CHAPTER XXXII
EFFECT OF THE PASQUINADES
As a result of the events narrated, many mothers ordered their sonsimmediately to leave off their studies and devote themselves toidleness or to agriculture. When the examinations came, suspensionswere plentiful, and he was a rare exception who finished the course,if he had belonged to the famous association, to which no one paidany more attention. Pecson, Tadeo, and Juanito Pelaez were all alikesuspended--the first receiving his dismissal with his foolish grinand declaring his intention of becoming an officer in some court,while Tadeo, with his eternal holiday realized at last, paid for anillumination and made a bonfire of his books. Nor did the others getoff much better, and at length they too had to abandon their studies,to the great satisfaction of their mothers, who always fancy their sonshanged if they should come to understand what the books teach. JuanitoPelaez alone took the blow ill, since it forced him to leave school forhis father's store, with whom he was thenceforward to be associatedin the business: the rascal found the store much less entertaining,but after some time his friends again noticed his hump appear,a symptom that his good humor was returning. The rich Makaraig,in view of the catastrophe, took good care not to expose himself,and having secured a passport by means of money set out in haste forEurope. It was said that his Excellency, the Captain-General, in hisdesire to do good by good means, and careful of the interests of theFilipinos, hindered the departure of every one who could not firstprove substantially that he had the money to spend and could live inidleness in European cities. Among our acquaintances those who got offbest were Isagani and Sandoval: the former passed in the subject hestudied under Padre Fernandez and was suspended in the others, whilethe latter was able to confuse the examining-board with his oratory.
Basilio was the only one who did not pass in any subject, who wasnot suspended, and who did not go to Europe, for he remained inBilibid prison, subjected every three days to examinations, almostalways the same in principle, without other variation than a change ofinquisitors, since it seemed that in the presence of such great guiltall gave up or fell away in horror. And while the documents molderedor were shifted about, while the stamped papers increased like theplasters of an ignorant physician on the body of a hypochondriac,Basilio became informed of all the details of what had happenedin Tiani, of the death of Juli and the disappearance of TandangSelo. Sinong, the abused cochero, who had driven him to San Diego,happened to be in Manila at that time and called to give him allthe news.
Meanwhile, Simoun had recovered his health, or so at least thenewspapers said. Ben-Zayb rendered thanks to "the Omnipotent whowatches over such a precious life," and manifested the hope that theHighest would some day reveal the malefactor, whose crime remainedunpunished, thanks to the charity of the victim, who was too closelyfollowing the words of the Great Martyr: _Father, forgive them, forthey know not what they do._ These and other things Ben-Zayb said inprint, while by mouth he was inquiring whether there was any truth inthe rumor that the opulent jeweler was going to give a grand fiesta,a banquet such as had never before been seen, in part to celebratehis recovery and in part as a farewell to the country in which he hadincreased his fortune. It was whispered as certain that Simoun, whowould have to leave with the Captain-General, whose command expiredin May, was making every effort to secure from Madrid an extension,and that he was advising his Excellency to start a campaign in order tohave an excuse for remaining, but it was further reported that for thefirst time his Excellency had disregarded the advice of his favorite,making it a point of honor not to retain for a single additional daythe power that had been conferred upon him, a rumor which encouragedbelief that the fiesta announced would take place; very soon. Forthe rest, Simoun remained unfathomable, since he had become veryuncommunicative, showed himself seldom, and smiled mysteriously whenthe rumored fiesta was mentioned.
"Come, Senor Sindbad," Ben-Zayb had once rallied him, "dazzle us withsomething Yankee! You owe something to this country."
"Doubtless!" was Simoun's response, with a dry smile.
"You'll throw the house wide open, eh?"
"Maybe, but as I have no house--"
"You ought to have secured Capitan Tiago's, which Senor Pelaez gotfor nothing."
Simoun became silent, and from that time on he was often seen in thestore of Don Timoteo Pelaez, with whom it was said he had enteredinto partnership. Some weeks afterward, in the month of April, it wasrumored that Juanito Pelaez, Don Timoteo's son, was going to marryPaulita Gomez, the girl coveted by Spaniards and foreigners.
"Some men are lucky!" exclaimed other envious merchants. "To buy ahouse for nothing, sell his consignment of galvanized iron well,get into partnership with a Simoun, and marry his son to a richheiress--just say if those aren't strokes of luck that all honorablemen don't have!"
"If you only knew whence came that luck of Senor Pelaez's!" anotherresponded, in a tone which indicated that the speaker did know. "It'salso assured that there'll be a fiesta and on a grand scale," wasadded with mystery.
It was really true that Paulita was going to marry Juanito Pelaez. Herlove for Isagani had gradually waned, like all first loves basedon poetry and sentiment. The events of the pasquinades and theimprisonment of the youth had shorn him of all his charms. To whomwould it have occurred to seek danger, to desire to share the fateof his comrades, to surrender himself, when every one was hiding anddenying any complicity in the affair? It was quixotic, it was madnessthat no sensible person in Manila could pardon, and Juanito was quiteright in ridiculing him, representing what a sorry figure he cut whenhe went to the Civil Government. Naturally, the brilliant Paulitacould no longer love a young man who so erroneously understood socialmatters and whom all condemned. Then she began to reflect. Juanito wasclever, capable, gay, shrewd, the son of a rich merchant of Manila,and a Spanish mestizo besides--if Don Timoteo was to be believed,a full-blooded Spaniard. On the other hand, Isagani was a provincialnative who dreamed of forests infested with leeches, he was of doubtfulfamily, with a priest for an uncle, who would perhaps be an enemy toluxury and balls, of which she was very fond. One beautiful morningtherefore it occurred to her that she had been a downright fool toprefer him to his rival, and from that time on Pelaez's hump steadilyincreased. Unconsciously, yet rigorously, Paulita was obeying thelaw discovered by Darwin, that the female surrenders herself to thefittest male, to him who knows how to adapt himself to the medium inwhich he lives, and to live in Manila there was no other like Pelaez,who from his infancy had had chicanery at his finger-tips. Lent passedwith its Holy Week, its array of processions and pompous displays,without other novelty than a mysterious mutiny among the artillerymen,the cause of which was never disclosed. The houses of light materialswere torn down in the presence of a troop of cavalry, ready to fallupon the owners in case they should offer resistance. There was agreat deal of weeping and many lamentations, but the affair did notget beyond that. The curious, among them Simoun, went to see thosewho were left homeless, walking about indifferently and assuring eachother that thenceforward they could sleep in peace.
Towards the end of April, all the fears being now forgotten, Manilawas engrossed with one topic: the fiesta that Don Timoteo Pelaez wasgoing to celebrate at the wedding of his son, for which the Generalhad graciously and condescendingly agreed to be the patron. Simounwas reported to have arranged the matter. The ceremony wouldbe solemnized two days before the departure of the General, whowould honor the house and make a present to the bridegroom. It waswhispered that the jeweler would pour out cascades of diamonds andthrow away handfuls of pearls in honor of his partner's son, thus,since he could hold no fiesta of his own, as he was a bachelor andhad no house, improving the opportunity to dazzle the Filipino peoplewith a memorable farewell. All Manila prepared to be invited, andnever did uneasiness take stronger hold of the mind than in view ofthe thought of not being among those bidden. Friendship with Simounbecame a matter of dispute, and many husbands were forced by theirwives to purchase bars of steel and sheets of galvanize
d iron inorder to make friends with Don Timoteo Pelaez.