So much of the past comes to the fore here, and it isn’t always pleasant for the living, especially when specters begin to loom over earthly affairs.
Chapter 6: Basilio
Basilio steals out of the house at midnight and heads to the old wood previously owned by the Ibarras, and now belonging to Capitan Tiago. He visits his mother’s grave by the balete[1] tree and recalls the night thirteen yeas ago when his mother died on the spot and a stranger came and helped him bury his mother and burn the body of another stranger.[2]
Basilio thinks back too on the events of his life since then. He had suffered hunger and poverty in his journey to Manila in search of employment, until he was taken in as an unpaid servant at Capitan Tiago’s house in exchange for permission to study.
Poor and badly dressed, he was shunned by his classmates and ignored by his teachers, so he was unable to make a mark in his first three years. With continued diligence and hard work however, he eventually distinguished himself in his studies and went on to study medicine.
In two months, Basilio is set to complete his medical studies and will cap his academic career as commencement speaker. He plans to marry Juli.
Chapter 7: Simoun
Basilio is about to leave his mother’s tomb when he hears someone arrive. He sees Simoun, but without the jeweler’s blue glasses, Basilio also recognizes the face of the man who helped him bury his mother thirteen years ago. He concludes from the events and memories of the past, that Simoun may actually be Ibarra.
Basilio reveals himself, and Simoun, to protect his secret identity, thinks of killing Basilio, but decides instead to try to recruit Basilio to his cause. Simoun confesses that his goal is to destroy society’s system of corruption by encouraging the vices and greed of the governing powers with his wealth. This in turn has led to more injustices, poverty and misery, which he expects will eventually push the downtrodden to rebel.
Simoun then mocks the youth’s desire for Hispanism and the teaching of Spanish, seeing it as a means for the loss of nationality and the subjugation of the Filipino’s unique thought and feeling. Simoun asks for Basilio’s help to convince the youth to abandon their calls for Hispanization. Basilio declines, professing the task to be beyond his abilities. Simoun attempts a different approach by reminding Basilio of the injustice his mother and brother suffered.[3] Basilio remians uncommitted.
Chapter 8: Merry Christmas
Early in the morning, Juli prepares to leave Tandang Selo to begin her new employment in payment for the money loaned for her father’s ransom. She tries to keep her spirits up, but she is miserable.
Later, when relatives come to visit Tandang Selo, they discover he has lost his ability to speak.
Chapter 9: Pilates
Certain townspeople do not feel particularly bothered by the misfortune of Tandang Selo and Cabesang Tales’ family. The lieutenant of the guardia civil feels he did his duty by pursuing the bandits when he could, while the local friar, Padre Clemente thinks Cabesang Tales is simply being punished for resisting the friars.
Sister Penchang, the woman who employs Juli, believes bad things happen to sinners or to people who have sinning relatives. She believes Juli is a sinning relative, and when she learns that Basilio intends to ransom Juli from servitude, she believes Juli is a lost woman.
The friars win the case against Tales with finality, and they take his land and award it to a new renter. Tales learns about this and the misfortunes of his father and daughter upon his return. At the same time, he receives a court order to vacate his house.
Chapter 10: Wealth and Want
Simoun obtains temporary lodgings at Cabesang Tales’ house where the townspeople come to see his jewels. They are both awed and terrified by Simoun’s display of excessive and dazzling wealth. Aside from selling, Simoun also buys old jewelry from the townspeople and he asks if Tales has any to sell. Maria Clara’s[4] locket is of course in the house and when Simoun sees it, he makes an offer for it. Tales asks to go to town to ask his daughter. Along the way, he sees the friar administrator and the man awarded his land. A feeling of anger overcomes him.
In the morning, Simoun finds the locket and a note from Tales in his holster. Tales says he intends to join some bandits and has exchanged the locket for Simoun’s gun. Guardia civil arrive, but in the absence of Tales, they arrest Tandang Selo instead. Three people had been killed in the night, the friar administrator, the man who had been given Tales’ land, and his wife, beside whom was found a piece of paper with the name Tales written in blood.
Notes and References:
1. Strangler fig
2. The dead stranger was Elias. His life story is in Chapter 50 of Noli Me Tangere.
3. Crispin was Basilio’s brother who had died at the convent. Sisa was their mother who had gone insane after what happened to her son. See Noli Me Tangere Chapters 15, 16, 17 and 18.
4. Maria Clara was Simoun/Ibarra’s betrothed, who, thinking he had been killed had chosen to become a nun. See Chapter 62 of Noli Me Tangere.
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