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Letters Exchanged Between José Rizal and Other Reformers - 1886 (July to December) |
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Letters Exchanged Between José Rizal and Other Reformers - 1886 (July to December) |
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Letters Exchanged Between José Rizal and Other Reformers between July and December of 1886
023 Evaristo Aguirre, Madrid, 15 September 1886
Thanks Rizal for a copy of La Ilustración of Barcelona containing Rizal’s article on Juan Luna -- Grateful for Rizal’s good opinion of his speech at the December 1885 banquet -- Barcelona newspaper published Rizal’s article -- Rizal pleased with Aguirre’s speech at the banquet of December 1885 -- Rizal is translating William Tell in Tagalog
4 (principal, left) Churruca, Madrid 15 September 1886
Mr. José Rizal Leipzig, Germany
My dear Friend,
At last I can satisfy my desire to write you and answer your letter of 25 January inasmuch as I now have the assurance that you will remain one month in Leipzig. Our friend Julio assured me that you said so in your letter to him. Unfortunately what has been happening to me until now is that whenever I ask our friends for your address, it is at the time when you are about to change your residence; so that with the fear, on one hand, that my letter might not reach you before you start on your continual traveling, and on the other hand, waiting for an opportunity like the present to write you, I have postponed it until the present, with deep regret indeed. I repeat that my wish for a long time has been to reply to your Paris letter. Thus, I hope that now that you know the only reason why I have not written you before this, you will give up the opinion of my being inattentive that you might have informed of me on account of my silence. Through Llorente, León, Veloso, and Lete, I have news of you that I have asked repeatedly from them with interest. Through them I have learned that you are continually traveling through that country, viewing the poetic banks of the famous Rhine and adoring au naturel (permit me the phrase) the angelic Marguerites (daisy flowers [used metaphorically]) whose unaffected charms inspired Goethe and who seemed to him the most appropriate to place before Mephistophelian designs of Faust. Be careful, my friend, do not make any of those Marguerites wither! I received and I appreciated very much your New York card you sent me from Paris; but above all I appreciated your kindness in having sent me a copy of the Barcelona newspaper in which your magnificent article appeared that I liked so much. Upon its receipt I requested León to give you my congratulations and my sincerest thanks. I am glad that you liked my inaugural speech delivered at the banquet of last December. I appreciate your praises of it, though undeserved. Though it was rachitic and slovenly written, it was inspired by the sanest intention that I believe can be sufficiently glimpsed through the generalities with which I clothed it. The language was adapted to the circumstances of our situation, but I did not take into account that many of my listeners would not understand my meaning. Hence, later I had the sad realization that I had spoken only for a few who knew how to pick the grain from the chaff. I was not satisfied with my performance, not having worked on my speech until that same day of the 31st and finished it at ten o’clock that night. On the other hand, I was exceedingly satisfied to hear Julio, Eduardo, Graciano, and your letter which was read by León in which you spoke to us of something that we could not understand perhaps due to the tears that you mentioned and which we really shed (though discretely), wetting or dampening them with champagne. I know already that you have finished the little work [1] and that you are now translating Schiller [2], showing that you are not wasting time; on the contrary you are using it profitably and well. I am going to close this letter for I am going to visit a sick countryman whom I do not know if you have met: his name is Villaruz. Farewell, dear. May you have good health and command your very affectionate friend and countryman whom you know loves you. Cauit [3 _____________ (1) [1] He alludes to Noli me tángere which Rizal finished writing in Germany. (2) [2] William Tell translated into Tagalog by Rizal. (3) [3] Cauit is the pseudonym of Evaristo Aguirre, son of a Spaniard, who grew up in Kawit, Cavite. He was a friend and contemporary of Rizal.
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XXXX 024 Evaristo Aguirre, Madrid, 26 September 1886
Unity among the Filipinos is imperative for the triumph of their cause -- Will send Rizal copies of newspapers containing articles on the Philippines --Noli me tángre -- Need of undertaking a campaign in the Philippines to awaken the people -- Sends Rizal sketches of Fort Santiago and Bilibid -- Villaruz, Filipino student of engineering from Capiz.
4 (principal, left) Churruca, Madrid, 26 September 1886
Mr. José Rizal Leipzig, Germany
My dear Friend,
Sooner than I expected and for that reason with greater pleasure, I received your esteemed letter of the 22nd. It is evident, in my opinion, that the union of all is necessary to make our ideas and aspirations triumph. Inevitably this union draws closer those who are already joined together by numerous ties that Nature weaves and consecrates. The man and citizen dignifies himself by respecting those sacred ties and thereby realizes right and justice. If he isolates himself, holding aloof from the common cause, producing schism among brothers, allowing himself to be led by suspicions, antipathies, prejudices (which are always personal and mean, never founded on justice), because there is no doubt (unlucky of us if we doubted) that above all individual aberrations, at bottom is the great truth, the love for the Supreme Being who divides His paternal love equally among all, before whose respectable glance ought to disappear all hatred, before whose tears all hearts ought to unite, and to whose lap we all ought to go together to worship Him, to place our caresses and to present our triumphs. If the citizen separates himself from the common cause he does not only hurt the Mother Country, who expects something else from him, he does not only hurt his brothers among whom he sows discord, but, what is damaging to his egoistic views, he hurts himself, converting himself thrice a criminal, like loathsome, unworthy, and despicable traitor, without country, without faith, without love, without hope, like a pariah. And this union must be eternal, but it can only be realized among those who have ideas and convictions in the mind and sentiments in the heart. Empty heads, insensible hearts (not to say insensible epidermis) are not ready material. Always I have gone with faith to toast among my fellow countrymen, far from seeing through the cup the foam that disappears, rather observing the bottom that boils. I cannot agree that our union should scatter like the fume of champagne. But neither do I let myself be carried away by a candid optimism, because it is obvious that there is emptiness in some, lack of formality in others, and a good amount of unsteady fear in not a few. Let us trust in the goodness of the cause and the progress of the times. . . . I shall take care of sending you every issue of newspapers in which an article about the colony appears. Now I send you three magazines that speak of the events of the 19th, unimportant coup de main [1], according to its impassioned enemies, and a very vast plan though an aborted one, according to impartial observers. They have caught all those who rose up in arms, including the immediate leaders, the most outstanding of them being Brigadier Villacampa. It is not yet known what the fate of the rebels will be, but without posing as a redeemer, I believe that the government should not condemn them to death, because, dealing with political questions, opinion is not unanimous and fortune is very variable. As a poet said, “Just as the wheel goes turning around, it shows its face, smiling or disdainful.” If those who are now defeated should go up, they be consistent by being implacable towards those who are against them now. I take into consideration the essence and object of your novel and I cherish the hope that it will answer some of our numerous needs as it is inspired by the lofty sentiments that animate you and which we all know. That the personages are all taken from life and the happenings are true are circumstances that increase the merit of the work and will render it more commendable, placing it in a position to produce practical results, if, as it is to be expected, the naked truth of the happenings is duly appreciated. I am sorry I don’t know of any military prison as I should like to comply with what you ask me, but before finishing this letter this same afternoon, I will see if I can obtain some data on the matter through a military friend of mine, married to a Filipino woman. I believe that in Manila there is no other military prison except Fort Santiago where there are dungeons under the wall towards the river, where it is completely dark and humid because of its proximity to the Pasig River that laps its walls, and surely I do not remember now the name that they gave to a dungeon which they said was the worst. In one of them the shipping merchant Mr. Mourente caught rheumatism, which he remembers perfectly even now that he is established in Hong Kong. ’Villaruz has recovered, though he does not go out yet of the house. He is not a military man; he is a lad educated at San Juan de Letrán, a native of Capiz, according to what I know, and has come here to study engineering, I don’t know if it is agricultural or road; but to be “extracted” nor to . . . [2] as our famous “to be not” said. He is a likable chap, of gentle disposition who, though very young and consequently more fond of gay women and mazurkas and dances than of any other thing. However, he does not fail to listen when one talks to him about the great ideals, like one day when I was seated on the edge of his bed and were conversing amicably, he exclaimed smiling and pensive: “How good, chap, if we did so; castles in the air, nothing more.” I am planning to return to the Philippines and though I do not know the exact day, if they fulfill what they offer me, it will not be very long before I shall salute those shores. What happens is that, waiting for a job, as I do, things move more slowly. So you have already written five times asking for money to go home? May they answer you soon. We must make propaganda in the Philippines. When will that people be ready? …. At the metropolis we must work to obtain rights. One work complements the other, for a people who do not know their rights nor use them, cannot appreciate them well, much less when they have already allowed the principal right to be snatched away and with time, insensible, they will see it in the hands of others. The work then now is that of reflection; it is double: of study, of education, petition, and recovery. At the beginning, the spontaneous and natural work of simple opposition sufficed. Julio must have already informed you of the society of which he is president and whose object is to form another overseas and autonomous general society. In my desire, on the one hand, that this be something good and produce results and on the other hand, fearing that it may turn out a step in vain, I don’t dare foretell anything about the society. The idea of joining us to Cubans and Puerto Ricans is not bad; it could be favorable, these gentlemen being so sui generis [unique] that they are almost always a fiasco [ridiculous failure]. I have not been able to sympathize yet with any of them because I seem to discover in all of them a large dosis of exaggerated vanity and egoism. (Perhaps they need to be so for their redemption.) The leadership of Labra would be good, if he were not a republican in the midst of a monarchy, a characteristic that inevitably accompanies all his acts in order to find an echo; it would be good if we did not know by heart that, as an autonomist, he had been completely repudiated by almost all the parties in the last sessions of the Cortes. Can the Philippines, represented by some young men in Madrid, be a candidate for autonomy (as Labra likes), when it was denied to Cuba and Puerto Rico, alleging that it would be a step towards independence? The good that I get from the society for the present is that it accustoms Filipinos to foregather, to make a contribution towards the common cause, which, though little, if they continue along this path, may result in the accumulation here of a little ready fund to pay for the publication of articles in the newspapers (if they cannot be published in any other way) and to remunerate also the representatives in the Cortes who speak and interpellate on Philippine matters. This is very practical and on this I agree with Govantes. For lesser reasons they make interpellations, and precisely Govantes has just told me that a deputy disgusted with Gamazo for not having minded him in various matters, told him that he would harass him in the coming sessions of the Cortes with interpellations for Govantes himself offered him data. These are the times and in the name of these principles are interpellations made and rights demanded. Let us adjust ourselves to the times and utilize all the means to get some benefit and though it is only to satisfy the personal interests of a deputy, let us say that, inasmuch as this gentleman needs money, the government is very wrong, the minister of the colonies is very wrong in not implementing the reforms that the Philippines demand, and if they give us reforms, bless the hunger of interpellant! Enclosed I send you some scrawled plans of the military prisons of Fort Santiago and of the Bilibid jail. I wish that through them you might form an idea of what those places are. You already know the square of the exterior fort. I have been inside the second square to see an artillery officer on duty, but I did not see either the dungeons or the pavilions for officer-prisoners. But these pavilions for important people are on the walls (in front, over the entrance gate, behind towards the river, and on the left side towards the south wharf, as you yourself must have seen from the outside) and the obscure dungeons for those condemned to death and heavy penalties, as I have told you, are under the walls, the worst ones being those behind the warden’s house, somewhat lower than the level of the Pasig, with double doors and without skylight nor any hole for air. One goes down there through two cramps, on the right and left. Through the relief door you must have seen come our gunners to take a bath in the river. From the exterior square there is bridge over a small ditch and at its end there is a door or iron screen and to find the entrance to the fort, following the road marked by some walls or parapets, one musts turn to the right and then to the left, passing at last the door, the vault of the wall where are the guard-room and the second gate opening on the second square. An officer of the military staff of the fort gave me this data. I can think of nothing more to tell you, my friend. May you be in good health, receive the regards of Don Antonio (Rivera) and Leonor, as well as of friend Villaruz, who appreciates your greetings, and command your very affectionate.
Cauit
Leonor requests me to tell you that she is very much offended because you do not remember to write them, knowing how they esteem you and how pleased they are to have news of you.
The Same _______________ (1) [1] That is, an unexpected attack by military men. He refers to an abortive uprising in Madrid. (2) [2] Many words are missing in this letter as published in the Epistolario Rizalino, I, pp. 195-202.
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XXXX025 Máximo Viola, Barcelona, 21 October 1886
Personal medical condition -- Viola reports on the cost of printing Noli Me tángere -- Inquires about traveling in Germany -- He has met Antonio Luna.
Barcelona, 21 October 1886
Mr. José Rizal
Esteemed Mr. Pepe,
Nilintican aco! [1] I received your two letters long ago to which you allude in your last letter, but until the present, I have not had time to answer you for the reasons that you guessed and for the illness and kept me at home for a month and a half, having used in vain all the old and new remedies prescribed for the case. For about a week now I am somewhat better. Day before yesterday I was at the house of Daniel Cortezo and there I was told that it was not possible to finish the printing of your work [2] in one year. I was at the Ramirez Printing Press this morning and there they asked me for the printing of your work, in accordance with the conditions stated in your last letter, the price that you will find written on the enclosed piece of paper, which is the kind of paper or sample that you like. I have been chosen at the drawing of lots and probably I will take the examination this coming week. For what might happen after my examination, it would not be superfluous for you to tell me when you write me, if the suits I use in Spain can be worn there in winter, or if, by wearing them, I would be looked upon in Germany as a Spaniard, that is, backward, or as some would like it, African (though I’m neither one nor the other), according to the boundaries that Dumas wants to assign to Spain. I have matriculated for the doctorate. I congratulate you on your great progress. Yesterday I had the pleasure to meet (Antonio) Luna, recently arrived from Paris.
Maximo Viola
Your house: [3] 1-3rd, 2nd Vergara ______________ (1) [1] It is a familiar Tagalog imprecation, literally meaning, “Lightning struck me.” (2) [2] Noli me tángere. (3) [3] A polite phrase, meaning he is offering his house to Rizal.
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XXXX026 Evaristo Aguirre, 25 October 1886
Financial difficulties in the printing of the Noli -- Bitter comments a projected exposition in 1887 -- Machiavellian spirit of domination and exploitation -- France and Germany -- Translation of William Tell, tales of Anderson, and Faust of Goethe -- Ventura witnessed a deplorable incident at the Café Suizo in Manila.
4 principal, left, Churruca Madrid, 24 October 1886
My dear Friend, I have before me your esteemed letter, dated 15th, which I received in due time together with the one you wrote to Leonor. I am really sorry that, on account of the excessive cost of printing your novel there, we are deprived of its immediate publication that we so much desire. You can rest assured that if its publication depending upon me, if I had the money that you lack at present for that purpose, I would be your Maecenas [1] with the greatest pleasure. But knowing as you do my usual financial condition, not being able to remedy the situation, I prefer to keep quiet now to continue my lamentations and protestations that solve nothing. Well! Are you informed of the proposed exhibition of Filipino wild people next spring to satisfy the curiosity of the clowns on this side of the Pyrenees? For a year now the clucking cackles, for a year the symptoms of pregnancy are announced that very soon will result in the phenomenal birth of the Philippine exhibition (here the epithet is exceedingly fitting), so loudly reported. So, you want dirty linen to be washed at home? That is only done by the clean ones, man. Well there where it is not . . . You ask for nothing but the best of the country to be shown. Well, for what is the exhibition? For that, there is the country exhibited where God put it. Whoever wants to see it, let him go there. No my friend; the fact is that the Madre-Petra [2] knows by heart what the country is, and if it is true that the country has very good products and great needs, here there is no pretending ignorance and any minister of colonies has under study important projects of reforms that will come at the proper time. The fact is that she knows that she has very cunning children in regard to fried fish there in the neighborhood of Yap, and she is informed by the counselors and missionaries of the Archipelago that the deportment and ability of the converted inhabitants of that pearl are a marvel of grace when they lead their bancas [3] through their surging rivers, when they make a jiffy house of grass and bamboo; when they roll cigars by the special process of rice paste; when they cross a lake swimming without getting wet, except their bodies; or when they lift up from the ground with their toes everything from a straw to a beam with a prehensile skill possessed only by certain animals. Tell me and if not, let God come and see it, that a loving mother who takes so much interest in her children, knowing this, wants just to laugh at them or make fun of their accomplishments. For, do you really think that the interest of the Metropolis in Philippine culinary art, whose most classical and refined expression are pansit, poto, suman, bagon [4] and other specialties like these, can be less than in other principal things that pertain to the colony? Well, you ought to take into account that, besides many other weighty reasons, needless to mention in detail here, such as hygiene and civilization, which are so intimately related to art, the exhibition may unexpectedly favor these small industries. Should their products find acceptance here, advantageous markets will be opened to them. But how pessimistic you are! If you had the regulation or instructions for the exhibition, you would see that there is nothing saner than the intention of its initiators and of the government in this case. Ask for those documents from Julio or Lete, who both have them, inasmuch as without their knowing it or their expecting it, they have been honored with the appointment of members of the publicity body. The exhibition has to give a blow, and why not, as a lake will be built and bancas and rowers will be brought over. And they will erect nipa huts there where Philippine dishes will be served. Young Filipino women will embroider; men and women will make cigars with all the body and soul they might have. The regulation says that fifty persons of both sexes are coming. Ventura (Valentín) fears for the life of our country women who can easily catch pneumonia. The exhibition is coming. The suputs will open their mouths wide and in a chorus will ask that they dance even the moro moro. [5] The counselors will stroll about proudly; the ministers will take notes and will take up the subject in some council meeting; the journalists will invent witty sayings, stories, and anecdotes, without detriment of devoting to the subject some patronizing editorial; and the missionaries, finally, Fathers Dieces and Arsenios, after extending their hand to the exhibits, will address them with some paternal words being practical connoisseurs of the country, they will acquaint everyone who cares to listen to them of the docility of that people, though apathetic and ignorant. They will ponder on the apostolic zeal of those who, despite great efforts, hardly succeed to dispel errors and prejudices from the minds of those unhappy people. There is a university there; there are schools; they taught, but in vain: their intelligence is very limited, they are lazy, though they possess an admirable instinct to imitate; they are satisfied with a little fish and rice, so that agriculture, industry. . . well, if it were not for the Chinese. . . ., and if not, there is the tobacco; since the Hacienda does not compel them to plant it, hardly do they produce any: they love the whip, they serve better the master who treats them worse, and truly they are better off in comparison with the carabao. They have many defects and few virtues; they are knavish, crafty; they vex the Spaniard, knowing that by making his blood boil, he will finally blow up. They respect only the parish priest; without him the least they would do would be to take to the woods. Alas, dear Rizal, I cannot go on in this pitch without poisoning my own heart and I suffer and I torture myself madly. . . . Who doubts that a Machiavellian spirit, inspired by egoistic purposes of domination and exploitation if not of hatred and death for that country, intervenes in or presides over the idea or the realization of the wretched exhibition? Could you believe any other thing? If some Castila [6] thinks and acts in good faith in this case, may God not ask the bold one for a reckoning. If some countryman advocates for this cause and expects something good from it, he is an innocent man; he belongs to the kingdom of God. But it is evident that there is not sensible person (Castilas included) who does not find the idea absurd such as it has been conceived and is to be carried out. Thus, it will be said with more than enough reason: that people (the Philippine race) is a child; it is not yet prepared; the missionaries, protectors of the country and guardians of the Mother Country’s interest, still need to work a great deal in their civilizing mission; what the country needs is to favor the development of its riches, of its production, other reforms of a political or administrative character would be premature now; the Filipino only needs protection and to preserve those qualities of simplicity and docility that are the best guarantee of his welfare and happiness and of his advancement. From the events of the Caroline Islands and in the face of the Philippine Exposition in Barcelona was born and became a reality the Madrid Exposition: a little good faith (I don’t deny it) and love of country (in the Spanish sense of the word) ad a good doses of friar spirit will make that idea a reality which will be, it is clear, another farce another affront of the mean exploiters of that people. Autonomy, if they would concede it, would be more of a bothersome poultice than a beneficial one: no other thing can be expected. Society is marching towards its dissolution: nothing can be done or it is not the road or means that ought to be adopted! The truth is that these attempts fail. It is painful to talk about this. R . . . , a dissolute man, is no longer secretary and neither is he an autonomist. Those who made him secretary cannot be held responsible, and rightly, because nobody protested against his election. Therefore, it does not seem wise for you to insist on taking up the matter with the good and confident friend Julio. I congratulate myself that my so-called plans are satisfactory to you, as I wish. You can command me. Villaruz appreciates your greetings and greets you affectionately. He is still ill. After the fever, he was attacked by acute rheumatism which was later complicated with a pericardial ailment. For sometime he was critically ill. Fortunately, though still sick, he is fairly better than before. What a pity, indeed, that I cannot travel with you through those countries! You do perfectly well in going around and seeing everything. It is sad indeed that two great peoples -- France and Germany -- should regard each other with misgiving and treat each as enemies; but this is inevitable; nations more than individuals are ruled by passion. My congratulations on the termination of the Tagalog translation of William Tell and my good wishes that you may finish with equal success the tales of Andersen and the Faust of Goethe. With nothing more to tell you for the present, you know you can count on the affection of your friend and countryman.
Cauit
Ventura has returned to Manila where, for his first impression, he witnessed in the Café Suizo the moving scene in which a Spanish hero, a descendant of the Cids and Pelayos, dealt a boy, for a mistake he made in the bill, fisticuffs and kicks until the boy fainted and rolled on the floor. This can be related with historical sincerity, but without passion, it is impossible. I tell you this because you cultivate the novel.
The Same ______________ (1) [1] Gaius Cilinus Maecenas (70? -8 B.C.), wealthy Roman statesman and patron of literature, the patron of Horace and Virgil. (2) [2] A play of words Madre Patria (Mother country) (3) [3] A Philippine small sailing craft, like a canoe. In Tagalog, bangka. (4) [4] Pansit is a rich noodle dish. Poto or Puto is steamed sweetened rice-flower. Suman is glutinous rice, soaked in rich coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaves, and boiled until cooked. Bagon or bagoong is a sauce made of salted fish. (5) [5] Moro-moro is the name given to popular plays where there is plenty of action. Their actors represent Christians and Muslims (Moors = Moros), as they are called locally. (6) [6] Or Kastila, Tagalog term for (Castellón =Spaniard).
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027 José M. Cecilio, Manila, 22 November 1886
He receives a letter from Rizal written at Leipzig -- Congratulates Rizal on his knowledge of German -- Considers Rizal lucky for his God-given talents -- Wishes him glory -- news of mutual friends.
9 Malinta, Binondo 22 November 1886
Mr. José Rizal My distinguished Tocayo, Friend, Co-Babylonian Doctor, In my possession is your esteemed letter dated at Leipzig, 3 October last with a letter addressed to you by the immortal Luna. I’m not entirely unaware of the difficulties encountered in seeking employment at that capital city, difficulties that can be overcome with money. For this reason I am not surprised at what you tell me in your letter and I am sorry to have caused you displeasure, asking you for a thing. . . (portion damaged; illegible). If, . . . . (damaged, illegible) that you are a legitimate hope. . . (damaged) we have there, afterwards your son will bear the cross, but, as we are now, it would not be prudent to do something in his favor. We hope, however, sooner or later, to know that son who will undoubtedly be useful to his father as well as to us. L. V., the swallow that will not come back, was married one day in July to J. P. whom you already know. The wedding was held against the wishes of the mother of the young lady but with all the pomp possible. In the following September Margarita Valenzuela married José Javier, an employee of a commercial firm. Mentang, I believe in the same month of September, married one from Indang who had been a little petty clergyman, owner of some houses in Sta. Cruz. Still to follow are Tentay and her N. and Oñang and her S. In short, may the newly married and those who are still be married live happily. Vicente Gella returned to Antique weeks ago and took the examination for secondary school teachers. He is justice of the peace of the provincial capital and acting judge of first instance because the permanent judge there is going on leave. It seems he is going to open a law office and school to find out how one can earn a livelihood. León Apacible, who is also an attorney, will soon return to Batangas where he has a permit to practice his profession.
Simeón Dádivas is still at the
Intendencia General de Hacienda as third class aspirant with The first two comrades are still bachelors, and the last one has been married for years. All our girl friends are getting married and the few who remain single soon marry. I don’t know, dear Tocayo, when I shall get married because I’m not courting anyone. My present life is reduced to dancing two or three times a month in two houses -- in my cousin’s and in my uncle Tomás del Rosario’s, whom it seems, you met in Spain. In these houses foregather some young men, among them Cabañgis with whom you lived in Barcelona and who told me that you remember a great deal the Question of the Orient. [1] I’ll give you information on these two young men: the first is a lawyer from the university here with a law office and the second is a physician from Barcelona with a practice in his native town. Both are still bachelors without fiancées. I see that. . . (damaged portion) our girl friends. . . (damaged). . . . also. I congratulate the recently married there wishing them good luck. [I wish] the same to our immortal Luna. I congratulate you on your progress in the study of the difficult German language. When are you going to England? Margarita is still single but already engaged; the same [is true] with M. to our M, student in the 4th year medical course. Catalina Vasquez remains a widow with one boy. Pololeng is in La Concordia College as an elementary teacher; it is nothing more than a title. The Question of the Orient remains beside her parents in Dagupan; I don’t know when she is coming. Our compadre, Rosauro, is still in the office writing reports every day, as I am forgetting every day this language. Galicano is in 5th year medicine; he treats successfully some families at this capital. All these young men send you their affectionate regards. They have a good practice in that country of placing on the envelope the name of the letter’s sender so that when the addressee is not found, it can be returned to the sender. Your sister Trinidad is a young lady now. I saw her at the house of Mrs. Concha Leyba. . . (damaged), for recently your sister María married one from Biñang. You are right in saying that a bachelor’s life is sad, but, Tocayo, it is better to be alone than to be badly married. Lucky you are who have use of all faculties God has granted to man. Receive the affectionate regards of my parents and brothers and of your very affectionate friend who wishes you glory, and happiness on this earth.
José M. Cecilio _______________ [1] Leonor Rivera.
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RIZAL'S LIFE |
RIZAL'S WRITINGS |
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500
annual salary, despite being a lawyer.
