great preparations had also been made in the house of captain tiago. we are already acquainted with the man. his love for pomp and his pride in being a resident of manila made it necessary that he should outdo the residents of the province in the splendor of his celebration. there was another thing, too, which made it necessary that he should try to eclipse all others—the fact that his daughter maria clara and his future son-in-law were also there. his prospective connection with ibarra caused the captain to be often spoken of among the people.
yes, as a matter of fact, one of the most serious newspapers in manila had printed an article on its first page, headed “imitate him!” in which they offered ibarra much advice and highly eulogized him. the article spoke of him as “the illustrious and rich young capitalist.” two lines below, he was termed “the distinguished philanthropist,” and, in the following paragraph, referred to as the “disciple of minerva who went to his mother country to salute the real birthplace of arts and sciences.” captain tiago was burning with generous emulation and was wondering whether he ought not to erect a convent at his own expense.
days before the week of festivities, numerous boxes of provisions and drinks, colossal mirrors, pictures, paintings and his daughter’s piano had arrived at the house. maria clara and aunt isabel were already living there. captain tiago came on the day before the beginning of the festival. as he kissed his daughter’s hand, he made her a present of a beautiful religious relic. it was solid gold, and set with diamonds and emeralds, and contained a little sliver from saint peter’s boat, in which our saviour sat while fishing. [88]
the captain’s interview with his future son-in-law could not have been more cordial. naturally, the school house was the subject of conversation. captain tiago wanted him to call the school “the san francisco school.”
“believe me!” he said. “san francisco is a good patron saint. if you call it ‘the primary school,’ you gain nothing. who is primary, anyway?”
some friends of maria clara arrived and invited her to go for a walk.
“but return quickly,” said the captain to his daughter, who asked for his permission. “you know that father dámaso is going to dine with us to-night. he has just arrived.”
and turning to ibarra who was deep in thought, he added: “you will dine with us, too? you will be all alone at home.”
“with the greatest pleasure, i assure you, if i did not have to be at home to-night to receive visitors,” replied the young man, mumbling his words and evading maria clara’s glance.
“bring your friends along with you,” replied captain tiago cheerfully. “in my house there is always enough to eat. and, besides i would like to have you and father dámaso understand each other.”
“there’ll be time enough for that,” replied ibarra, putting on a forced smile and making ready to accompany the young ladies.
they went downstairs. maria clara was walking between victoria and iday, while aunt isabel followed behind.
as they passed down the street, people stood aside respectfully and gave them the inside of the way. maria clara was surprisingly beautiful now. her paleness had disappeared, and although her eyes were thoughtful, her mouth, on the contrary, seemed all smiles. with that amiability known only to a happy maiden, she saluted friends she had known from childhood who to-day were admirers of her youthful beauty. in less than fifteen days she had regained that frank confidence, that childish chatter, which seemed for awhile to have been left [89]behind in the narrow walls of the convent. it seemed as though the butterfly upon leaving its shell knew all the flowers at once. it was enough that she be given a moment of flight and an opportunity to warm herself in the golden rays of the sun, in order to throw off the rigidity of the chrysalis. new life shone out in every part of her young being. everything she met with was good and beautiful. her love was manifested with virginal grace, and innocent in thought, she saw nothing to cause her to put on false blushes. however, she was wont to cover her face with her fan when they joked with her, but her eyes would smile and a gentle tremor would pass over her whole being.
in front of captain basilio’s house were some young men who saluted our acquaintances and invited them into the house. the merry voice of sinang was heard, as she descended the stairs on a run and at once put an end to all excuses.
“come up a moment so that i can go out with you,” said she. “it bores me to be among so many strangers who talk about nothing but fighting-cocks and playing cards.”
they went upstairs. the house was full of people. some advanced to greet ibarra, whose name was known to all. they contemplated with ecstacy maria clara’s beauty, and some of the matrons murmured as they chewed their betel-nut: “she looks like the virgin!”
after they had partaken of chocolate they resumed their walk. in the corner of the plaza a beggar was singing the romance of the fishes, to the accompaniment of a guitar. he was a common sight, a man miserably dressed and wearing a wide-brimmed hat made out of palm leaves. his clothing consisted of a frock coat covered with patches, and a pair of wide trousers such as the chinese wear, but torn in many places. from beneath the brim of his hat two fiery orbs flashed out a ray of light. he was tall and from his manner seemed to be young. he put a basket down on the ground and, afterwards walking away from it a little distance, he uttered strange, unintelligible sounds. he remained standing, completely isolated, as if he and the people in the street [90]were trying to avoid each other. women approached his basket, and dropped into it fish, fruit and rice. when there was no one else to approach the basket, other sadder but less mournful sounds could be heard; perhaps he was thanking them. he picked up his basket and walked away to do the same in another place.
maria clara felt that this was a pitiful case. full of interest, she asked about the strange being.
“it is a leper,” replied iday. “he contracted the disease some four years ago; some say by taking care of his mother, others by having been confined in a damp prison. he lives there in the field near the chinese cemetery. he does not communicate with any one: everybody flees from him on account of the fear of contagion. you should see his fantastic little house! the wind, the rain and the sunshine go in and out of it as a needle goes through cloth. they have prohibited him from touching anything belonging to anybody. one day a little child fell into the canal. the canal was deep, but this man happened to be passing near and helped to get the little child out. the child’s father learned of it, made a complaint to the gobernadorcillo and the latter ordered that he be given six stripes in the middle of the street, the whip to be afterwards burned. that was atrocious! the leper ran away howling; they pursued him and the gobernadorcillo cried out: ‘catch him! one might better be drowned than have that disease!’”
“that is true,” murmured maria clara. and then, without noticing what she was doing, she went up to the basket of the unfortunate wretch and dropped into it the relic which her father had just presented to her.
“what have you done?” her friends asked her.
“i have nothing else to give him,” she replied, concealing the tears in her eyes by a smile.
“and what is he going to do with the relic?” said victoria to her. “one day they gave him money but he pushed it away from him with his cane. why would he care for it, if no one would accept anything coming from him? if he could only eat the relic!”
maria clara looked longingly at the women who were selling provisions and shrugged her shoulders. [91]
but the leper approached the basket, picked up the piece of jewelry which shone in his hands, knelt down, kissed it, and, after taking off his hat, buried his face in the dust on which the young girl had walked.
maria clara hid her face behind her fan and raised her handkerchief to her eyes.
