The Social Cancer, by José Rizal - Home
The Social Cancer, by José Rizal - Home
The Social Cancer, by José Rizal - Home
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CHAPTER LXIII 307<br />
[62] <strong>The</strong> common crowd is a fool and since it pays for it, it is proper to talk to it foolishly to please it.<br />
[63] "<strong>The</strong> schools are under the inspection of the parish priests. Reading and writing in Spanish are taught, or<br />
at least it is so ordered; but the schoolmaster himself usually does not know it, and on the other hand the<br />
Spanish government employees do not understand the vernacular. Besides, the curates, in order to preserve<br />
their influence intact, do not look favorably upon the spread of Castilian. About the only ones who know<br />
Spanish are the Indians who have been in the service of Europeans. <strong>The</strong> first reading exercise is some<br />
devotional book, then the catechism; the reader is called Casaysayan. On the average half of the children<br />
between seven and ten years attend school; they learn to read fairly well and some to write a little, but they<br />
soon forget it."--Jagor, Viajes por Filipinas (Vidal's Spanish version). Jagor was speaking particularly of the<br />
settled parts of the Bicol region. Referring to the islands generally, his "half of the children" would be a great<br />
exaggeration.--TR.<br />
[64] A delicate bit of sarcasm is lost in the translation here. <strong>The</strong> reference to Maestro Ciruela in Spanish is<br />
somewhat similar to a mention in English of Mr. Squeers, of Dotheboys Hall fame.--TR.<br />
[65] By one of the provisions of a royal decree of December 20, 1863, the Catecismo de la Doctrina Cristina,<br />
<strong>by</strong> Gaspar Astete, was prescribed as the text-book for primary schools, in the Philippines. See Blair and<br />
Robertson's <strong>The</strong> Philippine Islands, Vol. XLVI, p. 98; Census of the Philippine Islands (Washington, 1905),<br />
p. 584.--TR.<br />
[66] <strong>The</strong> municipal police of the old régime. <strong>The</strong>y were thus described <strong>by</strong> a Spanish writer, W. E. Retana, in a<br />
note to Ventura F. Lopez's El Filibustero (Madrid, 1893): "Municipal guards, whose duties are principally<br />
rural. <strong>The</strong>ir uniform is a disaster; they go barefoot; on horseback, they hold the reins in the right hand and a<br />
lance in the left. <strong>The</strong>y are usually good-for-nothing, but to their credit it must be said that they do no damage.<br />
Lacking military instruction, provided with fire-arms of the first part of the century, of which one in a hundred<br />
might go off in case of need, and for other arms bolos, talibons, old swords, etc., the cuadrilleros are truly a<br />
parody on armed force."--TR.<br />
[67] Headman and tax-collector of a district, generally including about fifty families, for whose annual tribute<br />
he was personally responsible. <strong>The</strong> "barangay" is a Malay boat of the kind supposed to have been used <strong>by</strong> the<br />
first emigrants to the Philippines. Hence, at first, the "head of a barangay" meant the leader or chief of a<br />
family or group of families. This office, quite analogous to the old Germanic or Anglo-Saxon "head of a<br />
hundred," was adopted and perpetuated <strong>by</strong> the Spaniards in their system of local administration.--TR.<br />
[68] <strong>The</strong> hermano mayor was a person appointed to direct the ceremonies during the fiesta, an appointment<br />
carrying with it great honor and importance, but also entailing considerable expense, as the appointee was<br />
supposed to furnish a large share of the entertainments. Hence, the greater the number of hermanos mayores<br />
the more splendid the fiesta,--TR.<br />
[69] Mt. Makiling is a volcanic cone at the southern end of the Lake of Bay. At its base is situated the town of<br />
Kalamba, the author's birthplace. About this mountain cluster a number of native legends having as their<br />
principal character a celebrated sorceress or enchantress, known as "Mariang Makiling."--TR.<br />
[70] With uncertain pace, in wandering flight, for an instant only--without rest.<br />
[71] <strong>The</strong> chinela, the Philippine slipper, is a soft leather sole, heelless, with only a vamp, usually of plush or<br />
velvet, to hold it on.--TR.<br />
[72] "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." <strong>The</strong> words inscribed over the gate of Hell: Dante's Inferno, III,<br />
9.--TR.