27 March 1887

Calamba

Optimism and hope — Better concept of myself — Blumentritt’s opinion on the merits of the Noli — Encouragement from Reiss and Hidalgo — “Pages full of truth and love of country.” — Riedel’s Tagalog — Meaning of filibustero, pirata, and sospechoso — Philological explanation of Bathalà — A derivation of the Sanskrit Bhattara like the Harì = king? Did Bathalà disappear because of Christianity?

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Berlin, 29 March 1887

Esteemed Friend,

My pessimism has been dispelled by the last letters that I have received and I’m beginning to have a better opinion of myself. Your esteemed letter has also comforted me much because your important opinion was very valuable to me. I myself was doubting the merits of my book. Only my countryman Viola has read it, and he might be a good doctor, but he is not a writer and everything I do seems good to him. For this reason, I cannot accept his opinion. But the congratulations of Mr. Reiss, my friend and countryman Felix Hidalgo,[1] and yours makes me suppose that I’m not a useless person. Hidalgo says in his letter: “I have read some pages of your book and I have found them full of truth. There are scenes finely delineated with an absolutely remarkable exactness . . . I admire your courage in saying plainly what you think and the inspiration reflected in your work which makes one feel the palpitations of the heart of a man who loves his country . . .” This is perfectly in accord with your own words written with deep sincerity. I thank both of you for having understood my book. I wanted to write something for my people, and two souls, who love the Filipinos, have understood me. May my country also understand me as you and Hidalgo do! Other Filipinos who are not writers, also congratulated me, but your congratulations and Hidalgo’s are worth more. You are almost my compatriot, and among the Europeans, you know best the condition of our country. Eternal thanks!

And now I am going to answer your letter:

THE TAGALOG OF RIEDEL[2]

One time = min’san; Nang unang panahon; Nang isang arao; nang una — “once upon a time”, “In early times”; “One day”; “At the beginning”. “On the first day”. Thus begin all Tagalog stories; but I do not know the meaning of Ngaioen dang. Ngaion means “At this moment”; was it not formerly written: “Ng min’san dau”, “Ng isa dau, niaon dau?” (It was once said, it is said that once upon a time, it is said.) Riedel wrote ilaga instead of daga, kamang in place of kaniang (or better kaniyang). It seems so to me on account of the absence of the word dau. Dau means “It is said.” That is never omitted in Tagalog stories, because otherwise the hearers would ask the story-teller sarcastically: “It is true?” But in this case the narrator was not a Tagalog, but an Ilocano or Bisaya, and for that reason he can be forgiven; almost always he uses the root rather than the tenses.

I have never heard in Tagalog the expression “suffer from the liver” and “to be vexed”. In Tagalog we say sumamâ ang loob for “being vexed or disgusted”; sumamâ ang katawan for indisposition.

I said “down the mountain” and not “up the mountain” as can be seen by the verbs magakiyat, magpanao sa bunduk; magakiyat means “to take something up”, but not “to go up.” Mag is equivalent to be or er in German; for that same reason magpanao is not a pure Tagalog word; pumanao would be much more correct. I translated “down the mountain” on account of the baibai (bank) and taklubo, “shell”. According to what I have heard from the Jesuits, shell is found only in the sea; we do not have it. How then could a sea with shells climb to the top of the mountain? — Taloen (talon) — forests. Talón; to jump down, cascade.

FILIBUSTERO

The filibustero is little known in the Philippines. The masses do not know it yet. I heard it for the first time in 1872 when the tragic executions[3] took place. I still remember the panic that this word created. Our father forbade us to utter it, as well as the words Cavite, Burgos, (one of the executed priests), etc. The Manila newspapers and the Spaniards apply this word to one whom they want to make a revolutionary suspect. The Filipinos belonging to the educated class fear the reach of the word. It does not have the meaning of freebooters; it rather means a dangerous patriot who will soon be hanged or well, a presumptuous man. I am sending you the enclosed article on El Filibustero en Filipinas. I mock it in my own novel. Ispichoso (sospechoso, suspicious) is better known though less feared. The ispisocho of the poor and lower class is banished or temporarily jailed; but the plibestiro, as my cousins say it, is not yet known; but it will be! So that do not take literally everything our rural folk say of that word. In our town there are only four or five families some of whose members are dubbed filibusteros. What I say about Felipenas is true. Even in Madrid, on Florida Street, there is a Merendero del Felipeno where we used to gather together with Luna, Paterno, and others. The name is two feet high and can be seen from the other side of the Manzanares River.

BATHALA

You can read an explanation of the saying, Ang bathalà ay na sa May Kapal in the dictionary of an Augustinian friar, which I believe P. A. Paterno has. It was two years ago that I told Paterno that I was surprised that no Tagalog knew about the word Bathalà. He then showed me a dictionary. I leafed through it and found the said saying which agrees with ours: Ang bahalà ay na sa May Kapal. I believed that they had perhaps changed the word Bahalà (care) into Bathalà. The author’s translation of the saying is not correct. Bathalà can very well be an attribute of divinity. (He who takes care of everything.) But it is very notable the use among Tagalogs of the current phrase, Ang May Kapal, sa Maykapal. The possible derivation from the Sanskrit bhattara also deserves attention, for we have another derivative from the same in Harì (king). The word Bathalà might also have disappeared on account of the Christian religion. I will write to Madrid to inquire about the name of the author of the dictionary; I have already forgotten it. We might also have made of Bathalà a God of destiny or care; thus we say Ipabahalà mo sa akin (Let me take care of it.) Ako ang bahalà, Ikaw ang bahalà — Yo cuidao! Tu cuidao! (I take care of it! You take care!) The Tagalogs translate it thus. Before, it used to be said: I am the Lord, you are the Lord, let me be the Lord. But, why did the word Maykapal remain in the phrase? Why do we say: Ipabahalà mo sa Dios, sa Maykapal? Leave it to the care of God? At any rate, its resemblance to the Sanskrit word is very notable. Perhaps it had been an attribute of divinity and writers used it in that form. Pay no attention to what Paterno says of Bathalà in his work. P. A. Paterno is . . .[4] I can’t find a word for it, but only a sign thus:

[Odd sketches of some indeterminate thing]

I will read your article on Tagalog customs, but I find it too short. Everything that you write is so interesting that it seems to me too short. Sometimes I should like to be bored.

Greetings of your faithful friend,

Rizal

P. S.

They say that it is still very cold in Switzerland. I will stay here one month more. I will give a lecture on the Tagalogs at the Anthropological Society. Mr. Virchow[5] asked me to do it.

01-214 [Family]