01-063 [Family]
1883.01.11 Madrid
From: José Rizal
To: Parents and Brothers
New Year celebration — Madrid in the rain — Fall of the Ministry — Masquerade ball at the Alhambra — Feast of San Antonio Abad — Canon, guitar celebrity — Asks a picture of his parents — Tells brother to save the clay bust of their father made by him (Rizal).
* * *
Madrid, 1 l January 1883
MY BELOVED PARENTS AND DEAR BROTHERS,
Since my last letter of 30 December of last year to this date I have seen some things that I should tell you about to give you a little idea of this capital city and its people.
On the first day of the year everybody pays calls, sends cards, greetings, gifts, etc., etc. The 6th, day of the Three Kings, is celebrated by going around the streets, shouting, making noises, looking for the Three Kings, they say, insulting passersby. Thanks that the good Count of Aguilera, governor of Madrid, has forbidden it, and so there have been not many disgraceful scandals.
With the fall of the ministry and the resignation of León y Castillo,[1] which was much felt, the board of directors of the Circulo Hispano-Filipino went to him to bid him goodbye and express to him our regret. A few days later we were again at the ministry of colonies to congratulate the new minister, Mr. Nuñez de Arce. Thus, ‘The king is dead! Long live the king! The woes of life.
I received Silvestre’s letter and I’m very sorry that I can’t do anything for him now. I’m still very new here and I don’t have yet sufficient knowledge of how to begin. Moreover, here money and position are necessary. The king himself, who has recommended to Martinez Campos, the minister of war, a military man for a post in the Philippines, seems to be waiting for his turn. Patience and hope. On the 8th classes were open and we returned to our classes to resume our interrupted scholastic tasks. It began to rain, which was a pleasure, but it was a fine rain, ticatic as we say over there, lasting one week. The streets were filled with dirty and thick mud, the ground was slippery and between the holes in the old and worn-out pavement were pools of water and little marshes like the lubluban ng mga carabao [where carabaos wallow]. Afterwards a cold that penetrates through the marrow of the bones ensues, which is the limit. How ugly was Madrid! The sidewalks and the streets are full of umbrellas whose merciful points left many one-eyed. ‘When least expected a wind would blow turning the unfortunate umbrella inside out, placing the owner of such a flexible gadget in a ridiculous and serious embarrassment. At least over there [Philippines], when it rains, it rains heavily enough to wash the streets, and the houses have eaves under which one can take shelter, but here the rain is very fine like matang Europa. Then the newspapers speak of storm; but my God, what storm?
On Monday, the 15th, we had a little celebration at the home of Mr. Pablo Ortiga[2] whose saint’s day it was. Those of us who foregathered there like a family were in the majority Filipinos: Calero, Ripoll, Figueroa, Lete, Paterno, Villanueva, Gonzalez, and I. Only four were not Filipinos.
Last night there was a masquerade ball at the Alhambra and I went together with other compatriots. There we saw (and they attracted the attention of everybody in the theater) three young women wearing very elegant Filipino dresses, one with tapis[3][4]and the others without it. Although I suppose they didn’t know how to wear it as well as the true daughters of Malate, Ermita, Sta. Cruz, and Binondo, for only two of them were Filipino women, nevertheless, they seemed to us divine and elegant. They walked about dragging along their shirts of bright red and white, yellow and white, violet and white, topped with jusi blouses, piña neckpieces, that everybody stared at them. Undoubtedly, many didn’t know what kind of costume that was, whether Russian or Canadian.
Today is the feast of San Antonio Abad, and donkeys, mules, horses, and other animals, bipeds and quadrupeds are brought before the saint’s image to be blessed. They are lavishly decorated. I don’t know of what use to the little donkeys are blessings and indulgences since, as they say, they have no soul, nor can they offend or defend God. In short, they say that he is the patron saint of animals. One fine day even the stones will have a saint to whom to commend themselves. Civilize yourselves over there and look for a patron saint for the carabaos who will free them from… [illegible] and taxes. We are going to imitate these enlightened customs. That the men and above all the women here should commend themselves to the devil is all right; that is why they are men and kings of creation; the animals commend themselves to God, that is why they are animals.[5]
Today, being the saint’s day of Antonio Paterno, he gave us a little dinner.
We are going to have a guitar celebrity, Canon,[6] within a few years he may become perhaps the best in Madrid.
I received another fifty pesos from Uncle Antonio for the month of January. I don’t know if you know it.
May father and mother have their picture taken and send me their pictures so that at least I shall have before me their images that they may not be erased from my memory. Keep the clay bust that I made so that when I return I may see how much my beloved father’s face has changed.
May they bless me and believe me that I don’t forget them. An embrace to all my brothers-in-law and siblings, kisses to my numerous little nephews, greetings to all my friends, acquaintances, and others.
JOSÉ
[1] Minister of Colonies Leon y Castillo was succeeded by literary man Gaspar Nuñez de Arce.
[2] Mr. Pablo Ortiga y Rey a Spaniard, member of the Council of the Philippines.
[3] Tapis a kind of over-shirt, generally black, either silk or cotton, that Tagalog women used to wear. The women of the south or the Bisayas were said to be suelta, that is, they didn’t wear tapis.
[5] A bit of Rizalian satire.
[6] Fernando Canon, a native of Binan, Laguna, and friend of Rizal. It was he who introduced the Noli me Tangére in Spain. He married a Spanish woman at Barcelona. When he returned to the Philippines, he joined the Revolution of 1896. He was also a notable chess player.