Chapter 11: The Sovereigns: Divide and Rule
Narrator: In the town of San Diego, there were only two chieftains who
ruled the town.
(Padre Salvi enters)
Narrator: One of them is Padre Salvi. Padre Salvi is a thin, sickly, and
silent friar. And unlike Padre Damaso, he is kind and responsible. Also,
Padre Salvi is very fond of preaching. His only enemy is the other Chieftain
the Alferez of the Guardia Civil.
(The Alferez enters)
Narrator: The Alferez is the leader of the Guardia Civil. He has a wife
named Dona Consolacion, an old Filipino who more much rogue and paint.
He hated his matrimonial misfortunes by getting drunk, by ordering more
drills for his soldiers under the hot sun, and also by beating his lady.
(Incorporate actions in this line)
Narrator: The Alferez and Padre Salvi have a disagreement among them
but when they meet in public places, they hide it and greet each other as if
there is nothing going on between them. Although secretly, both men are
planning their revenge against each other. And these two are the rulers of
San Diego.
Chapter 12: All Saints Day
Narrator: All Saints Day came, and there was a silent activity going on in
the San Diego cemetery
Gravedigger 1: I cant take this anymore! The bone you cracked is still
bloody, and that hair
Gravedigger 2: How finicky you are! Let me tell you about the time I dug
up a corpse on a rainy evening. I was soaking wet, and
Gravedigger 1: Why did you dig it up?
Gravedigger 2: I was ordered by head parish priest to dig it up and then
bury the body in the Chinese cemetery. But it was raining, and the Chinese
cemetery was far, so I threw the body in the river.
Gravedigger 1: No more! I have broken a skull and I fear that I wont be
able to sleep tonight! (Runs away)
Gravedigger 2: (Laughs)
Narrator: Now, a man named Tasio entered the cemetery. He headed for
the mound of skulls and seemed to look for a certain skull but he couldnt
find it.
Tasio: Oy! (Pause) Have you seen my wifes lovely white skull with
complete dentures? I placed it there at the foot of the cross, underneath
those leaves. I will give you this. (Shows a silver coin)
Gravedigger 2: Is it not there? Well, I dont know. But if you like I can get
you another one?
Tasio: You are like the tomb! You dont know what you throw away, or what
you swallow. (Leaves for the gate)
Chapter 13: A Gathering Storm
Narrator: Soon after the old man left, Crisostomo Ibarra and his servant
appeard.
Ibarra: Where is my fathers grave? Is it here? I remember there was a
stone nearby.
(Gravedigger 2 appears)
Ibarras servant: Hello. Can you tell us which grave had a big cross?
Gravedigger 2: A cross with designs on it, tied with rattan?
Ibarras servant: Yes, thats it! Where is it?
Gravedigger 2: Oh, Im sorry. I burned it because of the orders of the head
parish priest, Padre Garrote, the one who beats up people.
Ibarras servant: Then tell us where the grave is.
Gravedigger 2: Well, the grave no longer exists! I was ordered to dig the
body up and bury it in the Chinese cemetery.
Ibarra: (Angry) And you did?
Gravedigger 2: No, it was raining hard so I threw the dead body into the
river.
Ibarra: (Grabs the gravediggers arms) You are nothing but a miserable
cad! (Leaves and followed by the servant)
Gravedigger 2: What troubles! The head parish priest hit me with a cane
for not burying the body and that man almost broke me arm! (Leaves)
(Padre Salvi and Ibarra with his servant enter through different doors.
Ibarra sees Padre Salvi)
Ibarra: You! What have you done with my father? What have you done with
my father?
Padre Salvi: You are mistaken; I havent done anything to your father. I
assure you, it was my predecessor, it was Padre Damaso!
Ibarra: Ah! (Releases Padre Salvi, slaps his head and leaves while Padre
Salvi is being helped by Ibarras servant)
Chapter 14: Tasio
(Tasio enters)
Narrator: A man is seen walking and wandering about the street aimlessly.
His name is Don Anastacio, and is known as Philosopher Tasio or Tasio.
He was the one who was looking for his wifes skull in the San Diego
cemetery. But he seemed to have forgotten about the skull, as he was
smiling and gazing at the dark clouds. He then sees two boys one ten
years old and the other seven. The boys names were Basilio and Crispin.
Tasio: Hello, boys. You should be home. Your mother has prepared for you
a supper fit for priests.
Older boy: We arent allowed to leave until 8 oclock, Senor. We must toll
the bells for the souls.
Tasio: Ah! Be careful! Do not go near the bells during the storm! (The boys
left)
(Tasio will continue to walk aimlessly, until)
Old man: Please come in before you proceed. (From a door in a window)
(Tasio enters the door)
Tasio: What are you reading there?
Old Man: A book for today. The Pains Suffered by the Blessed Souls in
Purgatory.
Tasio: Oh, I see!
(Don Filipo Lino and Dona Teodora Vina enter)
Don Filipo Lino: I see we have a visitor. Welcome to our home, Tasio.
(Shakes hands)
Don Filipo Lino: Did you see at the cemetery the son of the late Don
Rafael who has just arrived from Europe? They say he had gone to look for
his fathers grave. The blow must have been terrible. Dont you feel
concerned?
Tasio: Yes, I saw him. (Pause) You know that I was one of those who
accompanied Don Rafaels body. I always prefer to honor a good man in
his lifetime and not after his death. And I honor the father in his son, not the
son in his father.
Dona Teodora Vina: Lets change the topic. Did you have a mass offered
for your late wife as I advised you yesterday?
Tasio: No. (Smiling)
Dona Teodora Vina: What a pity! They say that tomorrow until ten in the
morning the souls of the dead roam freely, awaiting the intercession of the
living.
Don Filipo Lino: But Doray! You know that Don Anastacio does not believe
in purgatory.
Tasio: Thats true. I dont believe in purgatory!
Don Filipo Lino: Lets hear your opinion.
Dona Teodora Vina: Tell us!
Narrator: Tasio then told them that he didnt believe in purgatory because it
wasnt written in the Bible, in evangelical writings, and not even mentioned
by Jesus Christ. Even pagan beliefs do not include purgatory.
Tasio: You protest. Of course, I know that you are not cruel. Of course I
know that you are all good.
Narrator: Tasio bade them goodbye as the storm worsened.
Chapter 15: The Altar Boys
Crispin and Basilio are sacristans of the Church at San Diego. The two are
worried since the Sacistan Mayor and the Curate has accussed Crispin on
stealing two gold pieces and he was to remain in the church until the
money is returned. Crispin also complains about his frequent beating and
whipping that he receives. After ringing that church bells, the Sacristan
Mayor beats Cripsin to make him confess his crime.
Narrator: Basilio and Crispin, after their meeting with Tasio, went to the
church to toll the bells. There they have a conversation.
Crispin: I wish we were at home with Mother, where we wouldnt be afraid,
where no one will accuse me of stealing, where no one would beat me. I
want to go home!
Basilio: Are you mad Crispin? If we go home, we couldnt earn and Mother
wouldnt have anything to eat! They say you have stolen two onzas, and
that is thirty-two pesos!
Crispin: And they wont give me anything to eat if those two onzas dont
appear. But Mother knows I didnt steal! You know I didnt steal! You tell her
that they are all ly-
Sacristan Mayor: You, Basilio, will be fined for two reales for not tolling the
bell in unison. And you, Crispin, will stay tonight until what you have stolen
will appear.
Basilio: But it has been a week since we have seen our Mother!
Sacristan Mayor: Are you ordering me?!
Narrator: The Sacristan Mayor slapped Basilio and dragged Crispin into
the shadows. Basilio could hear his brothers body against the wall, the
screams, and the slaps. Basilio climbed the ladders to untie the cords
which held the bells and came back down to the cord to a balustrade, put
out the candles and glided along into the darkness. Some minutes later,
voices and two shots were heard from one of the streets, but nobody was
alarmed, and everything again settled down into silence.
 Chapter 16: Sisa
Narrator: Distant from the town an hours walk lives the mother of Basilio
and Crispin. The wife of a heartless man, she struggles to live for her sons,
while her husband is a vagrant gamester with whom her conversations are
rare but always painful. Sisa was confined at home doing sewing jobs. After
she finished working, she would deliver it to her customers but only
received a promise of payment at a later date.
Narrator: At night, Sisa was always anticipating the arrival of her sons. She
cooked the whitest of rice and prepared wild boars meat, duck leg, five
little fishes, and tomatoes but resulting to his husband eating it all. But Sisa
only smiled.
Husband: Where are the boys?
Narrator: That appeased her appetite. After eating,
Husband: (Grabbed his rooster and went away)
Sisa: "Don't you want to see them?", "Old Tasio told me that they would be
a little late. Crispin now knows how to read and perhaps Basilio will bring
his wages."
Husband: (Stopped walking) "In that case keep a peso for me."
Narrator: Sisa wept bitterly, but the thought of her sons soon dried her
tears. She cooked some more rice and prepared the only three fishes that
were left.
Sisa: "They'll have good appetites, the way is long and hungry stomachs
have no heart."
Narrator: She waited for Basilio and Crispin to come but they never came.
She put the fishes in the pot to keep them warm.
Sisa: (Humming)
Narrator: Suddenly, a black dog appeared before her. Sisa was frightened
and throw stones at it. Then, she closed the door and went to their room to
pray to the Virgin and upon God to watch over her sons. All of a sudden,
she felt her hair rise on her head and her eyes stared wildly; illusion or
reality, she saw Crispin standing by the fireplace, he said nothing as he
gazed at her with those large, thoughtful eyes, and smiled.
Basilio: "Mother, open the door! Open, mother!"
Chapter 17: Basilio
Basilio: (Staggered and went to his mothers arms) (Has blood on his
forehead)
Sisa: My sons (Hushed tone)
Basilio: Dont be afraid mother, "Crispin stayed at the convento.
Sisa: At the convento? He stayed at the convento? Is he alive?
Basilio: (Raised his eyes on his mother)
Sisa: Ah! (Embrace Basilio). Crispin is alive! You left him at the convento!
But why are you wounded, my son? Have you had a fall?
Narrator: Basilio told his mother what happened. The senior sacristan took
Crispin away and told him that he could not leave until ten o'clock, but it
was already late and so he ran away. In the town the soldiers challenged
him, he started to run, they fired, and a bullet grazed his forehead. He was
afraid they would arrest him and beat him and make him scrub out the
barracks, as they did with Pablo, who is still sick from it
.
Sisa: My God, my God! Thou hast saved him! (Looking for bandages,
water, feathers and vinegar) A finger's breadth more and they would have
killed you, they would have killed my boy! The civil-guards do not think of
the mothers.
Basilio: You must say that I fell from a tree so that no one will know they
chased me
Sisa: Why did Crispin stay?
Narrator: Basilio hesitated a few moments, he related little by little the
story of the gold pieces, without speaking, however, of the tortures they
were inflicting upon his young brother.
Sisa: My good Crispin! To accuse my good Crispin! It's because we're poor
and we poor people have to endure everything! Haven't you had any
supper yet? Here are rice and fish.
Basilio: I don't want anything, only a little water.
Sisa: Yes. I know that you don't like dried fish. I had prepared something
else, but your father came.
Basilio: Father came?
Sisa: He came and asked a lot about you and wanted to see you, and he
was very hungry. He said that if you continued to be so good he would
come back to stay with us.
Basilio: What! (Disgust)
Sisa: Son!
Basilio: Forgive me, mother, But aren't we three better off--you, Crispin,
and I? You're crying--I haven't said anything.
Sisa: Aren't you going to eat? Then let's go to sleep, for it's now very late.
Basilio: (Dreaming of Crispin)
Sisa: What's the matter? Why are you crying?
Basilio: I dreamed--O God! It was a dream! Tell me, mother, that it was
only a dream! Only a dream!
Sisa: What did you dream?
Basilio: (Crying) A dream, a dream!
Sisa: Tell me what you dreamed. I can't sleep,
Narrator: Basilio told him about his dream about Crispin. He dreamed that
they had gone to glean the rice-stalks--in a field where there were many
flowers--the women had baskets full of rice-stalks the men too had baskets
full of rice-stalks--and the children too
Basilio: I don't remember any more, mother, I don't remember the rest.
Basilio: Mother, I've thought of a plan tonight.
Sisa: What is your plan?
Basilio: I don't want to be a sacristan any longer.
Sisa: What?
Narrator: Basilio told his mother about his plan to let his mother get Crispin
and his wages and will tell them that he would not be a sacristan anymore.
He also told his mother that he will asked Don Crisostomo Ibarra to hire
him as a herdsman of his cattle and carabaos.
Sisa: What can I say but yes?
Narrator: So Basilio went back to sleep but his mother cannot.
Chapter 18: Souls in Torment
Padre Salvi: (preaching)
Narrator: It was about seven o'clock in the morning when Fray Salvi
finished celebrating his last mass.
Woman1: (Whisper to her seatmate) The padre is ill. He doesn't move
about with his usual slowness and elegance of manner.
Sacristan1: (Whispers to other sacristan) Attention! The devil's to pay! It's
going to rain fines, and all on account of those two brothers.
Padre Salvi: (Walking in the isle)
Narrator: Upon seeing him approach, the women arose and one of them
pressed forward to kiss his hand, but the holy man made a sign of
impatience that stopped her short.
Narrator: The townsmen in the church continue their talk about plenary
indulgence and all other religious practices and beliefs relating to the
holiday. They went on talking about who will preach this coming fiesta.
Sister Juana: The coadjutor
Sister Sipa: Ahem! The coadjutor doesn't know how to preach. Padre
Martin is better.
Woman: Padre Martin? He hasn't any voice. Padre Damaso would be
better.
Sis Rufa: That's right! Padre Damaso surely does know how to preach! He
looks like a comedian!
Juana: But we don't understand him.
Woman: Because he's very deep! And as he preaches well
Narrator: This speech was interrupted by the arrival of Sisa, who was
carrying a basket on her head.
Woman: She's going in! Let's go in too!
Sisa: Where can I put these vegetables?
Cook: There, anywhere!
Sisa: May I speak with the padre?
Servant: He's sick.
Sisa: And Crispin? Do you know if he is in the sacristy?
Servant: Crispin? Isn't he at your house? Do you mean to deny it?
Sisa: Basilio is at home, but Crispin stayed here and I want to see him.
Servant: Yes, he stayed, but afterwards he ran away, after stealing a lot of
things. Early this morning the curate ordered me to go and report it to the
Civil Guard. They must have gone to your house already to hunt for the
boys.
Cook: A pretty pair of sons you have! It's plain that you're a faithful wife,
the sons are so like the father. Take care that the younger doesn't surpass
him.
Sisa: (Crying)
Cook: Don't cry here! Don't you know that the padre's sick? Get out in the
street and cry!
Servants: (shove Sisa outside)
Chapter 19: A Schoolmasters Difficulties
Narrator: Two men dressed in deep mourning stood gazing at the water
from a little elevation. One was Ibarra and the other a youth of humble
aspect and melancholy features.
Young man: This is the place. From here your father's body was thrown
into the water. Here's where the grave-digger brought Lieutenant Guevara
and me.
Ibarra: (Grasped the hand of Young man)
YM: You have no occasion to thank me. I owed many favors to your father,
and the only thing that I could do for him was to accompany his body to the
grave. Your father used to visit the classes and distribute pictures among
the poor but studious children, as well as provide them with books and
paper.
Ibarra: (Take off hat) Did you say that my father helped the poor children?
And now?
YM: Now they get along as well as possible and write when they can.
Ibarra: What is the reason?
YM: The reason lies in their torn camisas and their downcast eyes.
 Ibarra: How many pupils have you now?
YM: More than two hundred on the roll but only about twenty-five in actual
attendance.
Ibarra: How does that happen?
YM: In the very first place because, even when we have the pupils, lack of
suitable means, and other things that attract them more, kill off their
interest. They read, write, and memorize selections, and sometimes whole
books, in Spanish, without understanding a single word.
Ibarra: And why have you, who see the evil, not thought of remedying it?
YM: (Shakes head)
Narrator: The schoolmaster narrates the obstacles he encountered
teaching the children. He informs him about the towns lack of facilities
such as school building and necessary equipment. His work is also
hindered by the stubbornness of the former town Curate, Padre Damaso.
YM: So then, I am now working to the end that the children become
changed into parrots and know by heart so many things of which they do
not understand a single word.
Ibarra: Let's not be so pessimistic. The teniente-mayor has sent me an
invitation to attend a meeting in the town hall. Who knows but that there
you may find an answer to your questions?
YM: You'll see how the plan of which they talked to me meets the same
fate as mine has. But yet, let us see!
Chapter 20: The Meeting in the Town Hall
Narrator: This is the hall of council, of judgment, and of torture, wherein
are now gathered the officials of the town and its dependent villages.
Don Filipo: The conduct of the gobernadorcillo fills me with distrust. It was
a deep-laid scheme, this thing of putting off the discussion of expenses
until the eleventh hour. Remember that we have scarcely eleven days left.
Man1: And he has stayed at the convento to hold a conference with the
curate, who is sick.
Man2: It doesn't matter. We have everything prepared. Just so the plan of
the old men doesn't receive a majority
Don Filipo: (Interrupt) I don't believe it will, as I shall present the plan of
the old men myself!
Men: What! What are you saying?
Don Filipo: I said that if I speak first I shall present the plan of our rivals.
Man1: But what about our plan?
Don Filipo: I shall leave it to you to present ours. You will propose it after I
have been defeated. Listen. My rivals hate me more than they hate my
ideas. So if I propose their ideas myself then it will be quickly rejected. But
keep quiet about it.
(ENTER IBARRA, SCHOOLMASTER AND GOBERNADORCILLO)
Gobernador: (coughing) Gentlemen I have been so bold as to call you
together here for this meeting--ahem! Ahem! We have to celebrate the
fiesta of our patron saint, San Diego, on the twelfth of this month--ahem!--
today is the second--ahem! Ahem!
Narrator: A certain Capitan Basilio spoke first just to boast how great he
orates.
Cap Basilio: (Act to speak)
Gobernadorcillo: Now any one may speak who wishes that--ahem!
(Continue to cough)
Don Filipo: I rise, gentlemen, to present my estimate of expenses for the
fiesta
Old man: We can't allow it. We vote against it.
Don Filipo: I haven't yet made known the plan which we, the younger
men, bring here. We feel sure that this great plan will be preferred by all
over any other that our opponents think of or are capable of conceiving.
Narrator: Don Filipo continued to speak about his suggestion for the town
fiesta. He made grandeur suggestions that the listeners considered it too
much and exaggerated. The townsmen continue to argue. After the
argument, Don Filipos suggestion was not approved. After Don Filipo, a
certain young cabeza de barangay took the floor.
Cabeza: I suggest that we should invent new shows that are not common
and ordinary and endeavor that the money collected may not leave the
town but that it will be used in some manner beneficial to all.
Youth: Thats right!
Elder: Excellent!
Narrator: Everyone accepted the proposal of the young cabeza but one
approval was lacking and was the most important of all, from the
Gobernadorcillo.
Gobernadorcillo: I agree but the curator wants something else.
Capitan Basilio: What does the curator wants?
Gobernadorcillo: Well, the padre wants six processions, three sermons,
three high masses, and if there is any money left, a comedy from Tondo
with songs in the intermissions.
Cap Basilio: Then why did you have us assemble here?
Gob: For the purpose of telling you. I wanted to tell you, gentlemen, but
Capitan Basilio spoke and I haven't had a chance. The curate must be
obeyed.
Man: He must be obeyed or else the alcalde will put us all in jail.
Narrator: So the officials obeyed the orders of the gobernadorcillo with
doubts in their minds. Don Filipo went home cursing about his bad luck.
Tasio: The blame is ours! You didn't protest when they gave you a slave for
a chief, and I, fool that I am, had forgotten it!