by José Rizal
"What has my husband done to you?" sobbed Doray. "See my child;you have robbed him of his father!"
Grief began to turn to hate against the man who was said to haveprovoked the uprising.
The alferez gave the order to start.
"Coward!" cried a woman, as the cart moved off. "While the othersfought, you were in hiding! Coward!"
"Curses on you!" cried an old man, running after. "Cursed be the goldheaped up by your family to take away our peace. Accurst! accurst!"
"May you be hung, heretic!" cried a woman, picking up a stone andthrowing it after him. Her example was promptly followed, and a showerof dust and pebbles beat against the unhappy man. Crisostomo borethis injustice without a sign. It was the farewell of his belovedcountry. He bent his head and sat motionless. Perhaps he was thinkingof a man beaten in the pueblo streets; perhaps of the body of a girl,washed up by the waves.
The alferez felt obliged to drive away the crowd, but stones did notcease to fall, nor insult to sound. One mother only did not curseIbarra; the Capitana Maria watched her sons go, with compressed lipsand eyes full of silent tears.
Of all the people in the open windows as he passed, none but theindifferent and curious showed Ibarra the least compassion. All hisfriends had deserted him, even Captain Basilio, who had forbiddenSinang to weep. When Crisostomo passed the smoking ruins of his home,that home where he was born, and spent his happy childhood and youth,the tears, long repressed, gushed from his eyes, and bound as he was,he had to experience the bitterness of showing a grief that couldnot rouse the slightest sympathy.
From a hill, an old man, pale and thin, wrapped in a mantle, andleaning on a stick, watched the sad procession. At the news of what hadhappened, old Tasio had left his bed, and tried to go to the pueblo,but his strength had failed him. He followed the cart with his eyes,until it disappeared in the distance. Then, after resting a while inthought, he got up painfully, and started toward his home, haltingfor breath at almost every step. The next day some shepherds foundhim dead under the shadow of his solitary house.
LI.
PATRIOTISM AND INTEREST.
The telegraph had secretly transmitted to Manila the news of theuprising, and thirty-six hours later, the newspapers, their accountsexpanded, corrected, and mutilated by the attorney-general, talkedabout it with much mystery and no little menace. Meanwhile the privateaccounts, coming out of the convents, had gone from mouth to mouth,to the great alarm of those who heard them. The fact, distorted incountless versions, was accepted as true with more or less readiness,according to its fitness to the passions and ideas of the differenthearers.
Though public tranquillity was not disturbed, the peace of thehearthstones became like that of a fish-pond, all on top; underneathwas commotion. Crosses, gold lace, office, power, honors of all kindsbegan to hover over one part of the population, like butterflies ina golden sunshine. For the others a dark cloud rose on the horizon,and against this ashy background stood in relief bars, chains, andthe fateful arms of the gibbet. Destiny presented the event to theManila imagination, like certain Chinese fans: one face painted black,the other gilded, and gorgeous with birds and flowers.
There was great agitation in the convents. The provincials orderedtheir carriages, and held secret conferences; then presented themselvesat the palace, to offer their support to the imperiled government.
"A Te Deum, a Te Deum!" said a monk in one convent. "Through thegoodness of God, our worth is made manifest in these perilous times!"
"This petty general, this prophet of evil, will gnaw his moustachesafter this little lesson," said another.
"What would have become of him without the religious orders?"
"The papers almost go to the point of demanding a mitre for BrotherSalvi."
"And he will get it! He's consumed with desire for it!"
"Do you think so?"
"Why shouldn't he be? In these days mitres are given for the asking."
"If mitres had eyes, and could see on what craniums----"
We spare our readers other comments of this nature. Let us enter thehome of a private citizen, and as we know few people at Manila, wewill knock at the door of Captain Tinong, the friendly and hospitablegentleman whom we saw inviting Ibarra, with so much insistence,to honor his house with a visit.
In his rich and spacious drawing-room, at Tondo, Captain Tinong isseated in a great arm-chair, passing his hand despairingly acrosshis brow; while his weeping wife, the Capitana Tinchang, reads hima sermon, listened to by their two daughters, who are seated in acorner, mute with stupefaction.
"Ah, Virgin of Antipolo!" cried the wife. "Ah, Virgin of the Rosary;I told you so! I told you so! Ah, Virgin of Carmel! Ah!"
"Why, no! You didn't tell me anything," Captain Tinong finallyventured to reply. "On the contrary, you said I did well to keep up thefriendship with Captain Tiago, and to go to his house, because--becausehe was rich; and you said----"
"What did I say? I didn't say it! I didn't say anything! Ah, if youhad listened to me!"
"Now you throw the blame back on me!" said the captain bitterly,striking the arm of his chair with his fist. "Didn't you say I didwell to invite him to dinner, because, as he was rich----"
"It is true I said that, because--because it couldn't be helped;you had already invited him; and you did nothing but praise him. DonIbarra here, and Don Ibarra there, and Don Ibarra on all sides. ButI didn't advise you to see him or to speak to him at the dinner. Thatyou cannot deny!"
"Did I know, for instance, that he was to be there?"
"You ought to have known it!"
"How, if I wasn't even acquainted with him?"
"You ought to have been acquainted with him!"
"But, Tinchang, if it was the first time I had ever seen him or heardhim spoken of?"
"You ought to have seen him before, you ought to have heard himspoken of; that's what you are a man for! And now, you will be sentinto exile, our goods will be confiscated----Oh, if I were a man! ifI were a man!"
"And if you were a man," asked the vexed husband, "what would you do?"
"What? Why, to-day, this very day, I should present myself to thecaptain-general, and offer to fight against the rebels, this very day!"
"But didn't you read what the Diario says? Listen! 'The infamous andabortive treason has been repressed with energy, force, and vigor,and the rebellious enemies of the country and their accomplices willpromptly feel all the weight and all the severity of the laws!' Yousee, there is no rebellion!"
"That makes no difference, you should present yourself; many did itin 1872, and so nobody harmed them."
"Yes! it was done also by Father Bug----" But his wife's hands wereover his mouth.
"Say it! Speak that name, so you may be hung to-morrow atBagumbayan! Don't you know it is enough to get you executed withoutso much as a trial? Go on, say it!"
But though Captain Tinong had wished, he couldn't have done it. Hiswife held his mouth with both her hands, squeezing his little headagainst the back of the chair. Perhaps the poor man would have diedof asphyxia, had not a new person come on the stage.
It was their cousin, Don Primitivo, who knew Amat by heart; a man offorty, large and corpulent, and dressed with the utmost care.
"Quid video?" he cried, upon entering; "what is going on?"
"Ah, cousin!" said the wife, weeping, and running to him, "I hadyou sent for, for I don't know what will become of us! What do youadvise--you who have studied Latin and understand reasoning----"
"But quid quaeritis? Nihil est in intellectu quod prius non fuerit insensu." And he sat down sedately. The Latin phrases seemed to havea tranquillizing effect; the husband and wife ceased to lament, andcame nearer, awaiting the counsel of their cousin's lips, as oncethe Greeks awaited the saving phrase of the oracle.
"Why are you mourning? Ubinam gentium sumus?"
"You know the story of the uprising----"
"Well, what of it? Don Crisostomo owes you?"
"No! but do you know that T
inong invited him to dinner, and that hebowed to him on the bridge----in the middle of the day? They willsay he was a friend of ours!"
"Friend?" cried the Latin, in alarm, rising; "tell me who your friendsare, and I'll tell you who you are yourself! Malum est negotium etest timendum rerum istarum horrendissimum resultatum. Hum!"
So many words in um terrified Captain Tinong. He became frightfullypale. His wife joined her hands in supplication.
"Cousin, you speak to us now in Latin, but you know we haven'tstudied philosophy like you. Speak to us in Tagal or Castilian;give us your advice."
"It is deplorable that you do not know Latin, my cousin: Latin veritiesare lies in Tagalo. Contra principi negantem fustibus est arguendum,is, in Latin, a truth as veritable as Noah's ark. I once put itin practice in Tagalo, and it was I who got beaten. It is indeeda misfortune that you do not know Latin! In Latin it might all bearranged. You have done wrong, very wrong, cousins, to make friendswith this young man. The just pay the dues of sinners. I feel almostlike advising you to make your will!" and he moved his head gloomilyfrom side to side.
"Saturnino, what ails you?" cried Capitana Tinchang,terrified. "Ah! Heaven! he is dead! A doctor! Tinong, Tinongy!"
"He has only fainted, cousin; bring some water." Don Primitivosprinkled his face, and the unfortunate man revived.
"Come, come! don't weep! I've found a remedy. Put him in bed. Come,come! courage! I am with you, and all the wisdom of the ancients! Calla doctor, and this very day, cousin, go present yourself to thecaptain-general, and take him a present, a gold chain, a ring; sayit's a Christmas present. Shut the windows and doors, and if any oneasks for your husband, say he is seriously ill. Meanwhile I'll burnall the letters, papers, and books, as Don Crisostomo did. Scriptitestes sunt! Go on to the captain's. Leave me to myself. In extremisextrema. Give me the power of a Roman dictator, and see whether Isave the coun--What am I saying--the cousin!"
He commenced to upset the shelves of the library, and tear papersand letters. Then he lighted a fire on the kitchen hearth, andthe auto-da-fe began. "'Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres,' byCopernicus. Whew! ite, maledicte, in ignem kalanis!" he cried, throwingit to the flames. "Revolution and Copernicus! Crime upon crime! IfI don't get through soon enough! 'Liberty in the Philippines!' Whatbooks! Into the fire with them!" The most innocent works did not escapethe common fate. Cousin Primitivo was right. The just pay for sinners.
Four or five hours later, at a fashionable gathering, the events ofthe day were being discussed. There were present a number of elderlymarried ladies and spinsters, together with the wives and daughtersof clerks of the administration, all in European costume, fanning andyawning. Among the men, who, by their manners, showed their position,as did the women, was a man advanced in age, small and one-armed,who was treated with distinction, and who kept a reserved distance.
"I could never before suffer the monks and civil guards, because oftheir want of manners," a portly lady was saying, "but now that Isee of what service they are, I could almost marry one of them. Iam patriotic."
"I am of the very same mind," said a very prim spinster. "But whata pity the former governor isn't with us!"
"He would put an end to the race of filibusterillos!"
"Don't they say there are many islands yet uninhabited?"
"If I were the captain-general----"
"Senoras," said the one-armed man, "the captain-general knows hisduty. I understand he is greatly irritated, for he had loaded thisIbarra with favors."
"Loaded him with favors!" repeated the slim gentlewoman, fanningfuriously. "What ingrates these Indians are! Is it possible to treatthem like human beings?"
"Do you know what I've heard?" asked an officer.
"No! What is it? What do they say?"
"People worthy of confidence say that all this noise about buildinga school was a pure pretext; what he meant to make was a fort forhis own defence when he had been attacked."
"What infamy! Would any one but an Indian be capable of it?"
"But they say this filibustero is the son of a Spaniard," said theone-armed man, without looking at anybody.
"There it is again," cried the portly lady; "always these creoles! NoIndian understands anything about revolution. Train crows, and they'llpick your eyes out!"
"Do you know what I've heard?" asked a pretty creole, to turn theconversation. "The wife of Captain Tinong--you remember? We danced anddined at his house at the fete of Tondo--well, the wife of CaptainTinong gave the captain-general, this afternoon, a ring worth athousand pesos. She said it was a Christmas present."
"Christmas doesn't come for a month."
"She must have feared a downpour," said the stout lady.
"And so got under cover," said the slim.
"That is evident," said the one-armed man, thoughtfully. "I fearthere is something back of this."
"I also," said the portly lady. "The wife of Captain Tinong is veryparsimonious--she has never sent us presents, though we have been toher house. When such a person lets slip a little present of a thousandlittle pesos----"
"But is it certain?" demanded the one-armed man.
"Absolutely! His excellency's aide-de-camp told my cousin, to whomhe is engaged. I'm tempted to believe it's a ring she wore the dayof the fete. She's always covered with diamonds."
"That's one way of advertising! Instead of buying a lay-figure orrenting a shop----"
The one-armed man found a pretext for leaving.
Two hours later, when all the city was asleep, certain inhabitants ofTondo received an invitation through the medium of soldiers. Authoritycould not permit people of position and property to sleep in housesso ill guarded. In the fortress of Santiago, and in other governmentbuildings, their sleep would be more tranquil and refreshing. Amongthese people was the unfortunate Captain Tinong.
LII.
MARIA CLARA MARRIES.
Captain Tiago was very happy. During these troublous times, no onehad paid any attention to him. He had not been arrested, he hadnot been subjected to cross-examination, to electrical machines, torepeated foot-baths in subterranean habitations, nor to any other ofthese pleasantries, well known to certain people who call themselvescivilized. His friends, that is to say, those who had been--for he hadrepudiated his Filipino friends as soon as they had become suspectsin the eyes of the Government--had returned home after several daysof vacation in the edifices of the State. The captain-general hadordered them out of his possessions, to the great displeasure ofthe one-armed man, who would have liked to celebrate the approachingChristmas in so numerous a company of the rich.
Captain Tinong returned to his home, ill, pale, another man. Theexcursion had not been for his good. He said nothing, not even to greethis family, who laughed and wept over him, mad with joy. The poor manno longer left the house, for fear of saluting a filibuster. CousinPrimitivo himself, with all the wisdom of the ancients, could notdraw him out of his mutism.
Stories like that of Captain Tinong's were numerous, and Captain Tiagowas not ignorant of them. He overflowed with gratitude, without knowingexactly to whom he owed these signal favors. Aunt Isabel attributedthe miracle to the Virgin of Antipolo.
"I too, Isabel," said Captain Tiago, "but the Virgin of Antipolo hasprobably not done it alone; my friends have helped, and my futureson-in-law, Senor Linares."
It was whispered that Ibarra would be hung; that in spite of lackof proofs of his guilt, one thing had been found that confirmed theaccusation; the experts had declared the school was so designed thatit might pass for a rampart, faulty enough, to be sure, but what onemight expect of ignorant Indians.
In the midst of affairs, Dona Victorina, Don Tiburcio, and Linaresarrived. As usual, Dona Victorina talked for the three men and herself;and her speech had undergone a remarkable change. She now claimedto have naturalized herself an Andalusian by suppressing d's andreplacing the sound of s by that of z. No one had been able to getthe idea out of her head; one would certainly have needed to get herfrizzes of
f the outside first. She talked of visits of Linares to thecaptain-general, and made continual insinuations as to advantages arelative of position would bring.
"As we say," she concluded, "he who sleeps in a good shade, leans ona good staff."
"It's--it's the opposite, wife."
Maria Clara was yet pale, though she had almost recovered from herillness. She kissed Dona Victorina, smiling rather sadly.
"You have been saved, thanks to your connections!" said the doctora,with a significant look toward Linares.
"God has protected my father," said Maria, in a low voice.
"Yes, Clarita, but the time of miracles is past. We, the Spaniards say,trust not in the Virgin, and save yourself by running."
"It's--it's--the contrary, wife!"
"We must talk business," said Dona Victorina, glancing at Maria. Mariafound a pretext for leaving, and went out, steadying herself bythe furniture.
What was said in this conference was so sordid and mean, that we prefernot to report it. Suffice it to say that when they parted, they wereall satisfied. Captain Tiago said a little after to Aunt Isabel:
"Have the caterer notified that we give a reception to-morrow. Mariamust get ready for her marriage at once. When Senor Linares is ourson-in-law, all the palaces will be open to us; and every one willdie of envy."
And so, toward eight o'clock the next evening, the house of CaptainTiago was once more full. This time, however, he had invited onlySpaniards, peninsular and Philippine, and Chinese. Yet many of ouracquaintances were there. Father Sibyla and Father Salvi, amongnumerous Franciscans and Dominicans; the old lieutenant of theMunicipal Guard, more sombre than ever; the alferez, recounting hisvictory for the thousandth time, looking over the heads of everybody,now that he is lieutenant with grade of commandant; Dr. Espadana,who looks upon him with respect and fear, and avoids his glance;Dona Victorina, who cannot see him without anger. Linares had not yetarrived; as a person of importance, he must arouse expectation. Thereare beings so simple, that an hour's waiting for a man suffices tomake him great in their eyes.