El Filibusterismo (El Fili) – Chapter 6
Chapter Title: Basilio
Setting: Christmas Eve, Forest of Ibarras (San Diego)
Characters:
- Basilio
- Capitan Tiago
- Simoun
- Maria Clara (mentioned)
Plot:
Basilio visits the grave of his mother and thinks about his past.
Chapter Summary:
Basilio goes to the Forest of the Ibarras, which is owned by Capitan Tiago. Basilio goes to a Balete tree and prays before a pile of stones, which mark the grave of his mother. She died 13 years ago, insane and not able to remember him. Back then, a stranger told him to build a funeral pyre. He did what he was told, and then returned and saw that the stranger was dead.
A second man was there and helped him build a fire where his mother was burned, and then they dug a hole where she was buried. The second man gave Basilio coins and told him to leave. Basilio remembers the man as being tall, with red eyes, bloodless lips and a sharp nose.
After that incident, Basilio was an orphan so he went to Manila, serving the household of a rich man and studying at the same time. He became afraid of guardia civils because he blamed them for the deaths of his mother and brother.
While searching for a master, Basilio saw Capitan Tiago and Tia Isabel in a carriage, so he followed them. That was the same day Maria Clara entered the cloister so Capitan Tiago was depressed and accepted Basilio as a servant. He studied in San Juan de Letran. Because of his dirty attire his classmates didn’t want to be friends with him, and teachers hated him.
During Basilio’s second year of school, he took care of a fighting cock for Capitan Tiago and it won. As a reward, he was given money buy Capitan Tiago so he bought shoes and a hat.
In Basilio’s third year, he could afford shirts and boots, but a Dominican professor called him a parrot for reciting a lesson word for word. The professor tried to humiliate him but Basilio proved him wrong, so he was never allowed to recite ever again.
The next year, Basilio impressed his professors and becomes a favorite. He got outstanding marks and Capitan Tiago convinced him to transfer to Ateneo Municipal.
Basilio transferred, and in one year he finished fives years of the secondary course, because he was impressed by the methods of the school. Basilio chose medicine even though Capitan Tiago wanted him to take up law (so he could be Capitan Tiago’s lawyer. Capitan Tiago let Basilio go into medicine, thinking that he would be able to use drugs to change the tempers of Capitan Tiago’s fighting cocks so they could win.
Currently, Basilio is in his last year of medical school. In two months he will be a physician. He will deliver the valedictory address. He plans to “make his entry into the world” with his speech.
Trivia:
- Simoun is not mentioned by name in this chapter because Basilio did not recognize him at that time.
Quotes:
In the end [Basilio] became resigned when he saw that among the three or four hundred students of his class only some forty deserved the honor of being asked questions, because they attracted the professor’s attention through their looks, or buffoonery, or out of fellow-feeling, or for any reason whatsoever.
One goes to college not to learn or study, but to complete the course; and if they could memorize the textbook, nothing more could be expected from them and they would be sure to pass the year.
