Chapter Summary - El Fili
Chapter 3: Legends
Padre Florentino sees the guests laughing above deck.The Kapitan also talks about the Legend of Doña Geronima. Padre Florentino is asked to give the details: Doña Geronima had a lover in Spain, who later became an archbishop in Manila. The woman goes to see him to ask that he fulfill his promise of marrying her. Instead, he sends the woman to live in a cave near the Pasig river.
Ben Zayb liked the legend. Doña Victorina grew envious because she also wanted to live in a cave. Simoun asks Padre Florentino if it wouldn't have been better if the woman were placed in a monastery such as Sta. Clara. Padre Salvi explained that he cannot judge the actions of an archbishop. To change the topic, he narrates the legend of St. Nicholas (San Nicolas) who rescued a Chinese from a crocodile. Legend has it that the crocodile turned to stone when the Chinese prayed to the saint.
When the group reached the lake, Ben Zayb asked the Kapitan where in the lake a certain Guevarra, Navarra or Ibarra was killed. (Refer to the Noli Me Tangere)
The Kapitan shows the spot, while Doña Victorina peers into the water, searching for any trace of the killing (thirteen years after the event occurred). Padre Sibyla adds that the father is now with the corpse of the son (in the Noli Me Tangere, the corpse of Ibarra's father--Don Rafael--was thrown in the lake). That's the cheapest burial, quips Ben Zayb. People laugh. Simoun pales and does not say anything. The Kapitan thinks Simoun is just seasick.
Some Notes
- Here you will see the disappearance of the ancestral belief in spirits and superstitions, only to be replaced by modern (but even more bothersome) superstitions such as panreligion. Read the legends of both Doña Geronima and St. Nicholas.
Questions and Answers
- Why did talk center on legends on the deck of the ship?
This was deliberate on the part of Simoun. He was familiar with the legends about the Pasig river and he hoped that one of the legends--that pertaining to Doña Geronima--will be mentioned. Simoun wanted to use that legend to ease his anger towards the holier-than-thou Padre Salvi, whom Simoun suspected of taking advantage of Maria Clara in the Sta. Clara Convent.
- How is the Legend of Wide Rock (Malapad na Bato) similar to the history of the Philippines?
Before, Wide Rock was considered a home for spirits (good and evil), as well as a nest of superstitious beliefs. The Philippines was also like that before the Spaniards came. People believed in supernatural beings (i.e., kapre, tiyanak, tikbalang, aswang).
When Wide Rock became the hideout of thieves, people realized that there was no such thing as evil spirits because nothing bad happened to the criminals who lived at Wide Rock. Boatmen traveling on the Pasig river feared instead the bandits who would block and kill those who ventured near Wide Rock. The Philippines, through the introduction of Christianity, stopped believing in spirits and superstitions (really?). The Spaniards represent the bandits whom the people now fear, and in the story of Cabesang Tales you'll understand why.
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