Dapitan
Subscription to La Oceania — Will not write any more to the governor general. — He is engaged in business with a capital he has earned from his medical practice — He deplores the misfortunes of his family at Calamba — “If I could monopolize all the troubles and losses and leave to you all the joys and profits, I would do it with pleasure.” – Dreamt of Luna opening a fencing school, and receives news that he had indeed done so – Luna unlikely to teach shooting given his life’s tragedy.
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Dapitan, 26 September 1894
MR. MANUEL T. HIDALGO
MY DEAR BROTHER-IN-LAW MANENG,
I received your last letter as well as the first subscription numbers of La Oceania.
I am not intending to write any more to His Excellency, for I have already written him a second letter and I have not received a reply. Let them do what they want. Take note that I have not asked for anything impossible or absurd.
I am very sorry that you cannot join me in the abaca business, for, although this time we gained almost nothing, we hope that in the following months we could gain more. I am not using any capital except what I have earned here through my practice, for the little that was left to me of the lottery prize[1] I gave to our father who has invested it. I am also very sorry for your misfortunes in Kalamba, but I applaud you because you did not utter the least complaint. Until now no one has complained, at least so far as I know, and nothing is lacking except for a member of our family to complain. It would be a second misfortune, perhaps greater than the first. If it were in my hands to monopolize all the troubles, all the losses, and leave to you all the joys and all the profits, with what pleasure would I do it, God knows! What makes me sorry is not to have won one hundred thousand, a million pesos, in order to remedy so many necessities. But finally let us be patient, and you do well in giving an example of dignity. Happy days will come. The question is to trust and hope, as Montecristo said.
If you see the Luna brothers, give them my regards. Tell Antonio what a strange thing it was. About two or three weeks ago I dreamed that he had opened a fencing school in Manila! What a coincidence! His vest was made of hemp.[2]
I do not see any chance of Mr. Juan Luna teaching you shooting. How can he do it, since shooting has played such an important role in the tragedy of his life![3] And then shooting is not taught much; it is acquired through sheer practice.
Nanay remembers you often and always asks from the solitaires[4] and cards how you are getting along. She appreciates very much your regards and like the rest of us return them affectionately.
This is the season of rains here.
I am very busy with the question of the mail. Very affectionate regards to Mrs. Neneng and kisses to the little ones. Come here to spend a few days.
Yours,
RIZAL
04-828 [Misc.]
[1] Rizal won one-third of the lottery prize of ₱20,000, which he divided between his parents and his sisters.
[2] In Spanish cañamo .
[3] He alludes to the shooting by Juan Luna of his wife and mother-in-law and the wounding of his brother-in-law Felix in passion in 1892. A crime de passion, it was a celebrated case. Luna was acquitted by the French court.
[4] Solitaire is a game of cards played alone.