El Filibusterismo. English

by José Rizal

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  TATAKUT

  With prophetic inspiration Ben-Zayb had been for some days pastmaintaining in his newspaper that education was disastrous, verydisastrous for the Philippine Islands, and now in view of the events ofthat Friday of pasquinades, the writer crowed and chanted his triumph,leaving belittled and overwhelmed his adversary _Horatius_, who inthe _Pirotecnia_ had dared to ridicule him in the following manner:

  From our contemporary, _El Grito_:

  "Education is disastrous, very disastrous, for the Philippine Islands."

  Admitted.

  For some time _El Grito_ has pretended to represent the Filipino people--_ergo_, as Fray Ibanez would say, if he knew Latin.

  But Fray Ibanez turns Mussulman when he writes, and we know how the Mussulmans dealt with education. _In witness whereof_, as a royal preacher said, the Alexandrian library!

  Now he was right, he, Ben-Zayb! He was the only one in the islandswho thought, the only one who foresaw events!

  Truly, the news that seditious pasquinades had been found on thedoors of the University not only took away the appetite from manyand disturbed the digestion of others, but it even rendered thephlegmatic Chinese uneasy, so that they no longer dared to sit intheir shops with one leg drawn up as usual, from fear of losing timein extending it in order to put themselves into flight. At eighto'clock in the morning, although the sun continued on its course andhis Excellency, the Captain-General, did not appear at the head ofhis victorious cohorts, still the excitement had increased. The friarswho were accustomed to frequent Quiroga's bazaar did not put in theirappearance, and this symptom presaged terrific cataclysms. If thesun had risen a square and the saints appeared only in pantaloons,Quiroga would not have been so greatly alarmed, for he would havetaken the sun for a gaming-table and the sacred images for gamblerswho had lost their camisas, but for the friars not to come, preciselywhen some novelties had just arrived for them!

  By means of a provincial friend of his, Quiroga forbade entrance intohis gaming-houses to every Indian who was not an old acquaintance,as the future Chinese consul feared that they might get possession ofthe sums that the wretches lost there. After arranging his bazaar insuch a way that he could close it quickly in case of need, he had apoliceman accompany him for the short distance that separated his housefrom Simoun's. Quiroga thought this occasion the most propitious formaking use of the rifles and cartridges that he had in his warehouse,in the way the jeweler had pointed out; so that on the followingdays there would be searches made, and then--how many prisoners, howmany terrified people would give up their savings! It was the game ofthe old carbineers, in slipping contraband cigars and tobacco-leavesunder a house, in order to pretend a search and force the unfortunateowner to bribery or fines, only now the art had been perfected and,the tobacco monopoly abolished, resort was had to the prohibited arms.

  But Simoun refused to see any one and sent word to the Chinese thathe should leave things as they were, whereupon he went to see DonCustodio to inquire whether he should fortify his bazaar, but neitherwould Don Custodio receive him, being at the time engaged in the studyof a project for defense in case of a siege. He thought of Ben-Zaybas a source of information, but finding the writer armed to the teethand using two loaded revolvers for paper-weights, took his leave inthe shortest possible time, to shut himself up in his house and taketo his bed under pretense of illness.

  At four in the afternoon the talk was no longer of simplepasquinades. There were whispered rumors of an understanding betweenthe students and the outlaws of San Mateo, it was certain that in the_pansiteria_ they had conspired to surprise the city, there was talkof German ships outside the bay to support the movement, of a bandof young men who under the pretext of protesting and demonstratingtheir Hispanism had gone to the Palace to place themselves at theGeneral's orders but had been arrested because it was discovered thatthey were armed. Providence had saved his Excellency, preventing himfrom receiving those precocious criminals, as he was at the time inconference with the Provincials, the Vice-Rector, and with Padre Irene,Padre Salvi's representative. There was considerable truth in theserumors, if we have to believe Padre Irene, who in the afternoon wentto visit Capitan Tiago. According to him, certain persons had advisedhis Excellency to improve the opportunity in order to inspire terrorand administer a lasting lesson to the filibusters.

  "A number shot," one had advised, "some two dozen reformers deportedat once, in the silence of the night, would extinguish forever theflames of discontent."

  "No," rejoined another, who had a kind heart, "sufficient that thesoldiers parade through the streets, a troop of cavalry, for example,with drawn sabers--sufficient to drag along some cannon, that'senough! The people are timid and will all retire into their houses."

  "No, no," insinuated another. "This is the opportunity to get rid ofthe enemy. It's not sufficient that they retire into their houses, theyshould be made to come out, like evil humors by means of plasters. Ifthey are inclined to start riots, they should be stirred up by secretagitators. I am of the opinion that the troops should be resting ontheir arms and appearing careless and indifferent, so the people may beemboldened, and then in case of any disturbance--out on them, action!"

  "The end justifies the means," remarked another. "Our end is ourholy religion and the integrity of the fatherland. Proclaim a stateof siege, and in case of the least disturbance, arrest all the richand educated, and--clean up the country!"

  "If I hadn't got there in time to counsel moderation," added PadreIrene, speaking to Capitan Tiago, "it's certain that blood wouldnow be flowing through the streets. I thought of you, Capitan--Thepartizans of force couldn't do much with the General, and they missedSimoun. Ah, if Simoun had not been taken ill--"

  With the arrest of Basilio and the search made later among his booksand papers, Capitan Tiago had become much worse. Now Padre Irene hadcome to augment his terror with hair-raising tales. Ineffable fearseized upon the wretch, manifesting itself first by a light shiver,which was rapidly accentuated, until he was unable to speak. With hiseyes bulging and his brow covered with sweat, he caught Padre Irene'sarm and tried to rise, but could not, and then, uttering two groans,fell heavily back upon the pillow. His eyes were wide open and hewas slavering--but he was dead. The terrified Padre Irene fled, and,as the dying man had caught hold of him, in his flight he dragged thecorpse from the bed, leaving it sprawling in the middle of the room.

  By night the terror had reached a climax. Several incidents hadoccurred to make the timorous believe in the presence of secretagitators.

  During a baptism some cuartos were thrown to the boys and naturallythere was a scramble at the door of the church. It happened that atthe time there was passing a bold soldier, who, somewhat preoccupied,mistook the uproar for a gathering of filibusters and hurled himself,sword in hand, upon the boys. He went into the church, and had he notbecome entangled in the curtains suspended from the choir he wouldnot have left a single head on shoulders. It was but the matter of amoment for the timorous to witness this and take to flight, spreadingthe news that the revolution had begun. The few shops that had beenkept open were now hastily closed, there being Chinese who even leftbolts of cloth outside, and not a few women lost their slippers intheir flight through the streets. Fortunately, there was only oneperson wounded and a few bruised, among them the soldier himself,who suffered a fall fighting with the curtain, which smelt to him offilibusterism. Such prowess gained him great renown, and a renownso pure that it is to be wished all fame could be acquired in likemanner--mothers would then weep less and earth would be more populous!

  In a suburb the inhabitants caught two unknown individuals buryingarms under a house, whereupon a tumult arose and the people pursuedthe strangers in order to kill them and turn their bodies over to theauthorities, but some one pacified the excited crowd by telling themthat it would be sufficient to hand over the _corpora delictorum_,which proved to be some old shotguns that would surely have kill
edthe first person who tried to fire them.

  "All right," exclaimed one braggart, "if they want us to rebel,let's go ahead!" But he was cuffed and kicked into silence, the womenpinching him as though he had been the owner of the shotguns.

  In Ermita the affair was more serious, even though there was lessexcitement, and that when there were shots fired. A certain cautiousgovernment employee, armed to the teeth, saw at nightfall an objectnear his house, and taking it for nothing less than a student, firedat it twice with a revolver. The object proved to be a policeman,and they buried him--_pax Christi! Mutis!_

  In Dulumbayan various shots also resounded, from which there resultedthe death of a poor old deaf man, who had not heard the sentinel's_quien vive_, and of a hog that had heard it and had not answered_Espana_! The old man was buried with difficulty, since there was nomoney to pay for the obsequies, but the hog was eaten.

  In Manila, [59] in a confectionery near the University much frequentedby the students, the arrests were thus commented upon.

  "And have they arrested Tadeo?" [60] asked the proprietess.

  "_Aba_!" answered a student who lived in Parian, "he's already shot!"

  "Shot! _Naku_! He hasn't paid what he owes me."

  "Ay, don't mention that or you'll be taken for an accomplice. I'vealready burnt the book [61] you lent me. There might be a search andit would be found. Be careful!"

  "Did you say that Isagani is a prisoner?"

  "Crazy fool, too, that Isagani," replied the indignant student. "Theydidn't try to catch him, but he went and surrendered. Let him busthimself--he'll surely be shot."

  The senora shrugged her shoulders. "He doesn't owe me anything. Andwhat about Paulita?"

  "She won't lack a husband. Sure, she'll cry a little, and then marrya Spaniard."

  The night was one of the gloomiest. In the houses the rosary wasrecited and pious women dedicated paternosters and requiems to eachof the souls of their relatives and friends. By eight o'clock hardlya pedestrian could be seen--only from time to time was heard thegalloping of a horse against whose sides a saber clanked noisily,then the whistles of the watchmen, and carriages that whirled alongat full speed, as though pursued by mobs of filibusters.

  Yet terror did not reign everywhere. In the house of the silversmith,where Placido Penitente boarded, the events were commented upon anddiscussed with some freedom.

  "I don't believe in the pasquinades," declared a workman, lank andwithered from operating the blowpipe. "To me it looks like PadreSalvi's doings."

  "Ahem, ahem!" coughed the silversmith, a very prudent man, who did notdare to stop the conversation from fear that he would be considereda coward. The good man had to content himself with coughing, winkingto his helper, and gazing toward the street, as if to say, "They maybe watching us!"

  "On account of the operetta," added another workman.

  "Aha!" exclaimed one who had a foolish face, "I told you so!"

  "Ahem!" rejoined a clerk, in a tone of compassion, "the affair ofthe pasquinades is true, Chichoy, and I can give you the explanation."

  Then he added mysteriously, "It's a trick of the Chinaman Quiroga's!"

  "Ahem, ahem!" again coughed the silversmith, shifting his quid ofbuyo from one cheek to the other.

  "Believe me, Chichoy, of Quiroga the Chinaman! I heard it in theoffice."

  "_Naku_, it's certain then," exclaimed the simpleton, believing itat once.

  "Quiroga," explained the clerk, "has a hundred thousand pesos inMexican silver out in the bay. How is he to get it in? Very easily. Fixup the pasquinades, availing himself of the question of the students,and, while every-body is excited, grease the officials' palms, andin the cases come!"

  "Just it! Just it!" cried the credulous fool, striking the tablewith his fist. "Just it! That's why Quiroga did it! That's why--"But he had to relapse into silence as he really did not know what tosay about Quiroga.

  "And we must pay the damages?" asked the indignant Chichoy.

  "Ahem, ahem, a-h-hem!" coughed the silversmith, hearing steps inthe street.

  The footsteps approached and all in the shop fell silent.

  "St. Pascual Bailon is a great saint," declared the silversmithhypocritically, in a loud voice, at the same time winking to theothers. "St. Pascual Bailon--"

  At that moment there appeared the face of Placido Penitente, who wasaccompanied by the pyrotechnician that we saw receiving orders fromSimoun. The newcomers were surrounded and importuned for news.

  "I haven't been able to talk with the prisoners," explainedPlacido. "There are some thirty of them."

  "Be on your guard," cautioned the pyrotechnician, exchanging aknowing look with Placido. "They say that to-night there's going tobe a massacre."

  "Aha! Thunder!" exclaimed Chichoy, looking about for a weapon. Seeingnone, he caught up his blowpipe.

  The silversmith sat down, trembling in every limb. The creduloussimpleton already saw himself beheaded and wept in anticipation overthe fate of his family.

  "No," contradicted the clerk, "there's not going to be anymassacre. The adviser of"--he made a mysterious gesture--"isfortunately sick."

  "Simoun!"

  "Ahem, ahem, a-h-hem!"

  Placido and the pyrotechnician exchanged another look.

  "If he hadn't got sick--"

  "It would look like a revolution," added the pyrotechniciannegligently, as he lighted a cigarette in the lamp chimney. "And whatshould we do then?"

  "Then we'd start a real one, now that they're going to massacreus anyhow--"

  The violent fit of coughing that seized the silversmith preventedthe rest of this speech from being heard, but Chichoy must have beensaying terrible things, to judge from his murderous gestures withthe blowpipe and the face of a Japanese tragedian that he put on.

  "Rather say that he's playing off sick because he's afraid to goout. As may be seen--"

  The silversmith was attacked by another fit of coughing so severethat he finally asked all to retire.

  "Nevertheless, get ready," warned the pyrotechnician. "If they wantto force us to kill or be killed--"

  Another fit of coughing on the part of the poor silversmith preventedfurther conversation, so the workmen and apprentices retired to theirhomes, carrying with them hammers and saws, and other implements,more or less cutting, more or less bruising, disposed to sell theirlives dearly. Placido and the pyrotechnician went out again.

  "Prudence, prudence!" cautioned the silversmith in a tearful voice.

  "You'll take care of my widow and orphans!" begged the creduloussimpleton in a still more tearful voice, for he already saw himselfriddled with bullets and buried.

  That night the guards at the city gates were replaced with Peninsularartillerymen, and on the following morning as the sun rose, Ben-Zayb,who had ventured to take a morning stroll to examine the condition ofthe fortifications, found on the glacis near the Luneta the corpseof a native girl, half-naked and abandoned. Ben-Zayb was horrified,but after touching it with his cane and gazing toward the gatesproceeded on his way, musing over a sentimental tale he might baseupon the incident.

  However, no allusion to it appeared in the newspapers on the followingdays, engrossed as they were with the falls and slippings caused bybanana-peels. In the dearth of news Ben-Zayb had to comment at lengthon a cyclone that had destroyed in America whole towns, causing thedeath of more than two thousand persons. Among other beautiful thingshe said:

  "_The sentiment of charity_, MORE PREVALENT IN CATHOLIC COUNTRIES THAN IN OTHERS, and the thought of Him who, influenced by that same feeling, sacrificed himself for _humanity, moves (sic)_ us to compassion over the misfortunes of our kind and to render thanks that _in this country_, so scourged by cyclones, there are not enacted scenes so desolating as that which the inhabitants of the United States mus have witnessed!"

  _Horatius_ did not miss the opportunity, and, also without mentioningthe dead, or the murdered native girl, or the assaults, answered himin his _Pirotecnia_:
<
br />   "After such great charity and such great humanity, Fray Ibanez--I mean, Ben-Zayb--brings himself to pray for the Philippines.

  But he is understood.

  Because he is not Catholic, and the sentiment of charity is most prevalent," etc. [62]