Noli me tángere. English

by José Rizal

  CHAPTER XXXVIII

  The Procession

  At nightfall, when all the lanterns in the windows had been lighted,for the fourth time the procession started amid the ringing of bellsand the usual explosions of bombs. The Captain-General, who had goneout on foot in company with his two aides, Capitan Tiago, the alcalde,the alferez, and Ibarra, preceded by civil-guards and officials whoopened the way and cleared the street, was invited to review theprocession from the house of the gobernadorcillo, in front of whicha platform had been erected where a _loa_ [104] would be recited inhonor of the Blessed Patron.

  Ibarra would gladly have renounced the pleasure of hearing thispoetical composition, preferring to watch the procession from CapitanTiago's house, where Maria Clara had remained with some of her friends,but his Excellency wished to hear the _loa_, so he had no recoursebut to console himself with the prospect of seeing her at the theater.

  The procession was headed by the silver candelabra borne by threebegloved sacristans, behind whom came the school children in chargeof their teacher, then boys with paper lanterns of varied shapesand colors placed on the ends of bamboo poles of greater or lesslength and decorated according to the caprice of each boy, sincethis illumination was furnished by the children of the barrios, whogladly performed this service, imposed by the _matanda sa nayon_,[105] each one designing and fashioning his own lantern, adorning itas his fancy prompted and his finances permitted with a greater orless number of frills and little streamers, and lighting it with apiece of candle if he had a friend or relative who was a sacristan,or if he could buy one of the small red tapers such as the Chineseburn before their altars.

  In the midst of the crowd came and went alguazils, guardians ofjustice to take care that the lines were not broken and the peopledid not crowd together. For this purpose they availed themselves oftheir rods, with blows from which, administered opportunely and withsufficient force, they endeavored to add to the glory and brillianceof the procession--all for the edification of souls and the splendorof religious show. At the same time that the alguazils were thusdistributing free their sanctifying blows, other persons, to consolethe recipients, distributed candles and tapers of different sizes,also free.

  "Senor Alcalde," said Ibarra in a low voice, "do they administer thoseblows as a punishment for sin or simply because they like to do so?"

  "You're right, Senor Ibarra," answered the Captain-General, overhearingthe question. "This barbarous sight is a wonder to all who come herefrom other countries. It ought to be forbidden."

  Without any apparent reason, the first saint that appeared was St. Johnthe Baptist. On looking at him it might have been said that the fameof Our Savior's cousin did not amount to much among the people, forwhile it is true that he had the feet and legs of a maiden and theface of an anchorite, yet he was placed on an old wooden _andas_,and was hidden by a crowd of children who, armed with candles andunlighted lanterns, were engaging in mock fights.

  "Unfortunate saint!" muttered the Sage Tasio, who was watching theprocession from the street, "it avails you nothing to have been theforerunner of the Good Tidings or that Jesus bowed before you! Yourgreat faith and your austerity avail you nothing, nor the fact thatyou died for the truth and your convictions, all of which men forgetwhen they consider nothing more than their own merits. It avails moreto preach badly in the churches than to be the eloquent voice cryingin the desert, this is what the Philippines teaches you! If you hadeaten turkey instead of locusts and had worn garments of silk ratherthan hides, if you had joined a Corporation--"

  But the old man suspended his apostrophe at the approachof St. Francis. "Didn't I say so?" he then went on, smilingsarcastically. "This one rides on a ear, and, good Heavens, what acar! How many lights and how many glass lanterns! Never did I seeyou surrounded by so many luminaries, Giovanni Bernardone! [106]And what music! Other tunes were heard by your followers after yourdeath! But, venerable and humble founder, if you were to come backto life now you would see only degenerate Eliases of Cortona, andif your followers should recognize you, they would put you in jail,and perhaps you would share the fate of Cesareus of Spyre."

  After the music came a banner on which was pictured the same saint, butwith seven wings, carried by the Tertiary Brethren dressed in _guingon_habits and praying in high, plaintive voices. Rather inexplicably,next came St. Mary Magdalene, a beautiful image with abundant hair,wearing a panuelo of embroidered pina held by fingers covered withrings, and a silk gown decorated with gilt spangles. Lights andincense surrounded her while her glass tears reflected the colorsof the Bengal lights, which, while giving a fantastic appearance tothe procession, also made the saintly sinner weep now green, now red,now blue tears. The houses did not begin to light up until St. Franciswas passing; St. John the Baptist did not enjoy this honor and passedhastily by as if ashamed to be the only one dressed in hides in sucha crowd of folk covered with gold and jewels.

  "There goes our saint!" exclaimed the daughter of the gobernadorcilloto her visitors. "I've lent him all my rings, but that's in order toget to heaven."

  The candle-bearers stopped around the platform to listen to the _loa_and the blessed saints did the same; either they or their bearerswished to hear the verses. Those who were carrying St. John, tiredof waiting, squatted down on their heels and agreed to set him onthe ground.

  "The alguazil may scold!" objected one of them.

  "Huh, in the sacristy they leave him in a corner among the cobwebs!"

  So St. John, once on the ground, became one of the townsfolk.

  As the Magdalene set out the women joined the procession, only thatinstead of beginning with the children, as among the men, the old womencame first and the girls filled up the lines to the car of the Virgin,behind which came the curate under his canopy. This practise they hadfrom Padre Damaso, who said: "To the Virgin the maidens and not the oldwomen are pleasing!" This statement had caused wry faces on the partof many saintly old ladies, but the Virgin did not change her tastes.

  San Diego followed the Magdalene but did not seem to be rejoicingover this fact, since he moved along as repentantly as he had inthe morning when he followed St. Francis. His float was drawn by sixTertiary Sisters--whether because of some vow or on account of somesickness, the fact is that they dragged him along, and with zeal. SanDiego stopped in front of the platform and waited to be saluted.

  But it was necessary to wait for the float of the Virgin, which waspreceded by persons dressed like phantoms, who frightened the littlechildren so that there were heard the cries and screams of terrifiedbabies. Yet in the midst of that dark mass of gowns, hoods, girdles,and nuns' veils, from which arose a monotonous and snuffling prayer,there were to be seen, like white jasmines or fresh sampaguitas amongold rags, twelve girls dressed in white, crowned with flowers, theirhair curled, and flashing from their eyes glances as bright as theirnecklaces. Like little genii of light who were prisoners of spectersthey moved along holding to the wide blue ribbons tied to the Virgin'scar and suggesting the doves that draw the car of Spring.

  Now all the images were in attitudes of attention, crowded one againstthe other to listen to the verses. Everybody kept his eyes fixed onthe half-drawn curtain until at length a sigh of admiration escapedfrom the lips of all. Deservedly so, too, for it was a boy with wings,riding-boots, sash, belt, and plumed hat.

  "It's the alcalde!" cried some one, but this prodigy of creation beganto recite a poem like himself and took no offense at the comparison.

  But why record here what he said in Latin, Tagalog, and Spanish, allin verse--this poor victim of the gobernadorcillo? Our readers haveenjoyed Padre Damaso's sermon of the morning and we do not wish tospoil them by too many wonders. Besides, the Franciscan might feelhard toward us if we were to put forward a competitor, and this isfar from being the desire of such peaceful folk as we have the goodfortune to be.

  Afterwards, the procession moved on, St. John proceeding along hisvale of tears. When the Virgin passed the house of Capitan Tiago aheavenly song greet
ed her with the words of the archangel. It wasa voice tender, melodious, pleading, sighing out the _Ave Maria_of Gounod to the accompaniment of a piano that prayed with it. Themusic of the procession became hushed, the praying ceased, and evenPadre Salvi himself paused. The voice trembled and became plaintive,expressing more than a salutation--rather a prayer and a protest.

  Terror and melancholy settled down upon Ibarra's heart as he listenedto the voice from the window where he stood. He comprehended whatthat suffering soul was expressing in a song and yet feared to askhimself the cause of such sorrow. Gloomy and thoughtful, he turnedto the Captain-General.

  "You will join me at the table," the latter said to him. "There we'lltalk about those boys who disappeared."

  "Could I be the cause?" murmured the young man, staring without seeingthe Captain-General, whom he was following mechanically.