El Filibusterismo (El Fili) – Chapter 3
Chapter Title: Legends
Setting: December morning, Steamship Tabo (Pasig), on deck
Characters:
- Padre Florentino
- Padre Sibyla
- Padre Camorra
- Padre Salvi
- Simoun
- Ben Zayb
- Don Custodio
- Skipper
Chapter Summary:
The chapter opens with the following lines:
Ich weiss nich was soll es bedeuten
Dass ich so traurig bin!
(I want to cry,
I do not know why!)
Padre Florentino arrives on deck. Padre Sibyla is angry because his tenants keep complaining. Padre Camorra tells him not to be mad even when Indios try to haggle for lower rates. Padre Camorra asks: “Why should a baptism cost less than a chicken?”
Simoun arrives and Don Custodio asks where he was, saying he missed the view. Simoun says he has seen everything, and is only interested in a view that reminds him of legends.
They take turns telling legends.
- Malapad-na-bato (told by Skipper)
Malapad-na-bato is a rock that is known as a dwelling place of spirits The rock was turned into a hangout of bandits who used it to ambush passing boats (bancas). Now there is a capsized boat there that is easy for other boats to hit.
- Cave of Dona Geronimo (told by Padre Sibyla)
A student promised to marry a girl (Dona Geronimo) from his village. She waited but he never came back. The student became Archbishop of Manila so she disguised herself as a man and asked him to fulfill his promise. The archbishop had a cave built and let her live there until her death. Dona Jeronimo was so fat she had to enter sideways, but she always threw silver plates into the river after banquets. A net would catch the plates after washing.
Simoun tells Padre Salvi that maybe the archbishop should have put Dona Geronimo in a cloister in Santa Clara because that would be more gallant. Simoun asks Padre Salvi what he would’ve done. Padre Salvi tells a legend
- Miracle of San Nicolas (told by Padre Salvi)
The river was full of crocodiles. One day, a Chinaman who refused to be converted into a Christian was passing the church. A devil appeared as a crocodile and planned to eat him. The Chinese prayed to San Nicolas and the crocodile turned into stone. Now the rock pieces of the crocodile are scattered.
Padre Salvi said he has seen the head of the stone crocodile. Ben Zayb says he will write an article that praises the Chinaman for choosing to prayto the ‘least known saint’ instead of praying to Confucius or Buddha, which shows that Catholicism is better and that the yellow race (Chinese) is “illogical”. Simoun asks if the devil was trapped in the stone and if petrified animals are also victims to a saint.
The boat enters the lake with green shores and blue mountains. They see Mt. Makiling and Talim island (Susong-dalaga or Maiden’s breast).
Ben Zayb asks the skipper which part of the lake that Ibarra (he is not sure if Ibarra is the name or if it was Guevara or Navarra) was killed in. Everyone looks at the skipper while Simoun looks away. The skipper says that 13 years ago, Ibarra jumped from a banca near the break and swam 2 miles. The pursuers saw red on the shore that was probably blood.
Ben Zayb asks about the body and Padre Sibyla says it joined that of Ibarra’s father (a “subversive” or filibustero). Ben Zayb notices that Simoun is quiet and asks if he is seasick. The skipper says the lake is larger than all lakes in Spain put together and even old mariners have gotten seasick there.
Trivia:
- Padre Sibyla says everyone knows the tale of the Cave of Dona Geronimo but no one has heard it before.
Quotes:
Padre Camorra: Why should a baptism cost less than a chicken?
