El Filibusterismo. English

  CHAPTER VI

  BASILIO

  When the bells began their chimes for the midnight mass and those whopreferred a good sleep to fiestas and ceremonies arose grumbling atthe noise and movement, Basilio cautiously left the house, took twoor three turns through the streets to see that he was not watchedor followed, and then made his way by unfrequented paths to the roadthat led to the ancient wood of the Ibarras, which had been acquiredby Capitan Tiago when their property was confiscated and sold. AsChristmas fell under the waning moon that year, the place was wrappedin darkness. The chimes had ceased, and only the tolling soundedthrough the darkness of the night amid the murmur of the breeze-stirredbranches and the measured roar of the waves on the neighboring lake,like the deep respiration of nature sunk in profound sleep.

  Awed by the time and place, the youth moved along with his head down,as if endeavoring to see through the darkness. But from time to timehe raised it to gaze at the stars through the open spaces between thetreetops and went forward parting the bushes or tearing away the lianasthat obstructed his path. At times he retraced his steps, his footwould get caught among the plants, he stumbled over a projecting rootor a fallen log. At the end of a half-hour he reached a small brook onthe opposite side of which arose a hillock, a black and shapeless massthat in the darkness took on the proportions of a mountain. Basiliocrossed the brook on the stones that showed black against the shiningsurface of the water, ascended the hill, and made his way to a smallspace enclosed by old and crumbling walls. He approached the baletetree that rose in the center, huge, mysterious, venerable, formed ofroots that extended up and down among the confusedly-interlaced trunks.

  Pausing before a heap of stones he took off his hat and seemed to bepraying. There his mother was buried, and every time he came to thetown his first visit was to that neglected and unknown grave. Since hemust visit Cabesang Tales' family the next day, he had taken advantageof the night to perform this duty. Seated on a stone, he seemed to fallinto deep thought. His past rose before him like a long black film,rosy at first, then shadowy with spots of blood, then black, black,gray, and then light, ever lighter. The end could not be seen, hiddenas it was by a cloud through which shone lights and the hues of dawn.

  Thirteen years before to the day, almost to the hour, his motherhad died there in the deepest distress, on a glorious night when themoon shone brightly and the Christians of the world were engaged inrejoicing. Wounded and limping, he had reached there in pursuit ofher--she mad and terrified, fleeing from her son as from a ghost. Thereshe had died, and there had come a stranger who had commanded him tobuild a funeral pyre. He had obeyed mechanically and when he returnedhe found a second stranger by the side of the other's corpse. Whata night and what a morning those were! The stranger helped him raisethe pyre, whereon they burned the corpse of the first, dug the gravein which they buried his mother, and then after giving him some piecesof money told him to leave the place. It was the first time that he hadseen that man--tall, with blood-shot eyes, pale lips, and a sharp nose.

  Entirely alone in the world, without parents or brothers and sisters,he left the town whose authorities inspired in him such great fear andwent to Manila to work in some rich house and study at the same time,as many do. His journey was an Odyssey of sleeplessness and startlingsurprises, in which hunger counted for little, for he ate the fruitsin the woods, whither he retreated whenever he made out from afar theuniform of the Civil Guard, a sight that recalled the origin of allhis misfortunes. Once in Manila, ragged and sick, he went from doorto door offering his services. A boy from the provinces who knew nota single word of Spanish, and sickly besides! Discouraged, hungry, andmiserable, he wandered about the streets, attracting attention by thewretchedness of his clothing. How often was he tempted to throw himselfunder the feet of the horses that flashed by, drawing carriages shiningwith silver and varnish, thus to end his misery at once! Fortunately,he saw Capitan Tiago, accompanied by Aunt Isabel. He had known themsince the days in San Diego, and in his joy believed that in them hesaw almost fellow-townsfolk. He followed the carriage until he lostsight of it, and then made inquiries for the house. As it was thevery day that Maria Clara entered the nunnery and Capitan Tiago wasaccordingly depressed, he was admitted as a servant, without pay,but instead with leave to study, if he so wished, in San Juan deLetran. [15]

  Dirty, poorly dressed, with only a pair of clogs for footwear, atthe end of several months' stay in Manila, he entered the first yearof Latin. On seeing his clothes, his classmates drew away from him,and the professor, a handsome Dominican, never asked him a question,but frowned every time he looked at him. In the eight months thatthe class continued, the only words that passed between them werehis name read from the roll and the daily _adsum_ with which thestudent responded. With what bitterness he left the class eachday, and, guessing the reason for the treatment accorded him, whattears sprang into his eyes and what complaints were stifled in hisheart! How he had wept and sobbed over the grave of his mother,relating to her his hidden sorrows, humiliations, and affronts,when at the approach of Christmas Capitan Tiago had taken him backto San Diego! Yet he memorized the lessons without omitting a comma,although he understood scarcely any part of them. But at length hebecame resigned, noticing that among the three or four hundred in hisclass only about forty merited the honor of being questioned, becausethey attracted the professor's attention by their appearance, someprank, comicality, or other cause. The greater part of the studentscongratulated themselves that they thus escaped the work of thinkingand understanding the subject. "One goes to college, not to learnand study, but to gain credit for the course, so if the book can bememorized, what more can be asked--the year is thus gained." [16]

  Basilio passed the examinations by answering the solitary questionasked him, like a machine, without stopping or breathing, and in theamusement of the examiners won the passing certificate. His ninecompanions--they were examined in batches of ten in order to savetime--did not have such good luck, but were condemned to repeat theyear of brutalization.

  In the second year the game-cock that he tended won a large sum and hereceived from Capitan Tiago a big tip, which he immediately investedin the purchase of shoes and a felt hat. With these and the clothesgiven him by his employer, which he made over to fit his person,his appearance became more decent, but did not get beyond that. Insuch a large class a great deal was needed to attract the professor'sattention, and the student who in the first year did not make himselfknown by some special quality, or did not capture the good-will of theprofessors, could with difficulty make himself known in the rest of hisschool-days. But Basilio kept on, for perseverance was his chief trait.

  His fortune seemed to change somewhat when he entered the thirdyear. His professor happened to be a very jolly fellow, fond ofjokes and of making the students laugh, complacent enough in thathe almost always had his favorites recite the lessons--in fact,he was satisfied with anything. At this time Basilio now wore shoesand a clean and well-ironed camisa. As his professor noticed thathe laughed very little at the jokes and that his large eyes seemedto be asking something like an eternal question, he took him fora fool, and one day decided to make him conspicuous by callingon him for the lesson. Basilio recited it from beginning to end,without hesitating over a single letter, so the professor called hima parrot and told a story to make the class laugh. Then to increasethe hilarity and justify the epithet he asked several questions,at the same time winking to his favorites, as if to say to them,"You'll see how we're going to amuse ourselves."

  Basilio now understood Spanish and answered the questions with theplain intention of making no one laugh. This disgusted everybody,the expected absurdity did not materialize, no one could laugh, andthe good friar never pardoned him for having defrauded the hopes ofthe class and disappointed his own prophecies. But who would expectanything worth while to come from a head so badly combed and placed onan Indian poorly shod, classified until recently among the arborealanimals? As in other centers of learning, where the teache
rs arehonestly desirous that the students should learn, such discoveriesusually delight the instructors, so in a college managed by menconvinced that for the most part knowledge is an evil, at least forthe students, the episode of Basilio produced a bad impression andhe was not questioned again during the year. Why should he be, whenhe made no one laugh?

  Quite discouraged and thinking of abandoning his studies, he passedto the fourth year of Latin. Why study at all, why not sleep likethe others and trust to luck?

  One of the two professors was very popular, beloved by all, passingfor a sage, a great poet, and a man of advanced ideas. One day whenhe accompanied the collegians on their walk, he had a dispute withsome cadets, which resulted in a skirmish and a challenge. No doubtrecalling his brilliant youth, the professor preached a crusade andpromised good marks to all who during the promenade on the followingSunday would take part in the fray. The week was a lively one--therewere occasional encounters in which canes and sabers were crossed,and in one of these Basilio distinguished himself. Borne in triumphby the students and presented to the professor, he thus became knownto him and came to be his favorite. Partly for this reason and partlyfrom his diligence, that year he received the highest marks, medalsincluded, in view of which Capitan Tiago, who, since his daughterhad become a nun, exhibited some aversion to the friars, in a fit ofgood humor induced him to transfer to the Ateneo Municipal, the fameof which was then in its apogee.

  Here a new world opened before his eyes--a system of instructionthat he had never dreamed of. Except for a few superfluities and somechildish things, he was filled with admiration for the methods thereused and with gratitude for the zeal of the instructors. His eyes attimes filled with tears when he thought of the four previous yearsduring which, from lack of means, he had been unable to study at thatcenter. He had to make extraordinary efforts to get himself to thelevel of those who had had a good preparatory course, and it might besaid that in that one year he learned the whole five of the secondarycurricula. He received his bachelor's degree, to the great satisfactionof his instructors, who in the examinations showed themselves to beproud of him before the Dominican examiners sent there to inspect theschool. One of these, as if to dampen such great enthusiasm a little,asked him where he had studied the first years of Latin.

  "In San Juan de Letran, Padre," answered Basilio.

  "Aha! Of course! He's not bad,--in Latin," the Dominican then remarkedwith a slight smile.

  From choice and temperament he selected the course in medicine. CapitanTiago preferred the law, in order that he might have a lawyer free,but knowledge of the laws is not sufficient to secure clientagein the Philippines--it is necessary to win the cases, and for thisfriendships are required, influence in certain spheres, a good deal ofastuteness. Capitan Tiago finally gave in, remembering that medicalstudents get on intimate terms with corpses, and for some time hehad been seeking a poison to put on the gaffs of his game-cocks,the best he had been able to secure thus far being the blood of aChinaman who had died of syphilis.

  With equal diligence, or more if possible, the young man continuedthis course, and after the third year began to render medical serviceswith such great success that he was not only preparing a brilliantfuture for himself but also earning enough to dress well and savesome money. This was the last year of the course and in two months hewould be a physician; he would come back to the town, he would marryJuliana, and they would be happy. The granting of his licentiateshipwas not only assured, but he expected it to be the crowning act ofhis school-days, for he had been designated to deliver the valedictoryat the graduation, and already he saw himself in the rostrum, beforethe whole faculty, the object of public attention. All those heads,leaders of Manila science, half-hidden in their colored capes; allthe women who came there out of curiosity and who years before hadgazed at him, if not with disdain, at least with indifference; allthose men whose carriages had once been about to crush him down in themud like a dog: they would listen attentively, and he was going tosay something to them that would not be trivial, something that hadnever before resounded in that place, he was going to forget himselfin order to aid the poor students of the future--and he would makehis entrance on his work in the world with that speech.