When the sky was serene4 and the atmosphere clear, the boys used to climb to the very peak of the old moss5 and vine covered church tower. And what exclamations6 they would utter when, from that high pinnacle7, they looked out at the beautiful panorama8 that surrounded them. There before them lay a great mass of roofs, some nipa, some thatch9, some zinc10 and some made out of the native grasses. And out of that mass, which here and there gave way to an orchard11 or a garden, every one of those boys could find his own little home, his own little nest. To them everything was a landmark12; every tamarind tree with its light foliage13, every cocoanut tree with its load of nuts, every bending cane14, every bonga tree, every cross. Beyond the town is the crystal river, like a serpent asleep on a carpet of green. Here and there, its tranquil15 surface is broken by rocks projecting from its sandy bottom. In places, it is hemmed16 in between two high banks, and there the rapidly rushing waters turn and twist the half-bared roots of the overhanging shade trees. But further on it spreads itself out again and becomes calm and peaceful.
But what always attracts attention is a peninsula of forest projecting into this sea of cultivated land. There can be found hollow-trunked trees, a century old, trees which die only when struck by lightning and set on fire. They say, also, that even in that case the fire never spreads to any other tree. This old grove17 is held in a certain degree of awe18, for around it have been woven many strange [41]legends. Of these the most probable, and consequently the least known and believed is the following:
When the town was still a miserable19 group of huts, when weeds grew in abundance in the so-called streets, and deer and wild boar roamed about at night, there arrived one day an old Spaniard. His eyes were deep and thoughtful and he spoke20 Tagalog fluently. After visiting the different estates and peddling21 out some goods he inquired for the owners of this grove, which by the way, also contained several hot water springs. A number of persons claiming to be the owners presented themselves, and the old man purchased from them the grove, paying in exchange some money, jewelry22 and clothing. A short time afterward23 he disappeared, no one knew where.
His sudden disappearance24 made the people think for a time that he had been spirited away, but later on a fetid odor was noticeable near the grove, and some shepherds, upon investigation25, found the body of the old man in a badly decomposed26 condition hanging from the limb of a balit? tree. When alive the old man had terrorized many by his deep and resonant27 voice, his sunken eyes and his silent laugh, but now that he was dead, and a suicide at that, the mere28 mention of his name gave the town women nightmare. Some of them threw the jewelry that they had bought from him into the river and burned all the clothing, and, for a long time after the body had been buried at the foot of the balit? tree, no one cared to venture near it. All sort of stories became current about the haunted place.
A shepherd, looking for his flock, said that he had seen lights in the grove. A party of young men, passing near the place, heard groans29 and lamentations. An unfortunate lover, in order to make an impression on the disdainful object of his affections, promised to spend a night under the tree and to bring her a branch from its trunk, but on the next day he was taken ill with a quick fever and died.
Before many months had passed, a youth came to the town one day. He was apparently30 a Spanish mestizo, declared himself the son of the dead stranger, and established himself in that far-off corner of the world. He began to farm the land and devoted31 himself especially to [42]the cultivation32 of indigo33. Don Saturnino was a taciturn young man, violent and sometimes cruel, but very active and industrious34. He built a wall around his father’s grave and, from time to time, went all alone to visit it. A few years later he married a young girl from Manila who bore him a son, Rafael, the father of Crisostomo.
Don Rafael, from his earliest youth, was fond of farming. Under his care, the agriculture which had been started and fostered by his father was rapidly developed. New inhabitants flocked to the vicinity, and among them were a great many Chinese. The village grew very fast and was soon supporting a native priest. After it had become a pueblo35, the native priest died and Father Dámaso took his place.
Still the grave and the adjoining lands were respected. At times, children, armed with sticks and stones, ventured to wander about, exploring the surrounding country and gathering36 guayabas, papays, lomboy and other native fruits. Then, all of a sudden, while they were busily engaged collecting the fruits, some one would catch a glimpse of the old rope hanging from the balit? tree, and stones would be heard to fall. Then some one would cry, “The old man!” “The old man!” Dropping fruit, sticks and stones, and leaping from the trees, the boys would flee in all directions through the thickets37 and between the rocks, not stopping until they emerged from the grove, pale and panting, some laughing, some crying.
You could not say that Don Rafael, while alive, was the most influential38 man in San Diego, although it is true that he was the richest, owned the most land, and had put almost everybody else under obligations to him. He was modest and always belittled39 his own deeds. He never tried to form a party of his own, and, as we have already seen, no one came to his aid when his fortune seemed to fail him.
Whenever Captain Tiago arrived in town, his debtors40 received him with an orchestra, gave him a banquet, and loaded him down with gifts. If a deer or a wild boar was caught he always had a quarter of it for his own table; if any of his debtors found a beautiful horse, within a half hour it would be in the Captain’s stable. All of this is [43]true, but still when the Captain had his back turned they made fun of him and referred to him as Sacristan Tiago.
The gobernadorcillo1 was an unhappy fellow who never commanded but always obeyed; he never attacked any one, but was always attacked; he never ordered anybody, but everybody ordered him; and besides, he had to take the responsibility for everything that they had commanded, ordered or disposed. The position had cost him five thousand pesos and many humiliations, but, considering the profits he made, the price was very cheap.
San Diego was like Rome; not the Rome of the time of Romulus, when he marked out the walls with a plough, nor when, later, he bathed in his own blood and that of others and dictated41 laws to the world: no, San Diego was like the Rome of contemporaneous history, with this difference—instead of being a city of marble, monuments and coliseums, it was a city of saual?2 and cock-pits. The parochial priest of San Diego corresponded to the Pope in the Vatican; the alferez3 of the Civil Guard to the King of Italy in the Quirinal, but both in the same proportion as the sauali or native wood and the nipa cock-pits corresponded to the monuments of marble and coliseums. And in San Diego, as in Rome, there was continual trouble. Everybody wanted to be the leading se?or, and there was always some one else in the way. Let us describe two of these ambitious citizens.
Friar Bernando Salvi was the young and silent Franciscan whom we mentioned in a preceding chapter. He had even more of the customs and manners of his brotherhood42 than had his predecessor43, the violent Father Dámaso. He was slender, sickly, almost always pensive44, and very strict in the fulfillment of his religious duties as well as very careful of his good name. A month after his arrival in the parish almost all the inhabitants became brothers of the “Venerable Third Order,” to the great grief of its rival, “The Brotherhood of the Most Sacred Rosary.” His heart leaped with joy at seeing on every neck in the town [44]from four to five scapularies, a knotted cord around every waist, and every funeral procession dressed in habits of guingon. The sacristan mayor or head warden45 of the order made quite a little capital by selling and giving away all those things considered necessary to save the soul and overcome the devil.
The only enemy of this powerful soul saver, with tendencies in accord with the times, was, as we have already stated, the alferez. The women relate a story of how the devil tried one day to tempt46 Father Salvi and how the latter caught him, tied him to the bed post, whipped him with a lash47 and kept him tied fast for nine days. Thus he had been able to conquer the devil entirely48. As a result, any one who persisted in being an enemy of the priest was generally considered a worse man than the devil himself—an honor which the alferez alone enjoyed. But he merited this reputation. He had a wife, an old, powdered and painted Filipino by the name of Do?a Consolación. The husband and several other people called her by a different name, but that does not matter. Anyway, the alferez was accustomed to drown the sorrows of unhappy wedlock49 by getting as drunk as a toper. Then, when he was thoroughly50 intoxicated51 he would order his men to drill in the sun, he himself remaining in the shade, or, perhaps, he would occupy himself in beating his wife.
When her husband was dead drunk, or was snoring away in a siesta52, and Do?a Consolación could not fight with him, then, wearing a blue flannel53 shirt, she would seat herself in the window, with a cigar in her mouth. She had a dislike of children and so from her window she would scowl54 and make faces at every girl that passed. The girls, on the other hand, were afraid of her, and would hurry by at a quick pace, never daring to raise their eyes or draw a breath. But say what you may, Do?a Consolación had one great virtue55; she was never known to look into a mirror.
These were the leading people of San Diego.
Toward the west of San Diego, surrounded by rice fields, lies a village of the dead. A single, narrow path, dusty on dry days, and navigable by boats when it rains, leads thither56 from the town. A wooden gate, and a fence, [45]half stone and half bamboo, seem to separate the cemetery57 from the people in the town, but not from the goats and sheep of the parochial priest of the immediate58 vicinity. These animals go in and out to rummage59 among the tombs or to make that solitary60 place glad with their presence.
One day a little old man entered the cemetery, his eyes sparkling and his head uncovered. Upon seeing him, many laughed, while a number of the women knit their eyebrows61 in scorn. The old man seemed to take no notice of these manifestations62, but went directly toward a pile of skulls63, knelt down and began to search among the bones. After he had sorted over with considerable care the skulls one by one, he drew his eyebrows together, as though he did not find what he was looking for, moved his head from side to side, looked in all directions, and finally got up and went over toward a grave-digger.
“Eh, there!” he shouted to him.
The grave-digger raised his head.
“Do you know where that beautiful skull64 is, the one white as the meat of a cocoanut, with a complete set of teeth, which I had over there at the foot of the cross under those leaves?”
“Look you!” added the little old man, bringing out of his pocket a handful of silver. “I have more than that, but I will give it to you if you find the skull for me.”
The glitter of the coin made the grave-digger reflect. He looked over in the direction of the bone pile and said: “Isn’t it over there? No? Then I don’t know where it is.”
“Don’t you know? When my debtors pay me, I will give you more,” continued the old man. “It was my wife’s skull, and if you find it for me——”
“Isn’t it there. Then I don’t know where it is,” repeated the grave-digger with emphasis. “But I will give you another.”
“You are like the grave that you are digging,” cried the old man irritably66. “You don’t know the value of what you lose. For whom is this grave?”
“For a dead person, of course,” replied the bad-humored man. [46]
“Like a tomb! Like a tomb!” repeated the old man dryly. “You don’t know what you throw out nor what you swallow. Dig! dig!”
At this the old man, who was Tasio, the village philosopher, turned and started toward the gate.
In the meantime, the grave-digger had finished his job, and two little mounds67 of fresh, red clay were piled on either side of the grave. He took some betel nut out of his broad-brimmed hat, and began to chew away, looking with an air of stupidity at everything within his horizon. [47]
1 Petty governor, the highest local official.
2 Trellis work made of reeds.
3 Local commander of the Civil Guard.
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1
plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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pinnacle
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| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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zinc
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| n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌 | |
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orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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landmark
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| n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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peddling
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| 忙于琐事的，无关紧要的 | |
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jewelry
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| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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decomposed
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| 已分解的，已腐烂的 | |
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resonant
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| adj.(声音)洪亮的，共鸣的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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indigo
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| n.靛青，靛蓝 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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pueblo
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| n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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belittled
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| 使显得微小，轻视，贬低( belittle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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debtors
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| n.债务人，借方( debtor的名词复数 ) | |
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41
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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42
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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43
predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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45
warden
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| n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人 | |
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46
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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47
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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48
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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49
wedlock
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| n.婚姻，已婚状态 | |
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50
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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51
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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52
siesta
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| n.午睡 | |
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53
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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54
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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55
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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56
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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57
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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58
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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59
rummage
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| v./n.翻寻，仔细检查 | |
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60
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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61
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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63
skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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65
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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66
irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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mounds
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| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
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