CHAPTER XXIV
EPISODE IN ESPADANA'S LIFE.
The festival was over. The citizens found, just as every year, thattheir treasury was poorer, that they had worked, perspired, and stayedup nights without enjoying themselves, without acquiring new friends,and in a word, had paid dearly for the noise and their headaches. Butit did not matter. The next year they would do the same thing, andthe same for the coming century, just as had always been the customto the present time.
Enough sadness reigned in Captain Tiago's house. All the windows wereclosed; the people scarcely made a noise, and no one dared to speakexcept in the kitchen. Maria Clara, the soul of the house, lay sickin her bed.
"What do you think, Isabel? Shall I make a donation to the cross ofTunasan or to the cross of Matahong?" asked the solicitous fatherin a low voice. "The cross of Tunasan grows, but that of Matahongsweats. Which do you think is the most miraculous?"
Isabel thought for a moment, moved her head and murmured: "To grow--togrow is more miraculous than to sweat. We all sweat, but we do notall grow."
"That is true, yes, Isabel, but bear in mind that for wood to sweatwhen it is made into the leg of a chair is no small miracle. Well,the best thing to do is to give alms to both crosses, so that neitherwill feel resentful, and Maria Clara will recover more quickly. Arethe rooms in good order? You know that a new senor comes with thedoctors, a relative of Father Damaso by marriage. It is necessarythat nothing be lacking."
The two cousins, Sinang and Victoria, were at the other end of thedining-room. They had come to keep company with the sick Maria. Andengwas helping them clean up a tea service in order to serve tea.
"Do you know Doctor Espadana?" asked Maria Clara's foster sister,directing her question to Victoria.
"No!" replied the latter. "The only thing that I know about him isthat he charges very dearly, according to Captain Tiago."
"Then he ought to be very good," said Andeng. "The one who performedthe operation on the stomach of Dona Marta charged a big price,but he was very wise."
"You goose!" exclaimed Sinang. "Not all who charge high prices arewise. Look at Doctor Guevara. He did not know how to aid a woman inchildbirth, but after cutting off the child's head, he collected onehundred pesos from the widower. What he did know was how to charge."
"What do you know about it?" her cousin asked, giving her a jab withher elbow.
"Why shouldn't I know about it? The husband, who is a wood-sawyer,after losing his wife, had to lose his house also, for the Alcalde wasa friend of the doctor's and made him pay. Why shouldn't I know? Myfather loaned him money so that he could make a trip to Santa Cruz."
A coach stopped before the house and cut off all the conversation.
Captain Tiago, followed by Aunt Isabel, ran downstairs to receivethe new arrivals. They were the doctor, Don Tiburcio de Espadana, hiswife, Doctora Dona Victorina de los Reyes de de Espadana; and a youngSpaniard. The latter had a sympathetic face and a pleasing appearance.
The doctora wore a silk gown, embroidered with flowers, and on herhat, a large parrot half crushed among trimmings of red and blueribbons. The dust of the road had mingled with the rice powder onher cheeks, strongly accentuating her wrinkles. She was leaning onthe arm of her lame husband.
"I have the pleasure to present to you our cousin, Don Alfonso Linaresde Espadana," said Dona Victorina, pointing toward the young man. "Thegentleman is a god-son of a relative of Father Damaso, and is privatesecretary to all the ministers."
The young man bowed gracefully. Captain Tiago almost kissed his hand.
Dona Victorina was a woman of about forty-five summers, which,according to her arithmetical calculations, was equivalent tothirty-two springs. She had been pretty in her youth, but, raging overher own beauty, she had looked with disdain on many Filipino adorers,for her aspirations were for the other race. She had not cared toentrust her little white hand to anybody, but this not on accountof lack of confidence on her part, for she had entrusted rings andjewels of inestimable value to various foreign adventurers.
Six months before the time of the happenings of which we are writing,she saw her beautiful dream realized, that dream of her whole life,on account of which she had disdained all manner of flattery and eventhe promises of love, which had been cooed into her ears, or sungin serenades by Captain Tiago. Late, it is true, she had realizedher dream; but she knew well the proverb--"Better late than never,"and consoled herself by repeating it again and again. "There is nocomplete happiness on this earth," was her other favorite proverb, butneither of these ever passed her lips in the presence of other people.
Dona Victorina, after passing her first, second, third and fourth youthin fishing in the sea of men for the object of her dreams, had at lastto content herself with what fortune cared to give her. The poor littlewoman, if she, instead of having passed thirty-two springs, had notpassed more than thirty-one--the difference according to her arithmeticwas very great--would have thrown back the prize which Destiny offeredher, and preferred to wait for another more in conformity with hertastes. But, as the man proposed and necessity disposed it so, for sheneeded a husband very badly, she was compelled to content herself witha poor man, who had been driven by necessity to leave the Provinceof Estremadura in Spain. He, after wandering about the world for sixor seven months, a modern Ulysses, found at last in the island ofLuzon, hospitality, money, and a faded Calypso, his better half--butalas! a bitter half. He was known as the unhappy Tiburcio Espadana,and, although he was thirty-five years old and seemed even older,he was, however, younger than Dona Victorina, who was only thirty-two.
He had come to the Philippines in the capacity of clerk in thecustom house, but after all the sea-sickness of the voyage andafter fracturing a leg on the way, he had the bad luck to receivehis discharge fifteen days after his arrival. He was left without asingle cuarto.
Distrusting the sea, he did not wish to return to Spain without havingmade a fortune. So he decided to devote himself to something. Spanishpride did not permit him to do any manual labor. The poor man wouldhave worked with pleasure to have earned an honorable living, but theprestige of the Spaniard did not permit this, nor did that prestigeprovide him with the necessities of life.
At first he lived at the expense of some of his countrymen, but,as Tiburcio had some self-respect, the bread was sour to him, andinstead of getting fat he grew thin. As he had neither knowledge ofany science, money nor recommendations, his countrymen, in order toget rid of him, advised him to go to some of the provinces and passhimself off as a Doctor of Medicine. At first, he did not like theidea, and opposed the plan, for although he had been a servant in theSan Carlos Hospital, he had not learned anything about the science ofhealing, his duty having been to dust off the benches and light thefires, and, even in this work, he had served only a short time. Butas necessity was pressing him hard, and as his friends pointed out thevanity of his scruples, he took their advice, went into the provincesand began to visit the sick, charging as much for his services ashis conscience permitted. Later on he began to charge dearly andto put a high price on his visits. On this account, he was at oncetaken to be a great doctor and would probably have made his fortune,had not the attention of the Protective Medical Society of Manila,been called to his exorbitant charges and to his harmful competition.
Private citizens and professors interceded in his behalf. "Man!" saidthe zealous Doctor C. in speaking of him. "Let him make his littlemoney. Let him make his little six or seven thousand pesos. He will beable to return to his native land then and live in peace. What doesit matter to you? Let him deceive the unwary natives. Then they maybecome smarter. He is a poor, unhappy fellow. Do not take the breadfrom his mouth. Be a good Spaniard!"
Doctor C. was a good Spaniard and he winked at the matter. But when thefacts reached the ears of the people, they began to lose confidence inhim, and little by little Don Tiburcio Espadana lost his clientage,and found himself almost obliged to beg for bread day by day. Thenit was that he learned from a friend
of his, who was also a friendof Dona Victorina about the position of that woman, and about herpatriotism and good heart. Don Tiburcio saw in her a bit of blue skyand asked to be presented.
Dona Victorina and Don Tiburcio met. Tarde venientibus ossa, he wouldhave exclaimed if he had known Latin. She was no longer passable,she was past. Her abundant hair had been reduced to a wad about thesize of an onion top, as the servants were wont to describe it. Herface was full of wrinkles and her teeth had begun to loosen. Her eyeshad also suffered, and considerably, too. She had to squint frequentlywhen she cared to look off at a certain distance. Her character wasthe only thing that had remained unchanged.
At the end of half an hour's conversation, they came to anunderstanding and accepted each other. She would have preferreda Spaniard less lame, less of a stammerer, less bald, one withmore teeth, one of more rank and social standing, or categoria,as she called it. But this class of Spaniards never came to ask herhand. She had heard, too, more than once that "opportunity is bald,"and she honestly believed that Don Tiburcio was that very opportunity,for on account of his dark days he had prematurely lost his hair. Whatwoman is not prudent at thirty-two?
Don Tiburcio, for his part, felt a vague melancholy when he thoughtof his honeymoon. He smiled with resignation especially when hecalled the phantom of hunger to his aid. He had never had ambitionor pretensions. His tastes were simple, his thoughts limited;but his heart, untouched till then, had dreamed of a very differentdivinity. In his youth when, tired by his day's labor, after a frugalmeal, he lay down on a poor bed, he dreamed of a smiling, affectionateimage. Afterward, when his sorrows and privations increased, theyears passed and his poetical dreams were not fulfilled, he thoughtmerely of a good woman, a willing hand, a worker, who might affordhim a small dowry, console him when tired from labor, and quarrelwith him from time to time. Yes, he was thinking of the quarrels asa happiness! But when, obliged to wander from country to country,in search no longer of a fortune, but of some commodity to sustainhis life for the remainder of his days; when, deluded by the accountsof his countrymen who came from beyond the seas, he embarked for thePhilippines--then the vision of a housekeeper gave way to an imageof an arrogant mestiza, a beautiful native with large black eyes,draped in silks and transparent garments, loaded with diamonds andgold, offering him her love and her carriages.
He arrived in the Philippines and believed that he was about torealize his dream, for the young women who, in silver-plated carriages,frequented the Luneta and the Malecon, Manila's popular and fashionabledrives, looked at him with a certain curiosity. Later, when thiscuriosity on their part had ceased, the mestiza disappeared from hisdreams, and with great labor he formed in his mind a picture of awidow, but an agreeable widow. So it was that when he saw only partof his dream taking on real form, he became sad. But he was somewhatof a philosopher and said to himself: "That was a dream, but in theworld one does not live in dreams." Thus he settled all his doubts;she wasted a lot of rice powder on her cheeks. Pshaw! When they wereonce married he would make her stop that easily enough; she had manywrinkles in her face, but his coat had more bare spots and patches;she was old, pretentious, and imperious, but hunger was more imperious,and still more pretentious; and then, too, he had a sweet disposition,and, who could tell?--love modifies character; she spoke Spanish verybadly, but he himself did not speak it well; at least, the head ofthe Customs department had so notified him in his discharge from hisposition, and besides, what did it matter? What if she was old andridiculous? He was lame, toothless and bald. When some friend jestedwith him, he would respond: "Give me bread and call me a fool."
Don Tiburcio was what is vulgarly called a man who would not harm afly. He was modest and incapable of conceiving an evil thought. Hewould have made a good missionary had he lived in olden times. Hisstay in the country had not given him that conviction of hisown superiority, of his own worth, and of his high importance,which the larger part of his countrymen acquire in a few weeksin the Philippines. His heart had never been able to conceivehatred for anybody or anything. He had not yet been able to find arevolutionist. He only looked upon the people as unhappy beings whomit was fitting for him to deprive of a little of their wealth in orderto prevent himself becoming even more unhappy than they. When theytried to make a case against him for passing as a doctor without aproper license, he did not resent it, he did not complain. He saw thejustice of the case, and only replied: "But it is necessary to live!"
So they were married and went to Santa Ana to pass their honeymoon. Buton the night of the wedding Dona Victorina had a bad attack ofindigestion. Don Tiburcio gave thanks to God and showed solicitudeand care. On the second night, however, he conducted himself like anhonorable man, but on the day following, when he looked in the mirrorat his bare gums, he smiled with melancholy: he had grown ten yearsolder at least.
Dona Victorina, charmed with her husband, had a good set of frontteeth made for him, and had the best tailors in the city dress andequip him. She ordered carriages and calesas, sent to Batangas andAlbay provinces for the finest spans of horses, and even obliged himto make two entries in the coming horse races.
In the meantime, while she was transforming her husband, she did notforget her own person. She laid aside the silk saya or Filipino skirtand pina cloth bodice, for a dress of European style. She substitutedfalse curls in front for the simple hair dress of the Filipinos. Herdresses, which fitted her "divinely bad," disturbed the peace andtranquillity of the entire neighborhood.
The husband never went out of the house afoot--she did not want peopleto see that he was lame. He always took her for drives through theplaces most deserted, much to her pain, for she wanted to displayher husband on the drives most frequented by the public. But out ofrespect for their honeymoon, she kept silent.
The last quarter of the honeymoon had just begun when he wanted tostop her from using rice powder on her cheeks, saying to her that itwas false and not natural. Dona Victorina frowned and looked squarelyat his front set of teeth. He at once became silent, and she learnedhis weakness.
She soon got the idea that she was to become a mother and made thefollowing announcement to all her friends: "Next month, we, I andde Espadana are going to the Peninsula. [17] I don't want to have myson born here and have them call him a revolutionist."
She added a de to her husband's name. The de did not cost anythingand gave categoria to the name. When she signed herself, she wroteVictorina de los Reyes de de Espadana. That de de Espadana was hermania. Neither the lithographer who printed her cards, nor her husband,could get the idea out of her head.
"If I do not put more than one de in the name people will think thatI haven't it, fool!" said she to her husband.
She was talking continually about her preparations for the voyageto Spain. She learned by memory the names of the points where thesteamers called, and it was a pleasure to hear her talk--"I am goingto see the sismus of the Suez Canal. De Espadana thinks that it isthe most beautiful, and De Espadana has seen the whole world."--"Iwill probably never return to this land of savages."--"I was notborn to live here. Aden or Port Said would be more suitable forme. I have always thought so since I was a child." Dona Victorina,in her geography, divided the world into two parts, the Philippinesand Spain. In this she differed from the lower class of people inMadrid for they divide it into Spain and America, or Spain and China,America and China being merely different names for the same country.
The husband knew that some of these things were barbarisms, but hekept silent so that she would not mock him and twit him with hisstammering. She feigned to be whimsical in order to increase herillusion that she was a mother, and she began to dress herself incolors, adorn herself with flowers and ribbons, and to walk through theEscolta in a wrapper. But oh! what an illusion! Three months passed andthe dream vanished. By this time, having no fear that her son wouldbe a revolutionist, she gave up the voyage. She consulted doctors,mid-wives and old women, but all in vain. To the great displeasureof Captain Tiago she made fun of San
Pascual Bailon, as she did notcare to run to any saint. On account of this a friend of her husbandtold her:
"Believe me, Senora, you are the only espiritu fuerte (strong-mindedperson) in this country."
She smiled without understanding what espiritu fuerte meant, but, atnight, when it was time to be sleeping, she asked her husband about it.
"Daughter," replied he, "the e--espir--espiritu most fu-fuerte that Iknow--know about is a--a--ammonia. My fr-fr-friend must have be-beenus-using a figure of rhetoric."
From that time on, she was always saying, whenever she could, "I amthe only ammonia in this country, speaking rhetorically, as Senor N. deN. who is from the Peninsula and who has much categoria, puts it."
Whatever she said had to be done. She had come to dominate herhusband completely. On his part, he offered no great resistance,and was converted into a little lap dog for her. If he incommodedher she would not let him go out for a drive, and when she becamereally infuriated, she would snatch out his false teeth and leave hima horrible-looking man for one or more days, according to the offense.
It occurred to her that her husband ought to be a Doctor of Medicineand Surgery, and so she expressed herself to him.
"Daughter! Do you want them to arrest me?" he said, frightened.
"Don't be a fool. Let me arrange it!" she replied. "You are not goingto attend any one, but I want them to call you a doctor and me adoctora, eh?"
And on the following day Rodoreda, a prominent marble dealer in Manila,received an order for the following engraving on black marble: Dr. DeEspadana, Specialist in All Kinds of Diseases.
All of the servants had to give them their new titles, and, inconsequence of it all, she increased the number of her curls infront, the layer of rice powder, the ribbons and laces, and lookedwith more disdain than ever on the poor and less fortunate womenof her country, who had less categoria than she. Each day she feltherself more dignified and elevated, and, following along this road,in less than a year she would think herself of divine origin.
These sublime thoughts, however, did not prevent her from growing moreridiculous and older each day. Every time that Captain Tiago met herin the street and remembered that he had once made love to her in vain,he would go at once to the church and give a peso for a mass as a thankoffering for his good luck in not marrying her. In spite of this,Captain Tiago highly respected her husband, on account of his titleof "specialist in all kinds of diseases," and he listened with closeattention to the few phrases that he managed to stutter out. In fact,it was on account of this title and the fact that the doctor did notattend everybody, that the Captain chose him to attend his daughter.
As to the young man Linares, it is a different story. When shewas making ready for her voyage to Spain, Dona Victorina thought ofhaving an administrator from the Peninsula to look after her affairs,for she did not trust Filipinos. Her husband remembered a nephew inMadrid who was studying to become a lawyer, and who was consideredthe smartest one in his family. They wrote to him, then, sending himin advance money for the passage, and, when the dream was dispelled,the young man was already on his way.
These are the three persons who had just arrived.
While they were eating their breakfast, Father Salvi arrived, and,as the husband and wife had already met the friar, they presentedhim to the young Linares, with all his titles. The young man blushed.
As was natural they spoke of Maria Clara. The young maiden was restingand sleeping. They talked over the voyage. Dona Victorina showed herverbosity by criticising the customs of the provinces, the nipa houses,the bamboo bridges, without forgetting to tell the curate about herfriendship with the Commander of the Army, the Alcalde so and so,Judge so and so of the Supreme Court, and with the governor of theprovince, all persons of categoria, who had much consideration for her.
"If you had come two days before, Dona Victorina," replied CaptainTiago during a short pause, "you would have met His Excellency,the Governor General. He sat right there."
"What? How's that? Was His Excellency here? And in your house? A lie!"
"I tell you he sat right there. If you had come two days before----"
"Ah! What a shame that little Clara did not fall sickbefore!" exclaimed she, in real sorrow. And directing herself toLinares: "Do you hear, cousin? His Excellency was here! You seeDe Espadana was right when he told you that we were not going tothe house of a miserable native. For you should know, Don Santiago,that our cousin was a friend of all the Ministers in Madrid and allthe Dukes, and he dined in the house of Count del Campanario (belfry)."
"Duke de la Torre (tower), Victorina," said her husband, correctingher.
"It amounts to the same thing. Do you think you can tell me that----"
"Would I find Father Damaso in town to-day?" interrupted Linares,turning to Father Salvi. "They have told me that he is near here."
"He is, precisely, and will come here in a little while," repliedthe curate.
"How glad I am! I have a letter for him," exclaimed the young man. "Andif it had not been for this happy chance which brought me here,I would have come expressly to visit him."
"The happy chance--that is, Maria Clara--had, in the meantimeawakened."
"De Espadana!" said Dona Victorina, finishing her breakfast. "Arewe going to see little Clara?" And turning to Captain Tiago, "Foryou only, Don Santiago; for you alone! My husband does not treatanybody except people of categoria, and he even refuses some ofthem! My husband is not like those about here--in Madrid he onlyvisited people of categoria."
They passed into the sick room.
The room was almost dark. The windows were shut for fear of a draught,and the little light which illuminated the room came from the twowax candles which were burning in front of an image of the Virginof Antipolo.
Her head wrapped up in a handkerchief, saturated in cologne water,her body wrapped in wide folds of white sheets which outlined hervirginal form, the sick maiden lay on her bed of kamakon [18] amongjusi and pina curtains. Her hair, forming a frame around her ovalface, increased her transparent paleness, which was animated onlyby her large eyes full of sadness. At her side were her two friendsand Andeng.
De Espadana felt of her pulse, examined her tongue, asked somequestions, and shaking his head seriously, said:
"Sh-sh-she is si-sick. But we-we-we can cu-cu-cure her."
Dona Victorina looked with pride at those around her.
"A li-lichen in mil-milk in the-the morning; syrup of marshmarsh-mal-mallow, tw-o--two hounds'--hounds' tongue pi-pills,"ordered De Espadana.
"Take courage, little Clara," said Dona Victorina, approaching her. "Wehave come to cure you. I am going to present our cousin to you."
Linares was absorbed, contemplating those eloquent eyes which seemedto be seeking some one, and he did not hear Dona Victorina call him.
"Senor Linares," said the curate, calling him out of his ecstacy. "Herecomes Father Damaso."
In fact, Father Damaso was coming, pale and somewhat sad. On leavinghis bed, his first visit was to Maria Clara. He was no longer theFather Damaso that he had been, so robust and talkative. He now walkedalong in silence and with unsteady footsteps.