squeers, of Dotheboys Hall fame.--TR.
[65] By one of the provisions of a royal decree of December 20,
1863, the _Catecismo de la Doctrina Cristina_, by Gaspar Astete,
was prescribed as the text-book for primary schools, in the
Philippines. See Blair and Robertson's _The Philippine Islands_,
Vol. XLVI, p. 98; _Census of the Philippine Islands_ (Washington,
1905), p. 584.--TR.
[66] The municipal police of the old régime. They were thus described
by a Spanish writer, W. E. Retana, in a note to Ventura F. Lopez's
_El Filibustero_ (Madrid, 1893): "Municipal guards, whose duties are
principally rural. Their uniform is a disaster; they go barefoot;
on horseback, they hold the reins in the right hand and a lance in
the left. They are usually good-for-nothing, but to their credit it
must be said that they do no damage. Lacking military instruction,
provided with fire-arms of the first part of the century, of which one
in a hundred might go off in case of need, and for other arms bolos,
talibons, old swords, etc., the cuadrilleros are truly a parody on
armed force."--TR.
[67] Headman and tax-collector of a district, generally including
about fifty families, for whose annual tribute he was personally
responsible. The "barangay" is a Malay boat of the kind supposed to
have been used by the first emigrants to the Philippines. Hence, at
first, the "head of a barangay" meant the leader or chief of a family
or group of families. This office, quite analogous to the old Germanic
or Anglo-Saxon "head of a hundred," was adopted and perpetuated by
the Spaniards in their system of local administration.--TR.
[68] The _hermano mayor_ was a person appointed to direct the
ceremonies during the fiesta, an appointment carrying with it great
honor and importance, but also entailing considerable expense,
as the appointee was supposed to furnish a large share of the
entertainments. Hence, the greater the number of _hermanos mayores_
the more splendid the fiesta,--TR.
[69] Mt. Makiling is a volcanic cone at the southern end of the Lake
of Bay. At its base is situated the town of Kalamba, the author's
birthplace. About this mountain cluster a number of native legends
having as their principal character a celebrated sorceress or
enchantress, known as "Mariang Makiling."--TR.
[70] With uncertain pace, in wandering flight, for an instant
only--without rest.
[71] The _chinela_, the Philippine slipper, is a soft leather sole,
heelless, with only a vamp, usually of plush or velvet, to hold
it on.--TR.
[72] "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." The words inscribed over