The Reign of Greed Part 48

[6] The Jesuit College in Manila, established in 1859.--Tr.

[7] Natives of Spain; to distinguish them from the Filipinos, _i.e.,_ descendants of Spaniards born in the Philippines. See Glossary: "Indian."--Tr.

[8] It was a common saying among the old Filipinos that the Spaniards (white men) were fire (activity), while they themselves were water (pa.s.sivity).--Tr.

[9] The "liberal" demonstrations in Manila, and the mutiny in the Cavite a.r.s.enal, resulting in the garroting of the three native priests to whom this work was dedicated: the first of a series of fatal mistakes, culminating in the execution of the author, that cost Spain the loyalty of the Filipinos.--Tr.

[10] Archbishop of Manila from 1767 to 1787.--Tr.

[11] "Between this island (Talim) and Halahala point extends a strait a mile wide and a league long, which the Indians call 'Kinabutasan,'

a name that in their language means 'place that was cleft open'; from which it is inferred that in other times the island was joined to the mainland and was separated from it by some severe earthquake, thus leaving this strait: of this there is an old tradition among the Indians."--Fray Martinez de Zuniga's _Estadismo_ (1803).

[12] The reference is to the novel _Noli Me Tangere_ (_The Social Cancer_), the author's first work, of which, the present is in a way a continuation.--Tr.

[13] This legend is still current among the Tagalogs. It circulates in various forms, the commonest being that the king was so confined for defying the lightning; and it takes no great stretch of the imagination to fancy in this idea a reference to the firearms used by the Spanish conquerors. Quite recently (January 1909), when the nearly extinct volcano of Banahao shook itself and scattered a few tons of mud over the surrounding landscape, the people thereabout recalled this old legend, saying that it was their King Bernardo making another effort to get that right foot loose.--Tr.

[14] The reference is to _Noli Me Tangere,_ in which Sinang appears.

[15] The Dominican school of secondary instruction in Manila.--Tr.

[16] "The studies of secondary instruction given in Santo Tomas, in the college of San Juan de Letran, and of San Jose, and in the private schools, had the defects inherent in the plan of instruction which the friars developed in the Philippines. It suited their plans that scientific and literary knowledge should not become general nor very extensive, for which reason they took but little interest in the study of those subjects or in the quality of the instruction. Their educational establishments were places of luxury for the children of wealthy and well-to-do families rather than establishments in which to perfect and develop the minds of the Filipino youth. It is true they were careful to give them a religious education, tending to make them respect the omnipotent power (_sic_) of the monastic corporations.

"The intellectual powers were made dormant by devoting a greater part of the time to the study of Latin, to which they attached an extraordinary importance, for the purpose of discouraging pupils from studying the exact and experimental sciences and from gaining a knowledge of true literary studies.

"The philosophic system explained was naturally the scholastic one, with an exceedingly refined and subtile logic, and with deficient ideas upon physics. By the study of Latin, and their philosophic systems, they converted their pupils into automatic machines rather than into practical men prepared to battle with life."--_Census of the Philippine Islands (Was.h.i.+ngton, 1905), Volume III, pp. 601, 602._

[17] The nature of this booklet, in Tagalog, is made clear in several pa.s.sages. It was issued by the Franciscans, but proved too outspoken for even Latin refinement, and was suppressed by the Order itself.--Tr.

[18] The rectory or parish house.

[19] Friends of the author, who suffered in Weyler's expedition, mentioned below.--Tr.

[20] The Dominican corporation, at whose instigation Captain-General Valeriano Weyler sent a battery of artillery to Kalamba to destroy the property of tenants who were contesting in the courts the friars' t.i.tles to land there. The author's family were the largest sufferers.--Tr.

[21] A relative of the author, whose body was dragged from the tomb and thrown to the dogs, on the pretext that he had died without receiving final absolution.--Tr.

[22] Under the Spanish regime the government paid no attention to education, the schools (!) being under the control of the religious orders and the friar-curates of the towns.--Tr.

[23] The c.o.c.kpits are farmed out annually by the local governments, the terms "contract," and "contractor," having now been softened into "license" and "licensee."--Tr.

[24] The "Munic.i.p.al School for Girls" was founded by the munic.i.p.ality of Manila in 1864.... The inst.i.tution was in charge of the Sisters of Charity.--_Census of the Philippine Islands, Vol. III, p. 615_.

[25] Now known as Plaza Espana.--Tr.

[26] Patroness of the Dominican Order. She was formally and sumptuously recrowned a queen of the skies in 1907.--Tr.

[27] A burlesque on an a.s.sociation of students known as the _Milicia Angelica_, organized by the Dominicans to strengthen their hold on the people. The name used is significant, "carbineers" being the local revenue officers, notorious in their later days for graft and abuse.--Tr.

[28] "Tinamaan ng lintik!"--a Tagalog exclamation of anger, disappointment, or dismay, regarded as a very strong expression, equivalent to profanity. Literally, "May the lightning strike you!"--Tr.

[29] "To lie about the stars is a safe kind of lying."--Tr.

[30] Throughout this chapter the professor uses the familiar _tu_ in addressing the students, thus giving his remarks a contemptuous tone.--Tr.

[31] The professor speaks these words in vulgar dialect.

[32] To confuse the letters _p_ and _f_ in speaking Spanish was a common error among uneducated Filipinos.--Tr.

[33] _No cristianos_, not Christians, _i.e_., savages.--Tr.

[34] The patron saint of Spain, St. James.--Tr.

[35] Houses of bamboo and nipa, such as form the homes of the ma.s.ses of the natives.--Tr.

[36] "In this paragraph Rizal alludes to an incident that had very serious results. There was annually celebrated in Binondo a certain religious festival, princ.i.p.ally at the expense of the Chinese mestizos. The latter finally pet.i.tioned that their gobernadorcillo be given the presidency of it, and this was granted, thanks to the fact that the parish priest (the Dominican, Fray Jose Hevia Campomanes) held to the opinion that the presidency belonged to those who paid the most. The Tagalogs protested, alleging their better right to it, as the genuine sons of the country, not to mention the historical precedent, but the friar, who was looking after his own interests, did not yield. General Terrero (Governor, 1885-1888), at the advice of his liberal councilors, finally had the parish priest removed and for the time being decided the affair in favor of the Tagalogs. The matter reached the Colonial Office (_Ministerio de Ultramar_) and the Minister was not even content merely to settle it in the way the friars desired, but made amends to Padre Hevia by appointing him a bishop."--_W. E. Retana, who was a journalist in Manila at the time, in a note to this chapter._

Childish and ridiculous as this may appear now, it was far from being so at the time, especially in view of the supreme contempt with which the pugnacious Tagalog looks down upon the meek and complaisant Chinese and the mortal antipathy that exists between the two races.--Tr.

[37] It is regrettable that Quiroga's picturesque butchery of Spanish and Tagalog--the dialect of the Manila Chinese--cannot be reproduced here. Only the thought can be given. There is the same difficulty with _r's, d's_, and _l's_ that the Chinese show in English.--Tr.

[38] Up to the outbreak of the insurrection in 1896, the only genuinely Spanish troops in the islands were a few hundred artillerymen, the rest being natives, with Spanish officers.--Tr.

[39] Abaka is the fiber obtained from the leaves of the _Musa textilis_ and is known commercially as Manila hemp. As it is exclusively a product of the Philippines, it may be taken here to symbolize the country.--Tr.

[40] Yet Ben-Zayb was not very much mistaken. The three legs of the table have grooves in them in which slide the mirrors hidden below the platform and covered by the squares of the carpet. By placing the box upon the table a spring is pressed and the mirrors rise gently. The cloth is then removed, with care to raise it instead of letting it slide off, and then there is the ordinary table of the talking heads. The table is connected with the bottom of the box. The exhibition ended, the prestidigitator again covers the table, presses another spring, and the mirrors descend.--_Author's note._

[41] The Malay method of kissing is quite different from the Occidental. The mouth is placed close to the object and a deep breath taken, often without actually touching the object, being more of a sniff than a kiss.--Tr.

[42] Now Calle Tetuan, Santa Cruz. The other names are still in use.--Tr.

[43] The _Sociedad Economica de Amigos del Pais_ for the encouragement of agricultural and industrial development, was established by Basco de Vargas in 1780.--Tr.

[44] Funds managed by the government for making loans and supporting charitable enterprises.--Tr.

[45] The names are fict.i.tious burlesques.--Tr.

[46] "Boiled Shrimp"--Tr.

[47] "Uncle Frank."--Tr.

[48] Messageries Maritimes, a French line of steamers in the Oriental trade.--Tr.

[49] Referring to the expeditions--_Mision Espanola Catolica_--to the Caroline and Pelew Islands from 1886 to 1895, headed by the Capuchin Fathers, which brought misery and disaster upon the natives of those islands, unprofitable losses and sufferings to the Filipino soldiers engaged in them, discredit to Spain, and decorations of merit to a number of Spanish officers.--Tr.

[50] Over the possession of the Caroline and Pelew Islands. The expeditions referred to in the previous note were largely inspired by German activity with regard to those islands, which had always been claimed by Spain, who sold her claim to them to Germany after the loss of the Philippines.--Tr.

[51] "Where the wind wrinkles the silent waves, that rapidly break, of their own movement, with a gentle murmur on the sh.o.r.e."--Tr.

[52] "Where rapid and winged engines will rush in flight."--Tr.