1

St. Peter’s College

Sabayle st., Iligan City,

Lanao del Norte,

Philippines

MGA SALIK NG MAIKLING KWENTONG

KONTEMPORARYO

Isang pananaliksik na Inihaharap kay

Gng. Teresita Semorlan sa Assignaturang

Anyo ng Kontemporaryong

Filipino sa St. Peter’s College, Sabayle

St., Iligan City

VANESSA CLAIRE D. MAGSAYO

OKTUBRE 4, 2019
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TALAAN NG MGA NILALAMAN

KABANATA I 3
1.0 Introduksiyon 3
1.1 Paglalahad ng Layunin 3
1.2 Saklaw at Limitasyon ng Pag-aaral 3
1.3 Kahalagahan ng Pag-aaral 3
1.4 Depinisyon ng mga Katawagan 4
KABANTA II 6
2.0 Metodolohiya 6
2.1 Lugar ng Pag-aaral 6
2.2 Impormante 6
2.3 Pangangalap ng Datos 7
2.4 Pagkakaayos ng Datos 7
KABANATA III 8
3.0 Interpretasyon ng Datos 8
3.1 Pagkilala sa mga tauhan 8
3.2 Tagpuan 11
3.3 Simbolo 11
3.4 Tema 11
3.5 Mensahe 11
3.6 Saglit na Kasiyahan 16
3.7 Tunggalian 16
3.8 Kasukdulan 16
3.9 Kakalasan 16
3.10 Pangwakas 16
3.11 Wika 22
3.12 Istilo 22
3.13 Buod ng bawat kwento 26
KABANATA IV 31
4.0 Buod 31
4.1 Konklusyon 31
4.2 Rekomendasyon 31
4.3 Bibliograpiya 31
4.4 Apendiks 32
Mga larawan sa pagsasagawa sa pag-aaral 66
Curriculum Vitae 67
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KABANATA 1

1.0 Introduksyon

Ang maikling kwento ay isang uri ng masining na panitikan o pagsulat. Naglalaman ito ng
maikling salaysay tungkol sa isang mahalagang pangyayari o isang kathang-isip lamang na
kuwento na nag-iiwan sa isipan ng isang mambabasa ng aral o impresyon. Maaaring isa o iilan
lamang ang tauhan sa kuwento. Ang paksa ng isang maikling kwento ay maaring kahit ano. Maaari
itong patungkol sa pag-ibig, sa kalikasan, sa pamilya, o sa kaibigan, at iba pa. Karaniwan nang ang
isang maikling kuwento ay maaaring mabasa o matapos sa isang upuan lamang ng pagbabasa.

Itinuturing na ‘Ama ng Maikling Kuwento’ sa panitikang Pilipino ay si Deogracias A. Rosario.

Noong panahon ng mga Amerikano tinatawag din itong dagli, at ginagawa itong libangan ng mga
sundalo.

Ang isang maikling kuwento ay isang akdang panitikan na maaaring nabuo sa pamamagitan
ng mga guni-guni na salig sa mga pangyayari sa buhay na aktuwal na naganap, o mga bagay na
maaaring maganap. Kaya ang mga maiikling mga kuwento ay maaaring hango sa mga pangyayari
sa totoong buhay o mga kathang-isip na mga bagay na hindi maipaliwanag. May pagkakatulad din
ito sa nobela at dula. (Edgar Allan Poe, 1840; Translated)

Sa ginawang pagsusuri ni Dr. Genoveva Edroza Matute, guro at kwentista sa mga akda ni
Deogracias A. Rosario ay ganito ang kanyang sinabi:

"Kadalasang ginagamit niya (Deogracias A. Rosario) bilang pangunahing tauhan ang mga
alagad ng sining, bohemyo at kabilang sa mataas na lipunan; maliban sa ilan, iniiwasan niyang
gumamit ng mga tauhang galing sa masa; at paulit-ulit na lumilitaw sa kanyang mga akda ang mga
tauhang galing sa ibang bansa, ngunit sa pagbabalik sa tinubuang lupa ay nagiging makawika at
makabayan". (Matute, 2005)

Nais pagtuunan ng pansin ng mananaliksik ang diskusyong ito upang lubos na maintindihan
ng mga estudyante sa hinaharap kung papaano matukoy ang iba’t ibang parte ng mga maikling
kwento at mapalawak pa ang kaalaman nila sa kontemporaryong Filipino.

1.1 Paglalahad ng Layunin

Ang adhikain ng pag-aaral na ito ay upang mas mapabilis ang pagsusuri sa mga maikling
kwento at upang mas mapabilis ang pagunawa sa mga bahagi, kaya nama’y ilalahad ng
mananaliksik kung ano ang dapat na pagtuunan ng pansin kapag nagsasaliksik patungkol sa mga
maikling kwento.
Ang sumusunod ay ang layunin sa pag-aaral na ito:
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a. Mailahad and mensahe ng bawat kwento – maging positibo man o negatibo,

makakatulong ito sa mga mag-aaral sa hinaharap.
b. Maibahagi sa kapwa mag-aaral – ang wastong pagsusuri at pagaanalisa sa iba’t ibang
parte ng isang kwento.

1.2 Saklaw at Limitasyon ng pag-aaral

Sinasaklaw ng pananaliksik na ito ang pagtukoy sa iba’t ibang parte ng mga kwento upang
maintindihan nang lubusan kung ano ang ibig ipahiwatig ng manunulat at kung ano ang ibig
sabihin ng mensaheng kanilang gustong ipabatid sa mga tao at ang pananaliksik na ito’y
sinimulan noong ika labing anim ng agosoto sa taong 2019 at inaasahang mag tatapos ito sa
Oktubre ng kasalukuyang taon.

1.3 Kahalagahan ng pag-aaral

Ang sumusunod ang mga maaaring makinabang sa pananaliksik na ito:

SA MGA MAG-AARAL

Makakatulong ito sa kanila upang lubos nilang maintindihan ang nilalaman ng mga
kwento at ang nais na ipabatid ng manunulat sa mga mambabasa na hindi na kinakailangang
gabayan pa ng mga mas nakakatanda sa kanila. Itong pag-aaral na ito’y magsisilbing gabay sa
kanila upang makamit nila ang inaasam na layunin.

SA MGA GURO

Ito’y makatutulong sa mga guro sapagkat ang mga bahagi ay pinaghihiwalay na angkop
upang mas mapadali ang pagturo at pagbabahagi ng mga aralin sa kanilang mga estudyante.
Pwede itong gamitin upang maging halimbawa kung papano suriin ang mga bahagi ng mga
maikling kwento na kanilang tatalakayin.

SA MGA MANANALIKSIK SA HINAHARAP

Magagamit nila ang pag-aaral na ito bilang reperensiya sa mga paksang kanilang
binabalak na pagsasaliksin at maaari din nilang gawing batayan ang pagsasaliksik na ito upang
mas mapalawak pa nila ang pag-aaral sa mga maikling kwento sa hinaharap.
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1.4 Depinisyon ng mga Katawagan

Makikita sa bahaging ito ang mga salitang hindi lubusang maintindihan ng mga mambabasa:

1. Banquet – isang pormal na pagtitipon.

2. Binabae – isang lalaki na may katangiang pambabae.
3. Cochero – tagamaniobra ng kartilyang naka tali sa isang kabayo
4. Panuelo – isang maliit na tela na pwedeng gamitin bilang pamunas sa mukha o pantakip
sa mukha.
5. Patadiong – Isang maluwang na tela na ginagamit bilang saya ng mga babae sa Pilipinas.
6. Siesta – oras ng pagpapahinga tuwing hapon; kadalasan, ito ay pagkatapos ng tanghalian.
7. Squirming – paggalaw ng katawan dala ng hindi mapakali.
8. Tapis – isang tela na ginagamit bilang pampunas ng katawan pagkatapos maligo.
9. Tartanilla – Kartilya na nakatali sa kabayo; ginagamit bilang transportasyon
10. Ubec – Isang lugar sa Pilipinas, parte ng visayas; mas kilala bilang “Cebu”
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KABANATA II

2.0 METODOLOHIYA

Ang naisagawang pag-aaral ay gumamit ng despkriptibong metodolohiya ng pananaliksik

at pag-surf sa internet. Naniniwala ang mananaliksik na angkop ang disenyong ito para sa
paksang pag-aaralan sapagkat mas mapapadali ang angkop na datos mula sa maraming
respondent.

Ang pangangalap ng datos ay nagsimula noong Agosto 16,2019 hanggang Setyembre

6,2019 at ang huling panayam na magaganap ay ngayong Agosto 13,2019. Sa pangangalap ng
datos, gumamit ang mananaliksik ng iba’t ibang uri ng impormasyon galling sa mga libro,
artikulo, at websites upang makagawa ng pahayag.

2.1 LUGAR NG PAG-AARAL

Ang pag-aaral na ito ay isinagawa sa kasalukuyang tahanan at paaralan ng mananaliksik.

2.2 IMPORMANTE

Kwento Protagonista Supporting Characters

WOMAN WITH HORNS Dr. Gerald McAllister Dr. Jaime Laurel

(Cecilia Menguera-Brainard)
MY FATHER GOES TO COURT
(Carlos Bulusan)
MAGNIFICENCE
(Estrella D. Alfon)
My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken
(Alejandro R. Roces)
Servant Girl
(Estrella D. Alfon)
Ang Batang lalaki
Ang ina at mga kapatid ng batang
Ang dalawang bata
Nakababatang kapatid
Rosa
Augustina Macaraig
The mayor’s mother
Ang mayamang pamilya
Ang Ama ng batang lalaki
lalaki
Ang Hukom
Ang mga gwardiya
Mga tagasilbi ng mayaman
Ang nanay ng dalawang bata
Vicente
Ang tatay ng dalawang bata
Kiko
Teniente del barrio
Eduardo Cruz
Ang tatay ng magkapatid
Ang nanay ng magkapatid
Sancho
Mistress
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Pedro
Mga babae sa labahan

The Virgin Miss Mijares Ang bagong trabahador na lalaki

( Kerima Polotan Tuvera) Ato
Ang Inang Matapobre Aling Osang Monching
(Deogracias Rosario) Corazon
Lannie
Ang Batang Espesyal Aling Mila Mang Ramon
(Rene O. Villanueva) Pepe
4 na magkakapatid
Nawawalang Sapatos ni Kulas Nicholas Cruz/Kulas Tatay
(Sandy Ghaz) Vina
Leon
Si Inday at ang Kanyang Aling Peling Inday
Bagong Selpon Fiona
(Sandy Ghaz) Rico

2.3 PANGANGALAP NG DATOS

Ang pagkakalap sa mga datos ng mga maikling kwento na nakatala ay sapagitan ng

pagbabasa ng libro sa aklatan ng paaralan ng mananaliksik at sa pagitan ng pag-surf sa internet
ng mga impormasyon patungkol sa mga kwento at sa mga awtor nito.

2.4 PAGSASAAYOS NG DATOS

Isinaayos ng mananaliksik ang mga datos sa pamamagitan ng paglista sa mga titulo ng

mga maikling kwento, pagtukoy sa mga bahagi nito, pagaanalisa sa kahulugan ng bawat parte,
tukuyin kung ang impormasyong ito ay makakatulong ba sa mga magbabasa, pagsasala sa mga
walang kabuluhang impormasyon, at pagtatag ng malinaw na pagkasunodsunod ng mga talaan.
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KABANTA III

3.0 INTERPRETASYON NG DATOS

Sa bahaging ito makikita kung paano ipinapaliwanag ang bawat bahagi ng maikling kwento.

3.1 PAGKILALA SA MGA TAUHAN

KWENTO MGA TAUHAN

1. Woman with Horns Dr. Gerald McAllister- isang amerikanong doctor na misyonariyo.
(Cecilia Menguera- Dr. Jaime Laurel- assistant ni Dr. McAllister
Brainard) Augustina Macaraig- isang balo na babae na naghihinalang may sakit
siya.
Blanche – yumaong asawa ng doktor.
The mayor’s mother- tinuturing na anak niya ang amerikanong doctor.
The mayor- inimbitahan si Dr. McAllister sa kanyang pagsasalo.
2. My Father goes to Ang mayamang pamilya- Kapitbahay ng unang tauhan
court Ang batang lalaki- ang tagapagsalaysay ng istorya
(Carlos Bulusan) Ang Ama ng batang lalaki- Ang humarap sa korte
Ang ina at mga kapatid ng batang lalaki
Ang Hukom
Ang mga gwardiya
Mga tagasilbi ng mayaman
3 Magnificence Ang nanay ng dalawang bata
(Estrella D. Alfon) Oscar- batang lalaki
Ang batang babae
Vicente- isang konduktor na napalapit ang loob sa mga bata
Ang tatay ng dalawang bata
4. My Brother’s Peculiar Kiko – ang nakatatandang kapatid ng tagapagsalaysay
Chicken Nakababatang kapatid- ang taga pagsalaysay
(Alejandro R. Roces) Teniente del barrio- pinakamatandang tao sa kanilang barrio
Eduardo Cruz- nagaaral ng ‘Poultry Raising’ sa isang unibersidad sa
Pilipinas
Ang tatay- ang tatay ni kiko at ng taga pagsalaysay
Ang nanay- ang nanay ni kiko at ng taga pagsalaysay
5. Servant Girl Rosa- ang aliping babae
(Estrella D. Alfon) Sancho- manyakis na nanliligaw kay rosa
Mistress- amo ni rosa
Pedro- Kutserong tumulong kay rosa
Mga babae sa labahan- mga naglalaba sa labahan at nag uusap usap
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6. The Virgin Miss Mijares- Ang protagonista sa istorya

( Kerima Polotan Tuvera) Ang bagong trabahador na lalaki- bagong salta sa kompanya,
nagtatrabaho bilang karpentero
Ato- foreman
7. Ang Inang Matapobre Aling Osang- Matapobreng nanay ni Monching
(Deogracias Rosario) Monching- Anak ni Aling Osang; Minamahal ni Corazon
Corazon- Ang minamahal ni Monching
Lannie- Anak ng boss ni Monching; Ina sa anak ni Monching.
8. Ang Batang Espesyal Aling Mila- Nanay ng limang magkakapatid
(Rene O. Villanueva) Mang Ramon- tatay ng limang magkakapatid
Pepe- Abnormal na anak nina Aling Mila at Mang Ramon; Monggoloid
4 na magkakapatid- mga anak nina Aling Mila at Mang Ramon
9. Nawawalang Sapatos Nicholas Cruz/Kulas- Batang lalaki na palaging nawawalan ng sapatos
ni Kulas Tatay- tatay ni kulas; nagta trabaho sa pagawaan ng mga kasangkapan sa
(Sandy Ghaz) bahay
Vina- nanay ni kulas; Isang kahera sa tindahan
Leon- bunsong kapatid ni kulas
10. Si Inday at ang Aling Peling- Nanay ni inday; bumili ng bagong selpon para sa anak
Kanyang Bagong Selpon Inday- Anak ni aling peling
(Sandy Ghaz) Fiona- Kaibigan ni Inday
Rico- Katagpu-an ni Inday; nagnakaw sa bag ni inday

1. Woman with horns (Cecilia Menguera-Brainard) – Sa estoryang ito, si Dr. Gerald

McAllister ay isang doktor na naging misyonaro sa Pilipinas upang puksain ang isang epidemyang
kumakalat sa Ubec noong mga panahon iyon, si Dr. Jaime Laurel naman ay naging assistant at
gabay ni Dr. McAllister sa Ubec patungkol sa kung ano ang ipinapahayag ng mga pasensyenteng
hindi marunong magsalita ng Engles. Ang Mayor naman ay tumutulong sa pag-aalalay sa
dayuhang doktor dahil nakatakda ang doktor na magtrabaho sa kanilang baryo at ang ina naman
ng mayor ay napamahal nadin sa naturang doktor dahil itinuring niya itong sariling anak at
tumutulong din siya sa pagaalaga sa naturang doktor. Si Augustina naman ay isang biyuda na
nagkaroon ng interes sa doktor at nagpapakita ng motibo sa kaniya kaya nama’y nahulog din ang
loob ng doktor kay augustina. Makabuluhan ang papel ni Augustina dito dahil tinulungan niya ang
doktor na mapagtanto na dapat na niyang bitawan ang kanyang nakaraan kung saan nakakulong
parin ang kanyang damdamin sa yumaong asawa niya na si Blanche.
2. My Father goes to court (Carlos Bulusan) – Sa kwento namang ito, Ang mahirap na pamilya
ay lumipat ng tirahan kaya naging kapit bahay nila ang mayamang pamilya. Ang mga tagapagsilbi
ng mayamang pamilya ay parating nagluluto ng masasarap na pagkain kaya laging nalalanghap ito
ng mahirap na pamilya. Nagkaproblema ang dalawang pamilya kaya sinundo ang mahirap na
pamilya ng mga guwardiya at dinala sa hukoman at doon pinagbati sila ng hukom. Malaki ang
impluwensya ng bawat karakter na nabanggit sapagkat konektado ang kanilang mga papel sa
kwento at kinumpleto nila ang kwento.
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3 Magnificence (Estrella D. Alfon) – Ang kwentong ito ay pinagbidahan ng dalawang bata at ang
papel ni Vicente dito ay kontrabidang nagpapanggap na mabait na tao upang mabiktima niya ang
musmos na isipan ng dalawang bata, Kaya malaki ang papel ng Nanay dito sa estorya dahil
malinaw ang pagkasulat sa kanyang papel na maging taga pagprotekta ng kanyang mga anak.
4. My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken (Alejandro R. Roces) – Ang kwentong ito ay tungkol sa
dalawang magkapatid na nagtatalo tungkol sa isang kakaibang manok at dahil hindi nila malaman
kung ano talaga ang kasarian nito, tinanong nila ang kanilang magulang. Pagkakita nila na hindi
ito masolusyonan ng kanilang magulang, dito na naging mabisa ang mga papel ng karakter nina
Eduardo Cruz – nagaral ng “poultry raising’ o pagaaral tungkol sa pagpapalaki ng manok – at ng
Teniente del Barrio o ang nakakatanda sa baryo nila.
5. Servant Girl (Estrella D. Alfon) – Ang protagonist dito ay si Rosa na isang katulong sa isang
mayamang amo. Sa kadahilanang lumaki sa hirap si Rosa, ang mga papel ng mga babae sa labahan
ay kabilang sa rason kung bakit nangangarap ang ating bida at ng magkita niya na pinaglalauan
lang ni Sancho ang kanyang damdamin, pinuna naman ito ni Pedro kahit na walang kamalay-malay
ang binata sa nararamdaman ni Rosa para sakanya.
6. The Virgin (Kerima Polotan Tuvera) – Naglalahad ito patungkol sa buhay ng ating bida na si
Miss Mijares, isang matandang-dalaga na naghahanggad ng pagmamahal at pinuna naman ito ng
bagong trabahador na nagtratrabaho kay Ato.
7. Ang Inang Matapobre (Deogracias Rosario) – Ang kwentong ito ay tungkol sa isang maka-
sariling ina na si Aling Osang at ang gusto niya ay maging mayaman gamit ang pera na
paghihirapan ni Monching, ang kanyang anak. At dahil sa kanyang kagustuhan maging mayaman
ay pati narin ang buhay-pagibig ni Monching ay pinapakealaman niya. Si Corazon ay isang
kariniwang mamamayan lang, simple, merong trabaho ngunit hindi gaano kayaman pero siya ang
mahal na mahal ni Monching at pinag-hiwalay sila ni Aling Osang dahil sa estado nito sa buhay.
Nabuntis ni Monching ang anak ng kanyang amo na si Lannie, mayaman at maganda ngunit ubod
ng kapangitan ang ugali nito kaya napagtanto ni Aling Osang na mas mabuti pa si Corazon.
8. Ang Batang Espesyal (Rene O. Villanueva) – Ang mag-asawang Mila at Ramon ay nagkaroon
ng espesyal na anak na si Pepe kaya lubos nila itong pinagtuonan ng pansin at hindi nila napagtanto
na nagseselos na ang kanilang ibang anak kaya naman ipinaliwanag ni Mila sa kanyang mga anak
na mas kailangan sila ni Pepe dahil sa kondisyon nito.
9. Nawawalang Sapatos ni Kulas (Sandy Ghaz) – Sa kwentong ito, nagtataka si Vina, isang ina,
kung bakit palaging nawawala ang mga bagong sapatos na binibili niya para sa kanyang anak na
si Kulas, kaya tinanong niya ito ng masinsinan at inamin ng anak na si Kulas na binibigay niya ito
sa kanyang kaibigan si Leon na hindi daw makabili ng para sa sarili niya dahil wala siyang pera.
10. Si Inday at ang Kanyang Bagong Selpon (Sandy Ghaz) – Tungkol ito kay Inday na
kakagraduate lang kaya niregaluhan siya ng kanyang inang si Aling Peling ng bagong selpon gamit
ang naipon na pera ni Aling Peling. May nakilala si Inday na lalaki, si Rico, at nagdesisyon silang
magkita. Pinaaalahan ni Aling Peling si Inday na huwag basta basta makipagkita sa ibang tao dahil
baka mapahamak siya ngunit nagmatigas si Inday, Niloko siya ni Rico at ninakaw ang kanyang
bag kasama ang bagong selpon nito.
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KWENTO 3.2 TAGPUAN 3.3 SIMBOLO 3.4 TEMA 3.5 MENSAHE

WOMAN WITH Ubec, Pilipinas Ang babaeng may Magmahal muli Hindi ka dapat
HORNS 1903 panahon ng sungay- basta basta nalang
(Cecilia pagsakop ng mga ipinapahiwatig na manghusga ng
Menguera- amerikano sa hindi mo dapat isang tao at huwag
Brainard) pilipinas agad husgahan ang mong ikulong ang
isang tao. iyong sarili sa
nakaraan.
MY FATHER Isang barrio sa Mga pandama Wala sa Ang pagiging
GOES TO Luzon noong (pandinig at kayamanan ang mayaman ay hindi
COURT 1920’s pangamoy) kaligayahan sapat na rason
(Carlos Bulusan) upang apihin ang
kapwa tao
MAGNIFICENCE Isang barrio sa Lapis – simbolo ng Kadakilaan ng ina Hindi ka dapat
(Estrella D. Alfon) Pilipinas sa kababawan ng agad agad na
kapanahunan ng kaligayahan ng magtitiwala sa
mga Hapon isang bata isang tao kahit na
nagpapakita ito ng
kagandahang loob
sa maikling
panahon dahil
pwedeng ginagawa
niya ito dahil
nagbabalak sila ng
masama
MY BROTHER’S 1950’s, Sa isang Ang manok – hindi Ang Di- Huwag
PECULIAR baryo sa Pilipinas kasarian ang mapanghusga pagaksayahan ng
CHICKEN basehan ng oras ang isang
(Alejandro R. kakayahan sa mga bagay na maaaring
Roces) gawain magsimula ng
away sa iyong
paligid.
SERVANT GIRL 1900’s sa isang Bote – Bulag ang pag-ibig Huwag masyadong
(Estrella D. Alfon) baryo sa Pilipinas nagsisimbolo sa umasa na mahal ka
depresiyon ng isang ng taong mahal mo
tao. dahil mahal mo
nga siya pero
mahal ka ba…
THE VIRGIN Dekada 50’s-60’s, Ang pampabigat ng Hindi makasarili Minsan may mga
( Kerima Polotan sa isang syudad sa papel- nagsisimbolo bagay talaga sa
Tuvera) Pilipinas ito sa buhay ni Ms. buhay natin na
Mijares. kahit anong pigil
natin, kahit anong
pagpupumiglas
 12

natin, kung para sa

iyo ito, dadating at
dadating talaga ito
sa buhay mo, sa
gusto mo man o
hindi.
ANG INANG Sa isang probinsiya Si Corazon- Makasarili Huwag maging
MATAPOBRE sas Pilipinas at sa nagsisimbolo siya matapobre. Hindi
(Deogracias Bacolod ng kagandahan at sa dami ng yaman
Rosario) kasimplehan nasusukat ang
halaga ng isang
tao.
Higit na mahalaga
ang mabuting
kalooban kaysa
yaman.
ANG BATANG Kasalukuyang Ang batang Paguunawa Iwasan ang
ESPESYAL panahon Espesyal- naging pagiging
(Rene O. simbolo ito ng mainggitin.
Villanueva) pagmamahal ng Bagamat may
mga magulang sa natatanging
anak atensyon na
ibinibigay lalo na
sa mga mga special
child, unawaing
mabuti ang
kanilang
sitwasyon. Higit na
pinagpala ka pa rin
dahil hindi mo
nararanasan ang
pinagdadaanan nila
sa araw-araw
NAWAWALANG Kasalukuyang Sapatos- Naging Pagpapahalaga sa Pahalagahan ang
SAPATOS NI Panahon simbolo ito ng mga binibigay ng mga
KULAS pagiging hindi mga magulang pinaghihirapan ng
(Sandy Ghaz) makasarili mga magulang;
Huwag
magsisinungaling
kahit mabuti pa
ang dahilan
 13

SI INDAY AT Kasalukuyang Selpon- Naging Makinig palagi sa Wag basta basta

ANG KANYANG Panahon simbolo ng mga nakakatanda sumama sa mga
BAGONG kasipagan at pagka taong hindi mo
SELPON hindi makasarili ng kilala ng lubusan;
(Sandy Ghaz) isang magulang sa Palaging makinig
kanyang anak. sa mga payo ng
ating mga
magulang

1. Woman with horns (Cecilia Menguera-Brainard)

Tagpuan: Base sa kwento, ang paglalarawan nila sa kapanahunan na iyon ay tumutugma sa
kapanahonan ng mga amerikano at dahil na din sa salitang ginamit upang tawagin ang baryong
kanilang pinaguusapan - “Ubec” (Cebu na ito kung tawagin ngayon).
Simbolo: Karamihan sa atin ay nanghuhusga agad sa pisikal na anyo ng tao kaya nama’y ang
babaeng may sungay ang simbolo sa estoryang ito.
Tema: Natutong bitawan ni Dr. McAllister ang kanyang nakaraan dahil tinanggap na niya ang
namumuong pagibig niya para kay Augustina.
Mensahe: Hindi dapat nating ugaliing manghusga ng ibang tao, kahit na nayayamot ka sa taong
iyon, hindi ka dapat nagsasalita ng mga haka-haka tungkol sa ibang tao dahil hindi iyan
nakakatulong sa kanya o sa sarili mo na umunlad bilang isang tao at huwag mong hayaan na
makulong ka sa iyong nakaraan dahil hindi ka makakausad sa pagpapabuti mo sa iyong sarili.

2. My Father goes to court (Carlos Bulusan)

Tagpuan: Nangyari ang kwentong ito sa kapanahunan ng mga kastila dahil gumagamit ito ng mga
salitang espanyol.
Simbolo: Ito’y may malaking papel sa istorya dahil ito ang rason kung bakit nainggit at
inakusaham sila ng mayamang pamilya.
Tema: Hindi naintindihan ng mayamang pamilya ang kahalagahan ng pagpapahalaga sa isa’t isa
bilang isang pamilya kaya lubos ang kanyang pagkainggit na makita na malulusog at
napakamasiyahin ng mahirap na pamilya.
Mensahe: Huwag mo gamitin ang iyang pinansiyal na kapangyarihan upang makalamang ng
ibang tao dahil hindi nabibili ng pera ang dignidad at respeto ng isang tao.

3. Magnificence (Estrella Alfon)

Tagpuan: Nangyari ito sa kapanahunan ng mga hapon dahil nabanggit sa kwento ang mga bagay
na nanggagaling o sumikat mula sa hapon.
Simbolo: sinisimbolo nito ang mga bagay na nagbibigay ligaya sa mga inosenteng isipan ng mga
bata.
14

Tema: Naipakita ng ina kung papano niya protektahan ang kanyang mga anak kahit na alam
niyang mas malakas sa kanyang ang kanyang hinaharap na kalaban, gagawin niya ang lahat upang
proteksyonan ang kanyang mga anak.
Mensahe: Kilatisin muna ang isang tao bago mo ito pagkatiwalaan dahil may posibilidad na
pinapaamo ka lang niya upang magamit ka niya o may makuha siya sa iyo.

4. My brother’s peculiar chicken (Alejandro Roces)

Tagpuan: Ayon sa kwento, nangyari ito sa taong 1950’s dahil hindi pa kilala ang pagkakaroon ng
binabae na manok at dahil nadin sa hindi ito agad na matukoy ni Mr. Cruz na nagaral sa UP.
Simbolo: Naging simbolo ang manok dahil hindi hadlang ang kasarian upang gawin ang mga
normal na bagay na nagagawa ng mga karaniwang tao.
Tema: Huwag kang manghusga sa kakayahan ng isang tao dahil baka magugulat ka na lang na
mas may kaya pa ito kesa sa iyo.
Mensahe: Huwag sayangin ang oras sa mga bagay na hindi importante dahil baka magdulot lang
ito ng problema sa iyong sarili o sa ibang tao.

5. Servant girl (Estrella Alfon)

Tagpuan: Taong 1900’s, dahil sa pagkakalarawan ng mga lugar at pangyayari, tumutugma lang
ito sa kapanahunang iyon.
Simbolo: Ayon sa iba, kapag ang tao ay palaging umiinom, indikasyon ito na ang taong iyon ay
mayroon problema o madami ang problemang hinaharap.
Tema: Madaling mauto ang isang tao lalo na kapag pinaglalaruan ang kanilang emosyon kaya
naman kahit anong sinasabi ng ibang tao ay hindi mo makikita iyon dahil labis na emosyon ang
nararamdaman mo para sa taong iyon.
Mensahe: huwag mong hayaan ang iyong sarili na paglaruan ng emosyon mo dahil hindi mo na
kayang distinggihin ang reyalidad at imahinasyon.

6. The virgin (Kerima Polotan-Tuvera)

Tagpuan: Naaayon ang panahon sa inilalarawan sa kwentong ito dahil narin sa pagkakasabi sa
mga lugar at eksena.
Simbolo: Ang paperweight na iyon ay kahalintulad sa buhay ni Ms. Mijares dahil medyo sira na
at tagilid pa pero nung may dumating at sinikap na maayos ito, tsaka na nakita ni Ms. Mijares and
kagandahan nito.
Tema: Nagpaubaya si Ms. Mijares para matulungan ang kanyang kapatid sa pag-aaral at para
matustusan ang pangangailangan ng kanyang mga magulang
Mensahe: Magtira ng kahit maliit para sa iyong sarili dahil kapag wala kang pondo – pwedeng
pera, pwede ring pagmamahal - wala kang magagamit para sa iyong sariling hinaharap.
15

7. Ang inang matapobre (Deogracias Rosario)

Tagpuan: Nangyari ito sa isang probinsya sa Pilipinas sa kasalukuyang panahon dahil ang mga
salitang ginamit kagaya ng “playhouse” ay moderno.
Simbolo: Pinapakita ni Corazon na kahit simple lang at payak ang pamumuhay ay mas maganda
parin kesa sa masalimout na paninirahan.
Tema: Dahil sa kagustuhan ni Aling Osang na yumaman, hindi niya nakita na nagdudusa ang
kanyang anak at hindi na ito naging masaya sa buhay.
Mensahe: Huwag manghusga ng tao dahil babalik at babalik din ito sa iyong sarili.

8. Ang batang espesyal (Rene Villanueva)

Tagpuan: Kasalukuyang panahon ito nangyari dahil ayon sa WHO (world health organization),
1928 palang ang unang pagkilala sa problema sa pag-iisip dito sa Pilipinas, at base sa kwento,
makikita mo na mayroon ng kaalaman ang mag-asawa sa pagaalaga ng kanilang abnormal na anak.
Simbolo: Nagsisimbolo ang bata ng pagkaunawa sa kakulangan ng isa at pagmamahal ng pamilya
para sa isa’t isa
Tema: Matutong umunawa sa ibang tao dahil hindi natin alam ang kanilang mga pinagdadaanan
sa buhay.
Mensahe: Huwag maging mainggit sa kapwa natin, lalong lalo na sa mga taong may kapansanan
dahil napakahirap ng kanilang sitwasyon.

9. Nawawalang sapatos ni kulas (Sandy Ghaz)

Tagpuan: Kasalukuyang panahon ito nangyayari dahil sa pagkalarawan ng disenyo sa sapatos ni
kulas, maypagka moderno ang disenyo nito.
Simbolo: Laging maging mapagbigay kung mayroon kang kayang mabigay dahil maswerte tayo
na nagkakaroon ng mga bagong gamit subalit mayroon iba na halos hindi pa makakain pero unahin
parin ang sarili at wag mag aksaya ng mga gamit.
Tema: Laging pahalagahan ang mga bagay na ibinibigay sa iyo dahil hindi mo alam ang hirap na
dinanas ng nagbigay sayo para lang mabili niya iyon.
Mensahe: Pahalagahan ang mga ibinibigay ng mga magulang natin dahil nabili at naibigay nila sa
atin iyon sa hirap at pagod.

10. Si inday at ang kanyang bagong selpon (Sandy Ghaz)

Tagpuan: Kasalukuyang panahon, ang disenyo ng selpon at ang paglalarawan sa mga lugar na
nabanggit.
Simbolo: Ginagawa ng ating magulang ang lahat lahat para lang may maibigay sa atin na mga
anak at para maging maligaya tayo.
Tema: Laging pakakatandaan at pakikinggan ang mga payo ng ating mga magulang dahil
makakabuti iyon sa atin.
Mensahe: Wag basta bastang sumama sa kahit kaninong tao lalo na’t hindi pa natin ito lubusang
kakilala.
 16

KWENTO 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10

SAGLIT NA TUNGGALIAN KASUKDULAN KAKALASAN PANGWAKAS
KASIYAHAN
WOMAN WITH Nung nilapitan Tao laban sa Inamin ni Napako ang Naligo sina
HORNS ni Augustina kanyang sarili Augstina na paningin ng Augustina at ang
(Cecilia ang doktor na nagkakagusto doktor kay doktor sa ilog sa
Menguera- nakatayo sa siya sa doktor. Augstina ilalim ng puting
Brainard) veranda ng habang si ilaw ng dilaw na
bahay ng Augustina buwan.
mayor. naman ay
papalapit sa
kanya, at unti-
unting
natatanggal ang
tapis sa kanyang
kahubdan at
tuluyang
nahulog sa mga
bisig ng isa’t
isa.
MY FATHER Nalalanghap Tao laban sa Tao Dinala ang Pinatunog ng Nagsimulang
GOES TO ng pamilya ng mahirap na ama ang tumawa ang
COURT batang lalaki pamilya sa korte sumbrerong kapatid ng
(Carlos Bulusan) ang mga dahil sila ay puno ng barya batang lalaki
pagkaing pinaratangang bilang hanggang sa
niluluto ng nagnakaw sa kabayaran sa nagsitawanan na
mga espiritu ng ninakaw nila na ang lahat ng tao
tagapagsilbi ng pagkain at espiritu ng sa luob ng korte
mayaman sa kayamanan ng kalusugan at at namumukod
bintana. kanilang pagkain. tangi ang tawa
kapitbahay na ng hukom.
mayaman.
MAGNIFICENCE Binigyan ni Tao laban sa Tao Pinagbuhatan ng Naipakita ng Pagkatapos
(Estrella D. Alfon) Vicente ng kamay ng ina si nanay ang papuntahin ng
magagandang Vicente kanyang nanay sa
lapis ang mga hanggang sa kakayahan na kanilang kuwarto
bata kaya’t kumaripas ito ng maprotektahan ang mga bata,
laking tuwa takbo. ang kanyang sinimulan niyang
nalang ng mga mga anak at na pagbuhatan ng
bata. kaya niyang kamay si Vicente
maging hanggang sa
matapang sa tumakbo ito
 17

kahit anong papalabas ng

sitwasyon. bahay.
Pinaliguan at
nilinis ng nanay
ang batang babae
bago ito matulog.
MY BROTHER’S Nakakita si Tao laban sa Sumabak sa Ang pula manok Tinakas na nila
PECULIAR kiko at ang kanyang sarili at isang laban ang ay nabighani sa ang manok sa
CHICKEN kanyang kapwa kakaibang manok kakaibang sabungan at
(Alejandro R. kapatid ng manok at bigla naniwala na ang
Roces) isang itong sumayaw nakababatang
panabong na para sa kapatid na
manok na kakaibang panabong manok
mukhang manok na talaga ang Nakita
babaeng mukhang isang nilang manok
manok babaeng manok ngunit bigla
itong nangitlog
habang hawak-
hawak ng
nakababatang
kapatid.

SERVANT GIRL Inatasang Tao laban sa Tao Sinampal si rosa Umuwing Pagkatapos
(Estrella D. Alfon) bumili si rosa ni Sancho sa luhaan si rosa siyang ihatid ng
ng isang bote pisngi at nabigla dala dala ang kutsero sa bahay
ng alak. siya kaya isang parte ng ng kanyang amo,
hinampas ni rosa nabasag na bote tinanong niya
ng bote si Sancho ng alak, ang pangalan ng
ngunit nagbabasakaling misteryosong
naharangan ni paniniwalaan kutserong iyon at
Sancho ito at siya ng kanyang pumasok siya sa
kumaripas ng amo. bahay at
takbo nadatnan niya
ang kanyang amo
na lasing na
lasing.
THE VIRGIN Nagpasalamat Tao laban sa Tao Sinabi ng Kusangbumigay Nabasa silang
( Kerima Polotan ang bagong trabahante na ang isip at dalawa sa ulan
Tuvera) trabahante kay lubos niyang kaluluwa ni Ms. dahil pinababa na
Ms. Mijares ikinagalak ang Mijares sa sila sa jeep na
dahil pagtanggol ni bagong sinasakyan nila
pinaglaban Ms. Mijares sa trabahante. at sumuko si Ms.
siya nito ukol kanya at Mijares sa
sa sweldo pinaalam niya na bagong
niya. trabahante dahil
 18

wala pa siyang nabuhayan siya

asawa nang loob, ang
loob na matagal
na niyang
inaasam asam.
ANG INANG Laging Tao laban sa Tao Tatlong araw at Pinagsisihan ni Kung hindi
MATAPOBRE bukambibig ni tatlong gabi na Aling Osang naging
(Deogracias Aling Osang sina Aling Osang ang kanyang matapobre si
Rosario) na ang anak na sa playhouse, ginawa at Aling Osang,
engineer na si Sabado ng hinahatiran ng nagaaninag na sana’y nakita
Monching ay tanghali. pagkain ng sanay niyang higit ang
dapat lang Lumabas ng katulong, ngunit pinabayaan na halaga ng
makapag- bahay si Lanie, minsan man ay laman niya sina magandang ugali
asawa ng isang kasama ang yaya hindi pa sila Monching at kaysa sa
mayaman na may kalong nakapasok sa Corazon noon materyal na
dahil may na bata. Agad ay loob ng malaking ng sa ganun ay kayamanan.
mataas itong lumapit Si Aling bahay. Ni hindi sana maraming
katungkulan sa Osang, sabik na na nga nila nakita apo na ang
kumpanyang niyakap at o nakausap muli naglalambing sa
pinapasukan at hinalikan ang ang manugang na kanya.
topnotcher pa apo. Pagalit na halatang malayo
sa board exam. nagsalita si ang loob pa
Lanie, “Tama kanila.
na, baka mangati
ang bata!”
Sumakay ito ng
kotse, kasama
ang anak at yaya
at lumabas ng
gate.
ANG BATANG Nagkaroon ng Tao laban sa Tao Ang hindi alam Napatahimik Hindi nakasagot
ESPESYAL abnormal na ni Aling Mila ay ang ang 4 na
(Rene O. anak sina nagseselos na magkakapatid magkakapatid sa
Villanueva) Aling Mila at Kinomprunta ng ang iba pa niyang sa sagot ng sinabi ng
Mang Ramon apat na anak. Napapansin kanilang Ina kanilang Ina.
at ito’y magkakapatid ng mga ito na dahil lubos nila
inalagaan nila ang kanilang ina mas malaking itong na
ng maayos. sa mga hinanakit oras ang ibinigay intindihan at
nila sa kapatid niya kay Pepe wala na silang
nilang si Pepe kaysa sa mga ito. masabi.
Lingid sa kanya
ay nag-usap-usap
ang apat na
magkakapatid.
Napagkasunduan
 19

ng mga ito na
kausapin siya
para ipahayag sa
kaniya ang
kanilang mga
hinanakit.
NAWAWALANG Isang araw Tao laban sa Tao Inamin ni Kulas Pinatawad ni Humingi ng
SAPATOS NI habang na ipinamimigay Vina si kulas at patawad si Kulas
KULAS tinatalian ng niya ang kanyang pinayuhan din sa kanyang mga
(Sandy Ghaz) sapatos ng Tinanong ulit ni mga bagong niya ito. magulang at
nanay si kulas Vina si kulas sapatos sa nangakong hindi
ay nagtaka ito kung nasaan kaibigan nitong na ito mauulit at
kung bakit nanaman ang nasa labas ng hindi na siya
lumang bagong biling eskwelahan magsisinungaling
sapatos ang sapatos ni vina. sa kanila.
ginamit ni
kulas
SI INDAY AT Napagisipan ni Tao laban sa Tao Nakita ni Aling Pinagsisisihan Pinagsisisihan ni
ANG KANYANG Aling Peling Peling ang ni Inday ang Inday na hindi
BAGONG na bilhan si kanyang anak na kanyang inasal siya nakinig sa
SELPON Inday ng Nagulat si Aling umiiyak at sa ina at nawa’y kanyang ina.
(Sandy Ghaz) bagong selpon Peling at sinabing hindi na ito
bilang regalo nagising siya na nawawala ang mauulit pa.
sa pagtatapos wala na ang bag nito na
ng kanyang anak. kasama ang
elementarya. bagong selpon na
binili ng ina para
sa anak

1. Woman with horns (Cecilia Menguera-Brainard)

Saglit ng kasiyahan: Nung nilapitan ni Augustina ang doktor na nakatayo sa veranda ng bahay
ng mayor, dahil dito nagsimulang umusbong ang kanilang pagmamahalan.
Tunggalian: Nagalit ang doktor sa pagamin ni Augustina dahil nabigla siya at hindi niya
matanggap na unting unting nahuhulog ang kanyang loob sa babae.
Kasukdulan: Inamin ni Augstina na nagkakagusto siya sa doktor.
Kakalasan: Natanggap na ni Dr. McAllister ang kanyang nararamdam para kay Augustina.
Pangwakas: “Naligo sina Augustina at ang doktor sa ilog sa ilalim ng puting ilaw ng dilaw na
buwan.” Doon na natapos ang kwento ng estorya.

2. My Father goes to Court (Carlos Bulusan)

Saglit ng kasiyahan: Iyon ang simula kung bakit sila nagkaproblema.
Tunggalian: Kinasuhan ng mayamang pamilya ang pamilya ng batang lalaki dahil inakusahan
nito na ninanakaw ang kanilang yaman – espiritu ng kalusugan at pagkain.
20

Kasukdulan: Pinadalhan sila ng abiso mula sa hukoman kaya nama’y dinala ang pamilya sa
hukoman ng mga gwardiya.
Kakalasan: Nilabanan nila ang hindi makatwirang akusasyon ng maalam na ideya.
Pangwakas: Natatawa ang hukom sa pamamaraan ng paglutas ng kanyang ama sa problema.
3. MAGNIFICENCE (Estrella D. Alfon)
Saglit ng kasiyahan: Nagpanggap si Vicente upang makuha ang loob nga mga bata.
Tunggalian: Dito napagtanto ng nanay kung ano talaga ang pakay ni Vicente.
Kasukdulan: Pinaakyat na muna ng nanay ang mga bata, pagkatapos ay binuhos niya lahat ng
galit niya kay Vicente nung malaman niya kung ano ang pakay nito sa mga bata, lalo na sa kanyang
anak na babae.
Kakalasan: Sa kabila ng kanyang takot na lalaki ang kanyang kaharap ay naipaglaban niya parin
ang kanyang mga anak sa masamang taong pwedeng manakit sa kanila.
Pangwakas: Ipinapakita lang na talagang mahal ng Nanay ang kanyang anak at gagawin niya ang
lahat upang maprotektahan lang sila.

4. My brother’s peculiar chicken

Saglit ng kasiyahan: Nakakita ang magkapatid ng hindi pangkaraniwang manok dahil mukha
itong panabong na manok ngunit mukha din itong babae na manok.
Tunggalian: Upang matukoy talaga kung anong klaseng manok ito, pinagplanuhan nila na isali
ito sa isang sabongan.
Kasukdulan: Pinasabak na nila ang manok sa away upang agad nilang malaman kung babae ba
ito o lalaki.
Kakalasan: Pinalaban nila ang manok at dahil hindi nga ito pangkaraniwan, ang manok ng
kalaban ay nalito narin kaya natalo ito sa kakaibang manok.
Pangwakas: Kahit nanalo ang kakaibang manok sa laban ay hindi parin nila matukoy kung babae
ba ito o lalaki dahil bigla nalang itong nangitlog habang hawak hawak ng kapatid ni Kiko.

5. Servant Girl (Estrella Alfon)

Saglit ng kasiyahan: Ipinapakita dito kung ano si Rosa at kung anong klaseng trabaho ang meron
siya.
Tunggalian: Aakmang lalamangan sana siya ni Sancho ngunit nakapaglaban siya kaya hindi
natuloy ang mga binabalak ni Sancho.
Kasukdulan: Sa kadahilanang hindi natuloy ang mga binabalak ni Sancho at nanlaban pa si Rosa
ay pinagbuhatan na lamang niya ito ng kamay.
Kakalasan: Naramdaman ni Rosa ang sakit na dinanas niya sa kanyang Mistress, pakiramdam
niya ay hindi nasusuklian ang kanyang mga pagsisikap kaya ay napagdesisyunan niyang lumayas
nalang upang mawala itong lahat.
Pangwakas: Sa kabila ng mga pangyayari sa kanyang buhay ay nabulag at napikot parin siya sa
kanyang pag-ibig kay Pedro at patuloy parin ang kanyang mga haka-haka na dadating din ang
21

panahon na mamahalin din siya ni Pedro at magiging maginhawa ang kanyang buhay kagaya ng
kanyang Mistress kaya magtitiis nalang muna siya.

6. The Virgin (Kerima Polotan Tuvera)

Saglit ng kasiyahan: Doon nagsimula ang kanilang pagkakilala ng bagong trabahante.
Tunggalian: Akala ni Ms. Mijares na hindi pinapahalagahan ng bagong trabahante ang kanyang
pagsusumikap na makapasok ito sa trabaho.
Kasukdulan: Ipinapahiwatig ng binate na interesado siya kay Ms. Mijares at nagpapasalamat siya
sa nagawang tulong ni Ms. Mijares
Kakalasan: Hind matanggap ni Ms. Mijares na mahuhulog siya sa bagong trabahante kaya pilit
niyang iniiwasan ito ngunit hindi talaga maipagkakaila na mayroon na siya nararamdaman sa
binata.
Pangwakas: Hindi napigilan ni Ms. Mijares ang kanyang nararamdaman para sa binata kaya
hinayaan na lamang niya ang kanyang puso ang magdesisyon sa kanyang mga kilos.

7. Ang Inang matapobre (Deogracias Rosario)

Saglit ng kasiyahan: Ipinagmamalaki ni Aling Osang ang mga nakamit ng kanyang anak dahil
siya ang nagpapaaral nito.
Tunggalian: Napagtanto ni Aling Osang na masagwa pala ang asal ng napangasawa ng kanyang
anak.
Kasukdulan: Hindi sila pinapansin ni Lannie dahil mababa lang ang tingin ni Lannie sa kanila
kaya nama’y sa playhouse lang sila pinapatulog at hindi sila pinapapasok sa bahay.
Kakalasan: Naramdaman na ni Aling Osang ang bagsik ni Lannie kaya napagtanto niya na sana
si Corazon nalang ang pinili ng kanyang anak at hinayaan nalang sana niya ang dalawa na
magmahalan.
Pangwakas: Ninais ni Aling Osang na sanay hindi nalang siya nakialam sa buhay ng kanyang
anak at hindi maganda ang masilaw sa pera.

8. Ang batang espesyal (Rene O. Villanueva)

Saglit ng kasiyahan: Mayroong problema sa pagiisip ang anak nina Mila at Ramon kaya palagi
nila itong inaalalayan sa lahat ng kilos at Gawain.
Tunggalian: Ipinahiwatig ng magkakapatid na nagseselos sila sa kanilang bunsong kapatid.
Kasukdulan: Hindi makapaniwala si Mila sa sinabi ng kanyang mga anak kaya nama’y napaisip
siya bigla at tsaka na niya napansin ang mga pangangailangan din ng kanyang ibang anak.
Kakalasan: Ipinapaliwanag ni Mila kung bakit ganun nalang niya pagtuonan ng pansin si Pepe
kaya napagtanto din ng mga magkakapatid kung ano ang nararamdaman ng kanilang ina.
Pangwakas: Hindi sila nakasagot dahil hindi nila inasahan na ganun pala ang sitwasyon ng
kanilang bunsong kapatid.
 22

9. Nawawalang sapatos ni Kulas (Sandy Ghaz)

Saglit ng kasiyahan: Parating binibilihan ni Vina si kulas ng bagong sapatos kaya ganun nalang
ang kanyang pagtataka.
Tunggalian: Parati nalang nawawala ang kanyang mga bagong biling sapatos kaya hindi na siya
naka tiis at tinanong na niya si kulas kung nasaan ito.
Kasukdulan: Nagkaroon ng lakas ng loob si kulas kaya umamin ito sa kung ano ang ginawa niya
sa mga bagong biling sapatos.
Kakalasan: Naintindihan ni Vina ang nararamdaman ni Kulas kaya pinatawad niya ito at
ipinaliwanag din niya kung bakit hindi niya basta basta ibigay nalang ang mga bagong gamit niya.
Pangwakas: Naintindihan na ni Kula sang gustong ipahiwatig ng kanyang mga magulang kaya
nama’y nangako na siya na hindi na niya uulitin pa ito.

10. Si Inday at ang kanyang bagong selpon (Sandy Ghaz)

Saglit ng kasiyahan: Kakagraduate lang ni inday ng mga panahong iyon kaya nama’y gusto ni
Peling na pasayhin ang kanyang anak dahil nag aral ito ng mabuti.
Tunggalian: Nagkasagutan sina Peling at Inday dahil tutol si Peling na makipagkita si Inday kay
Rico ngunit matigas ang ulo ni Inday kaya maaga siyang umalis ng bahay.
Kasukdulan: Masakit sa ina na makitang umiiyak ang kanilang ina kaya kahit na nadismaya si
Peling sa inasal ni Inday ay kinausap parin niya ito at tinanong kung ano ang problema niya.
Kakalasan: Pinagsisisihan ni Inday ang kanyang ginawa sa ina.
Pangwakas: Napagtanto ni Inday na dapat talagang makinig sa mga nakakatanda lalong lalo na
sa Ina.

KWENTO 3.11 3.12

WIKA ISTILO

WOMAN WITH Isinulat ang istorya na ang mga ginamit na
HORNS salita ay medyo malalim pero nagiiwan ito
(Cecilia Menguera- ng impak sa mga mambabasa.
Brainard)
Hal.
“Friend, you don’t know how to enjoy life.
Look at the sun turning red, getting ready to
set spectacularly. It is a wonderful afternoon,
you walk with a friend, you talk about
beautiful women, about life. Now, let me
finish my story. People say her – mother a
simple laundry woman – jumped over the
seminary walls and behind those hollowed
Ang istilo ng pagkasulat ay
“conventional” sapagkat sunod-
sunod ang paglalarawan ng mga
parte ng estorya o meron itong
“character build-up”
Hal.
Ang kwento ay kumpleto sa mga
bahagi ng isang maikling
kwento.
 23
walls, under the arbol de fuego trees, she
bedded with one of Christ’s chosen.”
MY FATHER Ang mga ginamit na mga salita ay mayroong
GOES TO COURT pagkalalim ngunit bahagyang nakatulong ito
(Carlos Bulusan) upang mas maintindihan ng mga mambabasa
ang ipinapahiwatig ng awtor.
Gumamit rin ito ng “Hyperbole” na mga
salita kagaya ng “Espiritu ng kayamanan at
pagkain” at ang bayad ng Ama sa mayamang
pamilya.
Hal.
“We watched the servants turn the beautiful
birds and inhaled the heavenly spirit that
drifted out to us.”
MAGNIFICENCE Malalalim ang mga salitang ginamit sa
(Estrella D. Alfon) kwentong ito at hindi direkta ang pagkasabi.
Hal.
“When her mother reached her, the woman,
held her hand out to the child. Always also,
with the terrible indelibility that one
associated with terror, the girl was to
remember the touch of that hand on her
shoulder, heavy, kneading at her flesh, the
woman herself stricken almost dumb, but her
eyes eloquent with that angered fire.”
MY BROTHER’S Ang wika na ginamit sa istorya ito ay
PECULIAR pangkaraniwan lamang at madaling
CHICKEN maintindihan.
(Alejandro R.
Roces) Hal.
“My brother Kiko once had a very peculiar
chicken. It was peculiar because no one could
tell whether it was a rooster or a hen. My
brother claimed it was a rooster. I claimed it
was a hen. We almost got whipped because
we argued too much.”
SERVANT GIRL Medyo maypagka lalim ang mga salitang
(Estrella D. Alfon) ginamit ng awtor sapagkat may mga salitang
hindi agad-agad na naiintindihan.
Ang istilo ng pagkasulat ay
“descriptive” na paraan, sapagkat
sinasalaysay ng awtor kung
anong nangyari sa ispesipikong
oras sa panahong iyon at
gumamit din ito ng mala-
metaporikal na mga salita.
Hal.
Kagaya nalang nang ginamit ng
tagapagsalita ang mga salitang “
spirit of wealth and food”
“Descriptive” ang pagkasulat sa
istoryang ito dahil maliwanag na
nailahad ang mga parte ng
istorya at sunod sunod ito.
Hal.
Kagaya nalang kung papano nila
nakilala ang antagonista at kung
ano ang ginagawa niya sa mga
bata hanggang sa nalaman ng ina
ang kanyang mga masamang
balak at prinotektahan ang
kanyang mga anak.
Ito ay naratibo, sapagkat
malinaw na naipaliwanag ng
awtor kung ano ang solusyon sa
problema nilang magkakapatid.
Hal.
Ipinapaliwanag kung ano ang
problema at kung papano ito na
solusyonan.
Deskriptibo na istilo ang ginamit
sa pagsulat ng istoryang ito.
 24
Hal.
“Rosa frowned and picked up her can. Sancho
made a move to help her but she thrust him
away, and the women roared again, saying
“Because we are here, Sancho, she is
ashamed.” Rosa carried the can away, her
head angrily down, and Sancho followed her,
saying “Do not be angry,” in coaxing tones.”
THE VIRGIN Malalalim na salita ang ginamit ng awtor sa
( Kerima Polotan pagsulat sa istoryang ito. Metaporikal ang
Tuvera) karamihan sa mga salitang ginamit sa
kadahilanang may pagkaselan ang nilalaman
nito.
Hal.
“I must get away, she thought wildly, but he
had moved and brushed against her, and
where his touch had fallen, her flesh leaped,
and she recalled how his hands had looked
that first day, lain tenderly on the edge of her
desk and about the wooden bird (that had
looked like a moving, shining dove) and she
turned to him with her ruffles wet and
wilted, in the dark she turned to him.”
ANG INANG Napakasimple at madaling maunawaan ang
MATAPOBRE wikang ginamit.
(Deogracias
Rosario) Hal.
{Kinausap ni Aling Osang ang anak,
ipinakakalas kay Corazon. “Ngunit Mama, si
Corazon ay mahal ko at mahal din niya ako.
Mabait siya, masipag, magalang, at kilala
n’yo ang pamilya. Isa rin siyang kapita-
pitagang guro. Bakit ayaw n’yo sa kanya?”}
ANG BATANG Madaling unawaain ang wikang ginamit at
ESPESYAL siguradong maiintindihan din ito ng mga
(Rene O. bata.
Villanueva)
Hal.
“Lima ang naging anak ni Mang Ramon at
Aling Mila. Ang bunso na isang lalaki ay
abnormal. Ang tawag dito ay mongoloid. Ang
batang abnormal pinangalanan nilang Pepe.
Hal.
May progreso ang karakter sa
istorya; isang babae na nabulag
sa pagmamahal sa lalaking hindi
naman niya lubos na kakilala
pero pinaglaban niya parin ito
kahit na marami nang pagsubok
ang kanyang hinarap.
Deskriptibong paraan ang
ginamit ng .awtor sa pagkasulat
ng istoryang ito.
Hal.
Ang ideya ng istoryang ito ay
ang buhay ni Miss Mijares at
kung papaano niya nakilala ang
lalaking nagpatibok sa puso niya.
Narrative ang pagkasulat sa
istoryang ito dahil malinaw ang
pagkalahad ng mga parte nito.
Inilalahad ng awtor kung ano
ang nangyari sa pamilya ni aling
osang.
Narrative ang pagkasulat ng
istorya dahil malinaw ang
pagkahatid ng idea sa
mambabasa.
Kagaya ng naunang istorya,
inilahad lamang ng awtor ang
nangyari sa pamilya nina mang
Ramon at aling Mila.
 25

Malambot ang mga paa at mga kamay ni

Pepe. Kahit na malaki na siya ay kailangan
parin siyang alalayan ng kanyang ina sa
paglalakad para hindi siya mabuwal. Ang
kanyang bibig ay nakakibit kaya kung
magsalita siya ay mahirap maintindihan.”
NAWAWALANG Simpleng mga kataga lamang ang ginamit sa Naratibong pamamaraan ang
SAPATOS NI istoryang ito ang lubos itong maiintindihan ginamit sa istoryang ito sapagkat
KULAS ng mga bata. “pangunahing tauhan” ang
(Sandy Ghaz) nagsasalaysay dito.
Hal.
“Humingi ng patawad si Kulas at nangako sa Iprinisenta ang pangyayari kung
ina na pahahalagahan na niya ang susunod na bakit palaging nawawala ang
mga sapatos at mga gamit na ibibigay sa sapatos ni Kulas.
kanya ng mama at papa niya. Nangako rin
siyang hindi na siya magsisinungaling.”

SI INDAY AT Madaling maintindihan ang mga salitang Naratibong pamamaraan ang

ANG KANYANG ginamit sa istoryang ito. ginamit sa kwentong ito.
BAGONG
SELPON Hal. Kagaya ng mga naunang kwento,
(Sandy Ghaz) “Aling Peling halos hindi na makatulog kaka- sinasalaysay lamang ng awtor
isip kung ano ireregalo sa nag-iisang anak. kung ano ang mga pangyayari sa
Isang araw, namasyal si Inday sa bahay ng isa espisipikong oras ng panahon na
niyang kaibigan at nagkaroon ng oras si Aling iyon.
Peling na bumili ng sorpresa para sa anak.
Dali-dali siyang pumunta sa pamilihan at
doon nakakita siya ng isang selpon. “Sakto to.
Medyo malayo ang paaralan na papasukan ni
Inday sa sekondarya, kakailanganin niya ‘to,”
sabi ni Aling Peling sa sarili.”

1. WOMAN WITH HORNS (Cecilia Menguera-Brainard) – Nagdudulot talaga ng impact

ang wika na ginagamit sa kwentong ito dahil nagiiwan ito ng mabigat na emosyon at talagang
tatatak ito sa iyong isipan, Mahusay din ang istilo na ginamit ng awtor dahil nailahad niya ng
maayos ang istorya at hindi nakakalito.

2. MY FATHER GOES TO COURT (Carlos Bulusan) – Ang wika naman na ginamit sa

kwentong ito ay simple lang at mabilis na maiintindihan ng isang bata dahil malimit lang itong
gumamit ng mga malalalim na salita at ang istilo ng pagkasulat ay mapapaisip ka rin sa panahon
ng iyong pagkabata.
26

3. MAGNIFICENCE (Estrella D. Alfon) – Maypakalalim ang mga salitang ginamit dito sa

kadahilanang medyo maypakaselan ang mga pangyayari sa kwento pero maganda ang pagka
organisa sa istilo ng pagkasulat ng awtor.

4. MY BROTHER’S PECULIAR CHICKEN (Alejandro R. Roces) – Simpleng mga salita

din ang ginamit ng awtor dito at madaling maintindihan at maayos ang pagkasunod sunod ng
mga pangyayari sa kwentong ito.

5. SERVANT GIRL (Estrella D. Alfon) – Maypakalalim ang mga salitang ginamit ng awtor sa
kwentong ito pero naaayon ito sa panahong iyon, sunod sunod parin ang pagkaorganisa ng
kwento subalit medjo malilito ka sa ikot ng istorya.

6. THE VIRGIN (Kerima Polotan Tuvera) – Sakto lang ang ginamit na wika dito,
naiintindihan at hindi masyadong gumagamit ng malalalim na salita, maganda rin at takbo ng
kwento dahil malinaw ang istilo na ginawa ng awtor.

7. ANG INANG MATAPOBRE (Deogracias Rosario) – Simple at madaling maintindihan ang

wika na ginamit gayundin sa istilo ng pagkasulat, malinaw na nailahad ng maayos ang bawat
parte.

8. ANG BATANG ESPESYAL (Rene O. Villanueva) - Simple ang wika na ginamit at

malinaw din ang istilo pero medyo kulang ang background information ng mag-asawa at ng mga
anak.

9. NAWAWALANG SAPATOS NI KULAS (Sandy Ghaz) – Madaling maintindihan ang

wikang ginamit at ang istilo nama’y malinaw na nailahad.

10. SI INDAY AT ANG KANYANG BAGONG SELPON (Sandy Ghaz) – Mayroon pagka
moderno ang mga salitang ginamit sa kwentong ito pero maayos at malinaw ang istilo na
kanyang ginamit.

3.13 BUOD NG BAWAT KWENTO

1. Woman with Horns – Ang kwento ay tungkol sa isang biyudo na Amerikanong Doktor
na pumunta sa Ubec para sugpuin ang salot na nangyayari sa naturang lugar. Naging
matagumpay ang kanyang misyon na sugpuin ang problema dahil narin sa tulong nga mga
taga Ubec. May nakilala ang doktor na isang byudang babae, ang kanyang pangalan ay si
Augustina Macaraig. maganda, makiniis ang balat, at mapupungay ang mga mata.
Inimbitahan ang doktor sa isang pagtitipon sa bahay ng mayor at doon niya nakaharap si
27

Augustina. Tinanong ng tinanong ni Augstina ang doktor hanggang sa umamin ang huli sa
kanyang nararamdaman sa doktor. Nabigla ang doktor at dali dali itong umuwi sa kanyang
bahay. Nagalit ang doktor kay Augustina dahil sa pagpapahayag nito ng interes sa kanya
kahit na kalat sa kanyang komunidad na kamamatay lang ng kanyang asawa. Hindi rin
matanggap ng doktor na nabihag ni Augustina ang kanyang damdamin at hindi parin
matanggap ng doktor ang nagawa niya sa kanyang yumaong asawa. Inalala ng doktor ang
mga alala nila ng kanyang yumaong asawa. Kung papano siya alagaan nito at kung paano
siya salubungin nito paguwi niya galing trabaho. Parang unting unti ng natanggap ng
doktor ang pagkawala ng kanyang asawa sa pagmumuni muni niyang iyon. Namatay ang
nanay ng mayor kaya naimbitahan ang doktor sa lamay. Inihambing ng doktor ang paraan
ng lamay ng mga Pilipino at ng mga Amerikano at lubhang magkaiba ito. Sa unang
pagkakataon, dito lang nasaksihan ng doktor ang isang lamay na masaya ang mga tawo,
nagtatawanan habang inuusisa ang mga pangyayari sa buhay ng namatay. Pumunta sa
lamay si Augustina at nagkaharap silang muli ng doktor. Sinabi ni Augustina na masaya
daw ang lamay na ito na siya namang sinangayunan ng doktor. Nakita ni Augustina at ng
Doktor ang maliwanag na buwan. Napagpasyahan ng doktor na maligo sa ilog sa mga oras
na iyon. Tinahak niya ang daan patungong ilog at doon niya nakita ang kagandahan ng
ilog. Kumikinang ang tubig at malinaw niyang natunghayan ang mga isdang nakatira dito.
Napagdesisyonan ng doktor na maligo at namapansin ng doktor ang isang maningning na
bato kaya pinulot niya ito. Pag-ahon niya mula sa tubig, Nakita niya si Augustina na
nakatapis at dahan dahan itong lumapit sa kanya, unti-unting natanggal ang tapis nito
hanggang sa nahulog ito sa mga bisig ng doktor.

2. My Father goes to Court- Nauukol ang kwentong ito sa isang mahirap na pamilya na
napilitang lumuwas sa syudad, nagbabasakaling magkaroon ng masaganang pamumuhay,
dahil nasira ng isang baha ang bukirin ng kanyang ama. Paglipat nila sa syudad, nagkaroon
sila ng kapitbahay na mayaman kung saan ang mga anak ng mayaman ay hindi masyadong
lumalabasa ng bahay. Sa bintana ng bahay ng mayaman, na lalanghap ng pamilya ng batang
lalaki ang masasarap na amoy ng pagkain na niluluto ng mga tagapagsilbi ng mayaman.
Hanggang isang araw, nagkasakit ang pamilya ng mayaman. Nakadungaw sa bintana ang
matandang mayaman at nakatingin siya sa mga kapatid ng batang lalaki habang naglalaro
ang mga ito. Bigla bigla nalang isinara ng matandang lalaki ang mga bintana ng kanyang
bahay, gayunpamay nalalanghap parin ng batang lalaki ang amoy ng pagkain ng kanilang
kapitbahay. Kinaumagahan may dumating na mga pulis at nagdala ng papeles na kinasuhan
umano ng mayamang matanda ang pamilya ng batang lalaki. Dumating ang araw ng
paglilitis, dali daling isinuot ng ama ang kanyang lumang unipormeng pansundalo at
hiniram ang sapatos ng kanyang anak at pumunta na sa nakatakdang lugar. Unang
dumating ang pamilya ng batang lalaki. Umupo ang kanyang ama sa upuan malapit sa gitna
ng korte habang ang kanilang ina nama’y umupo malapit sa pintuan at sila namang
magkakapatid ay umupo sa isang mahaba na upuan malapit sa isang dingding. Makalipas
28

ang ilang minute dumating na ang matandang mayaman kasama ang kanyang abogado
kasunod naman ang pagkapuno ng korte ng mga tao. Sinimulan na ang paglilitis at
inakusahan ng mayaman na ninakaw daw ng pamilya ng batang lalaki ang espiritu ng
kayamanan at pagkain nito. Nagdesisyong bayaran ng ama ang kanilang ninakaw kaya
kinuha niya ang sombrero ng batang lalaki at nilagyan ito ng mga barya tsaka niya ito
inalog-alog upang tumunog ang mga barya tsaka sinabing “Naririnig mo iyon? Ang tunog
ng mga barya? Ayan! Bayad na kami sa aming ninakaw”. Nagsitawanan ang mga tao sa
loob ng korte pati narin ang hukom dahil sa ginawa ng ama.

3. Magnificence – Nagsimula ang kwentong ito sa pagboluntaryo ni Vicente upang tulungan

sa pag-aaral ang dalawang anak ng nanay dahil sa matatalino naman daw ang mga ito at
marami naman siyang libreng oras sa kanyang pagkokonduktor ng bus. Nangako siya sa
dalawang bata na bibigyan sila ng tig-dalawang malalaking lapis sapagkat ito ang uso sa
mga kabataan. Isang gabi, nagdala nga si Vicente ng lapis at ibinigay sa mga bata na siyang
ikinatuwa ng mga ito. Pagkatapos ng ilang araw habang siya ay nagtuturo, naiwan si
Vicente at ang batang babae sa silid. Biglang nakaramdam ng takot ang batang babae kung
kaya't nilayuan niya si Vicente. Tamang-tama naman na dumating ang nanay ng mga bata
at nasaksihan ang pangyayari. Pagkatapos papuntahin ng nanay sa kanilang kuwarto ang
mga bata, sinimulan niyang pagbuhatan ng kamay si Vicente hanggang sa tumakbo ito
papalabas ng bahay. Pinaliguan at nilinis ng nanay ang batang babae bago ito matulog.

4. My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken- Nagsimula ang istoryang ito ng si kiko at ang kanyang
nakababatang kapatid na pumunta sa palayan at nakakita ng isang manok na kakaiba.
Mukhang panabong na manok ngunit mukha rin itong babaeng manok. Simula nung makita
nila ang kakaibang manok ay palagi na silang nagtatalo kung babae ba talaga ito o kung
lalaki. Umabot ang kanilang pagtatalo hanggang sa bahay, naging dahilan din ito upang
magtalo ang kanilang mga magulang kaya pumunta sila sa matandang lalaki at tinanong
kung babae ba o lalaki ang manok ngunit hindi nasagot ng matanda kaya’t pumunta sila sa
kay Mr. Cruz na nag-aral ng ‘Poultry raising’ sa isang sikat na unbersidad at hindi parin
ito nakabigay ng sagot. Nagpasya silang isabong ang manok ng malaman talaga kung lalaki
ba ito o babae. Natalo ng kakaibang manok ang kalaban nito at akala na talaga nila na lalaki
ito ngunit sa bandang huli at bigla nalang itong nangitlog habang hawak-hawak ng
nakababatang kapatid.

5. Servant Girl- Ang istoryang ito ay tungkol sa isang alipin na naninilbihan sa isang mistress
na laging nasasampal ng kanyang amo sapagkat madalas itong palpak sa kanyang trabaho
hanggang sa nakatagpo siya ng isa kutserong tumulong sa kanya nung namaga ang kanyang
paa. Nahulog ang kanyang loob sa kutserong iyon at palagi na niya itong iniisip at
inaabangan kung kailan ito mapapadaan sa tapat ng bahay nila. Isang araw, iniutos ng
kanyang amo na bumili siya ng isang bote ng alak sa isang tindahan. Habang papauwi na
29

siya ay nakasalubong niya si Sancho, manyakis na nanliligaw sa kanya at palaging

pinagtitripan si rosa, at inalok nito na ihatid siya pauwi. Naglalakad na sila pauwi sa bahay
ng amo ni rosa ng matinik si rosa ng isang matulis na bato, yumuko si Rosa upang kunin
ang nakatusok na bato ng napansin niya si Sancho na nakatingin sa kanyang dibdib kaya
naman nagalit si rosa at sinampal niya si Sancho pero naghiganti rin si Sancho at sinampal
din siya sa pisngi at tumatawa habang tumatakbo papalayo kay rosa gayunpama’y nakaya
parin ni rosa na ihampas kay Sancho ang boteng bitbit nito pero naharangan ni Sancho iyon
kaya nabasag ang bote ng alak. Umuwing luhaan si rosa habang bitbit ang isang parte ng
bote, nagbabasakaling paniniwalaan siya ng kanyang amo ngunit nagalit ito ng lubusan
kaya sinaktan siya ng kanyang amo hanggang sa napagod ito kakasampal sa kanya. Nang
makatulog ang kanyang amo ay tahimik siyang lumabas sa bahay at lumayas habang iniisip
ang kutserong lalaki. Naglakad siya ng naglakad hanggang sa nakarating siya sa isang lugar
na kung saan ay maraming tao ang nakapalibot. Muntikan na siyang masagasaan ng isang
kabayo, kaya sa galit niya ay binato niya ito ng bato. Galit na galit bumaba ang kutsero at
tinanong siya kung bakit niya iyon ginawa, at sa laking tuwa niya ay yung kutserong iyon
ang tumulong sa kanya. Nabalisa siya nung malaman niyang hindi siya maalala ng kutsero
kaya lalakad na sana siya pero biglang naalala ng kutsero si rosa kaya tuwang tuwa si rosa.
Hinatid siya ng kutsero sa bahay ng kanyang amo, kahit na ayaw na niyang bumalik dun
ay hindi na niya batid ang hirap na dinanas niya sapagkat nakita na niya ang kutsero at
nalaman na niya ang pangalan ng misteryosong kutsero.

6. The Virgin- Tungkol ang kwentong ito sa isang babae na nagtatrabaho bilang isang
empleyado sa opisina. Simula’t sapul ay ginugol niya ang kanyang sarili sa pagtatrabaho
para sa pamilya niya, para masupurtahan niya ito. Binalewala niya ang kanyang inaasam
asam na pangarap; ang mag asawa at magkapamilya. Isang araw, may naghahanap ng
trabaho at pumunta sa opisina niya para mag-apply, isang malaking lalake, matipuno ngunit
marahan sa kanyang galaw, ang nangungulit makapasok sa trabaho kaya binigyan niya ito
ng trabaho bilang isang karpentero. Hanggang sa isang araw, bigla ito hindi pumasok kaya
nagaalala at hinahanap siya ni Ms. Mijares dahil hindi ito nagpaalam, kinabukasan,
pumasok din ito at humingi ng paumahin kung bakit siya hindi nakapasok sa araw na iyon.
Biglaang nagkasakit ang anak ng lalake kaya medyo nadismaya si Ms. Mijares dahil hindi
niya lubos akalain na may anak na pala ito kaya nasigawan niya ang bagong trabahante.
Umuwi si Ms. Mijares, umuulan noong hapon na iyon, sumakay siya ng jeep papauwi.
Napansin niyang sumakay din ang bagong trabahante at humingi ito ng patawad sa
pagaakalang nagsisinungaling ito sa kanya. Hindi dumaan sa karaniwang rota ang jeep na
sinasakyan nila at sinabihan ang mga pasahero na hanggang doon na lamang ang jeep at
paparada na ito. Bumaba na sila sa jeep at nababasa silang dalawa. Nabuhayan ng loob si
Ms. Mijares, ang kanyang pagkadalaga ay biglang napukaw kaya’t dalidali sana siyang
aalis upang mapigilan ang kanyang sarili ngunit hinawakan siya ng bagong trabahante. Ang
30

pagdapli ng kamay ng lalaki sa kanyang laman ang siyang nagpabigay sa kanyang

nararamdam.

7. Ang Inang Matapobre- Tungkol ito sa May isang ina na mayroong anak na engineer at
gusto niya itong makapagasawa ng mayaman para yumaman din siya ngunit may
kasintahan ang kanyang anak na kapitbahay nila kaya’t nagalit siya at inatasang kalasan ito
ng kanyang anak. Makalipas ang ilang taon, nagkaroon ng anak at asawa ang kanyang anak
na mayaman at anak ng may-ari ng isang kompanya ngunit masama ang ugali nito at
minamaliit si Aling Osang at kanyang asawa kaya naman laking pagsisisi niya kung bakit
niya pinaghiwalay yung anak niya at ang kasintahan nito dati.

8. Ang Batang Espesyal- Ang kwentong ito ay tungkol sa magasawang nagkaroon ng

abnormal na anak at labis ang kanilang pagaalagi rito kaya naman nainggit ang iba nilang
anak at kinumprunta si Aling Mila na kung bakit daw mas pinagtutuunan nila ng pansin si
pepe (abnormal na anak) ngunit napaliwanag naman ni aling mila ng maayos kung bakit
ganun nalang ang kanilang pagalaga sa abnormal nilang anak.

9. Ang Nawawalang Sapatos ni Kulas- Tungkol ito sa isang bata na laging nawawalan ng
sapatos kahit na bagong bili ito kaya nagtaka ang nanay nito tsaka tinanong siya kung bakit
palaging nawawala ang mga bagong biling sapatos. Sinabi ni Kulas ang totoo na binibigay
niya ito sa kanyang kaibigan at humingi siya ng patawad sa kanyang ina. Pinuri ni Vina
ang kanyang anak na si Kulas dahil sa mapagbigay ito ngunit pinaaalahanan din niya ito
na wag basta basta ibigay ang mga bagay na binili para sa kanya.

10. Si Inday at ang Kanyang Bagong Selpon- Ang istoryang ito ay tungkol sa pagtapos ni
Inday ng elementarya kaya binigyan siya ng bagong selpon ng kanyang ina bilang regalo.
May estrangherong gusto makipagkita kay Inday at narinig ito ng kanyang ina ngunit
nagalit si inday sa kanyang ina at pinuntahan parin ang lalaki na hindi niya kilala.
Natagpuan ni Aling Peling si Inday na umiiyak dahil ninakaw daw ang kanyang bag ng
lalaking kanyang katagpuan at nasa loob ng bag ang kanyang bagong selpon. Nagsisi si
Inday dahil hindi siya nakinig sa payo ng kanyang ina.
kanyang ina.
31

KABANTA IV

4.0 BUOD

Ang pananaliksik na ito ay tumatalakay sa iba’t ibang parte ng mga maikling kwento.
Isinagawa ito upang mapadali ang pagtukoy o pagintindi sa mga nakalathalang istorya.

Bilang mananaliksik, aking napagtanto na hindi pala madali ang pagaanalisa ng mga
kwento dahil paiba-iba ang mga katangian nito at nararapat na ito’y paglaanan ng mahaba
habang oras upang mausisa ng maayos ang bawat bahagi at maunawaan ito ng maayos para
yumabong ang mga pag-aaral patungkol sa mga maikling kwento.

4.1 KONKLUSYON

Bilang isang mananaliksik, natutunan ko kung paano suriin ng maayos ang mga kwento
at kung paano makakaapekto ang mensahe sa mga mambabasa.

Ipagpalagay nadin kung paano mo ito maipepresenta sa mga mambabasa na lubos nila
itong maunawaan ng walang kahiraphirap upang mas mapabilis ang kanilang pagsasaliksik sa
mga kwentong nailalahad.

4.2 REKOMENDASYON

Laging maglaan ng sapat na oras sa pagbabasa ng mga kwento at intindihin ng maayos

kung ano ang ipinahihiwatig ng awtor sa mga mambabasa. Maging bukas ang kaisipan sa mga
senaryo ng mga kwento at ilagay ang iyong sarili sa mga sitwasyon sa mga kwento.

Mas ikabubuti narin kung marami kang reperensiya patungkol sa mga kwento kagaya ng
mga artikulo at libro upang hindi paiba-iba ang pagsasalin mo sa mga impormasyong iyong
makakalap alang alang sa mga mambabasa upang maiwasan ang pagkalito.

4.3 BIBLIYOGRAPIYA

Brainard, Cecilia (1987), “Woman With Horns”, Quezon City: New Day Publishers, p. 12

Bulosan, Carlos (1956), “My Father goes to Court.”, Pangasinan City; Ateneo de Manila
University Press and Flipside Publishing.

Alfon, Etrella. (1983), “The Magnificent” Cebu City; National Fellowship in Fiction post at the
U. P. Creative Writing Center.
32

Roces, Alejandro. , “My brother’s peculiar chicken” 2/F Kalayaan Hall, Malacañang

J.P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila Panitikan.com Archived 2007-08-09 at the Wayback
Machine

The Virgin by Kerima Polotan-Tuvera Review, (2017, Febuary, 16) retrieved from
studymoose.com/the-virgin-by-kerima-polotan-tuvera-review-essay

Rosaria, Deogracias, “Ang Inang Matapobre” Samahang Ilaw at Panitik, Kalipunan ng mga
Kuwentista at Kalipunan ng mga Dalubhasa ng Akademya ng Wikang Tagalog, Hunyo 24, 2019
wikipedia

Villanueva, Rene O., “Ang batang espesyal”, https://www.webcitation.org/query?url

http://www.geocities.com/palanca_awards/index.html&date=2009-10-25+02:21:55

Ghaz, Sandy, “Ang nawawalang sapatos ni kulas” and “Si Inday at ang kanyang bagong selpon,
2:20 PM November 26, 2018 https://philnews.ph/2018/11/26/maikling-kwento-nawawalang-
sapatos-kulas/ at November 27, 2018 https://philnews.ph/2018/11/27/maikling-kwento-inday-
bago-selpon/

4.4 APENDIKS

1. WOMAN WITH HORNS - Dr. Gerald McAllister listened to the rattle of doors
being locked and footsteps clattering on the marble floors. The doctors and nurses
were hurrying home. It was almost noon and the people of Ubec always lunched in
their dining rooms their high ceilings, where their servants served soup, fish, meat,
rice, and rich syrupy flan for dessert. After, they retired to their spacious, air rooms
for their midday siesta. At three, they resumed work or their studies.
His assistant, Dr. Jaime Laurel, had explained that the practice was due to the tropical
heat and high humidity. Even the dogs, he had pointed out, retreated under houses
and shade trees.
Gerald could not understand this local custom. An hour for lunch should be more than
enough. He barely had that when he was a practising physician in New York.
He reread his report about the cholera epidemic in the southern town of Carcar. It was
an impressive report, well written, with numerous facts. Thanks to his vaccination
program, the epidemic was now under control. This success was another feather in his
cap, one of many he had accumulated during his stay in the Philippine Islands. No
doubt Governor General Taft or perhaps even President McKinley would send him a
letter of commendation. Politicians were like that; they appreciated information
justifying America’s hold on the archipelago.
He glanced at the calendar on his ornate desk. It was March 16, 1903, a year and a
33

half since he arrived at the port of Ubec aboard the huge steamship from San
Francisco. Three years since Blanche died.
His head hurt and removed his glasses to stroke his forehead. When the headache
passed, he straightened the papers on his desk and left the office. He was annoyed at
how quiet his wing at the Ubec General Hospital was, as he walked past locked doors,
potted palms, and sand – filled spittoons.
In front of Dr, Laurel’s office, he saw a woman trying to open the door. She looked
distraught and wrung her hands. She was a native Ubecan – Gerald had seen her at
the Mayor’s functions – a comely woman with bronze skin and long hair so dark it
looked blue. She wore a long hair so dark it turned blue. She wore a long blue satin
skirt. An embroidered panuelo over her camisa was pinned to her bosom with a
magnificent brooch of gold and pearls.
“It is lunchtime,” he said. “His Spanish was bad and his Ubecan dialect far worse.
Dark fiery eyes flashed at him.
“Comer,” he said, gesturing with his right hand to his mouth.
“I know its lunchtime. It wasn’t, fifteen minutes ago.” She tried the door once more
and slapped her skirt in frustration. Tears started welling in her eyes. “My husband
died over a year ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. He was in pain for years; consumption. I have been coughing and last night,
I dreamt of a funeral. I became afraid. I have a daughter, you see.”
“Dr. Laurel will return at three.”
“You are a doctor. American doctors are supposed to be the best. Can you help me?”
“I don’t see patients.”
“Ah,” she said, curved eyebrows rising. She picked up her fan with a gold chain
pinned to her skirt. “Ah, a doctor who doesn’t see patients.” She fanned herself
slowly.
Her words irritated him and he brusquely said, “Come back in a few hours; Dr. Laurel
will be back then.” She stood there with eyes still moist, her neck tilted gracefully to
one side and her hand languorously moving the fan back and forth.
“It was nothing.” Jaime said. “I listened to her chest and back. There are no lesions,
no TB. I told her to return in a month. I think she is spectacular; she can come back
for check – ups forever.” With mischief in his eyes, he added, “Agustina Macaraig
has skin like velvet; if she were not my patient –“
“Jaime, your oath. You and your women. Doesn’t your wife mind?” Gerald said.
“Eh, she’s the mother of my children, is she not?” Shrugging his shoulders, he fixed
the panama hat on his head.
It was late Friday afternoon and they were promenading in the park, trying to catch
the cool sea breeze. The park was in front of an Old Spanish fort. There was a
playground in the middle of the benches were scattered under the surrounding acacia
34

and mango trees. Children led by their yayas crowded the playground. Men and
women walked or hudddled together to talk about the day’s events.
As he walked by the playground, Gerald was surprised to see Agustina pushing a girl
of around five on the swing. When the child pleaded to do the pushing, Agustina got
on the swing. He watched her kick her legs out and throw her head back, her blue –
black hair flying about. She was laughing, oblivious to the scandal she was causing.
“The people don’t approve of her,” Gerald commented when he noticed women
gossiping behind their fans, their eyes riveted on Agustina.
“There is a saying here in Ubec, ‘A mango tree cannot bear avocados,” Jaime
continued.
Gerald shrugged his shoulders.
“Look at her. Is she not delectable?” Jaime said. “People say she is wicked, like her
mother. She has a very mysterious background.”
They sat on a bench next to a blooming hibiscus bush where they could see her. The
child pushed her hard and Agustina’s infectious laughter rose above other sounds.
“I can see why the people would despise a widow who carries on the way she does,”
Gerald said.
“But, friend, you don’t understand. We love her. She is one of us. It’s just that
Ubecans love to gossip even when she patiently nursed her husband. They said she
had lovers but for five years, she took care of him. The people of Ubec like to talk.
Over their meals, they talk; after eating, they talk; outside church after worshipping
God, they talk; during afternoon walks, they talk. Just like we’re talking, no?”
“I did not come here to gossip. I was perfectly content planning my bubonic plague
campaign when you –“
“Friend, you don’t know how to enjoy life. Look at the sun turning red, getting ready
to set spectacularly. It is a wonderful afternoon, you walk with a friend, you talk
about beautiful women, about life. Now, let me finish my story. People say her –
mother a simple laundry woman – jumped over the seminary walls and behind those
hollowed walls, under the arbol de fuego trees, she bedded with one of Christ’s
chosen.”
“Ridiculous!”
“Ridiculous, nothing,” Jaime replied as he pulled out a cigar from his pocket and
offered it to Gerald. “Tabacalera, almost as good as Havanas.”
Gerald shook his head. “Thank you, but I don’t smoke.”
“You don’t smoke; you don’t have women; you are a shell. Bringing you here was a
chore. Are all American doctors like yourself? If they are, I wouldn’t be caught dead
in your rich and great country. You look like a god from Olympus – tall, blonde with
gray eyes. You’re not forty, yet you act like an old man.”
“Jaime, skip the lecture and get on with your story.” Gerald watched Agustina loll her
head back. She was biting her lower lip, afraid of how high she was.
35

“If you were not my boss, I would shake you to your senses. Anyway, the story goes
that Agustina was born with horns.”
“Horns?”
“Like tor, yes.” Jaime put his fingers to his forehead. “At noon, her mother went to
the enchanted river to do her wash. The spirits roam at that time, do you know what?”
Gerald shook his head at this nonsense. “I swim almost daily at your so – called
enchanted river and I have seen nothing but fish and an occasional water buffalo.
Filthy animals.”
“Well, maybe there are or aren’t spirits, no? Who are we to say there are none? The
people say that her mother had – ah, how do you say – an encounter with an
encantado, a river spirit. And Agustina is the product of that brief encounter.”
Gerald watched her jump off the swing, her skirt swirling up, her shapely legs
flashing before his eyes.
“Her mother bribed a carpenter to saw off her horns when she was an infant.”
“She doesn’t look much like a river spirit’s daughter, Jaime,” Gerald said with a
snort.
“Beware, you can never be sure.”
She took the girl’s hand and they ran into a group of women. Agustina carried on an
animated conversation then waved goodbye. Before she turned to leave the park, she
looked briefly at Gerald. He caught her gaze but she quickly lowered her eyes and
walked away as if she had not seen him.
On the way to the Mayor’s house, Gerald thought that attending social functions was
part of his job. He was not only Ubec’s Public Health Director, he was also an
ambassador – of – sorts for the United States. The truth was, he didn’t really mind
social affairs at all. They kept him occupied. When he was busy, he didn’t have time
to think about the past, to feel that shakiness, that pain that had possessed him after
Blanche died.
During the day he was fine; he worked, lunched, swam, went on promenades, had
rich frothy chocolate with the men. Later he dined; sipped after – dinner brandies and
liqueurs, and chatted until way past midnight. It was when the servants locked the
doors and the house was still, when the only sound was the lonely clatter of the night
watchman, that he would feel his composure slip away. His heart would palpitate and
an uneasiness would overcome him. He would try to cram his mind with thoughts –
health education campaigns, sanitation programs, quarantine reports – but the disquiet
would stay with him.
The mayor of Ubec, a small, round man, greeted Gerald warmly. He introduced him
as the great American doctor who was wiping out cholera, smallpox, and bubonic
plague from Ubec. The people knew him of course and they shook his hand heartily.
They congratulated him on his recent success in Carcar and inquired about his current
36

bubonic plague campaigns. Rats, Gerald explained, transmit the disease; therefore,
getting rid of the pets by traps and arsenic poisoning would eliminate the problem.

When the food was served on the long dining table with tall silver candelabras, the
Mayor teased Dr. McAllister for his squeamishness at the roasted pig. The women
giggled demurely, covering their mouths with their hand painted fans or lace
handkerchiefs, while the men laughed boisterously. The Mayor’s mother, a fat old
lady with a moustache, tore off the pig’s ear and pressed it in Gerald’s hand. “Taste it,
my American son,” she said. Laughing and clapping, the people urged him until he
finally did.
When he later went to the verandah to drink his rice wine, he saw Agustina standing
there, gazing at the stars. She looked different, not the frightened woman at the
hospital, not the carefree girl at the park, but a proper Ubecan window in black, with
her hair done in a severe bun. Curiously, the starkness enhanced her grace and beauty,
calling attention to the curves of her body.
“You did not like the lechon?” she asked softly, with an amused twinkle in her eyes.
“I beg your pardon? Oh – the – pig?” He shook his head, embarrassed that she had
witnessed that charade. They were alone and he hoped someone would join them.
“What do Americans eat, Dr. McAllister?” She was studying him, eyes half – closed
with a one – sided smile that was very becoming.
Gerald pushed his hair from his hair from his forehead. “Pies – cherry pies,
boysenberry pies – I miss them all. Frankly, I have –“
She drew closer to him and he caught a warm, musky scent coming from her body.
“– I have lost ten pounds since I’ve been here.”
“In kilos, how many?”
“Around four and a half.”
“Santa Clara! You must get rid of your cook. She must be an incompetent, starving
you like that. It is a shame to the people of Ubec.”
Gerald watched her, aware of his growing infatuation.
“I like you,” she said suddenly. “You and I have a kinship. Come to my house and my
daughter and I will feed you.” Pausing, she reached up to stroke his face with her fan.
His cheeks burned. “Nothing exotic,” she continued, “just something good.” Her eyes
flashed as she smiled. “You know where I live?”
He hesitated the shook his head. His knees were shaking.
“The house at the mouth of the river. I see you swimming during siesta time. I like to
swim at night, when the moon is full.” She looked at him, closed her eyes languidly
and walked away.
After dinner, Gerald hurried home and paced his bedroom floor. He should have been
flattered by Agustina’s advances, but instead he was angry and confused. She was
enchanting and desirable and he was upset that he should find her so.
37

Once he had been unfaithful when Blanche was bedridden. The surgical nurse who
laughed a lot had been willing, and he had wanted even for just for a few hours to
forget, to be happy. Blanche had known, just by looking at him. “Oh, Tiger, how
could you? How could you?” After her death, he had not given this side of himself a
thought. Yet now, he found himself recalling that indescribable musky – woman scent
emanating from Agustina.
There was something else. It bothered him deeply that Agustina, widowed for only a
little over a year, would laugh, be happy, even flirt outrageously with him. Why was
she not consumed with grief? Why did she not sit at home crocheting white doilies?
Why did she not light candles in the crumbling musty churches, the way proper
Ubecan widows did? He was outraged at her behaviour. He condemned her for the
life that oozed out of her, when he needed every ounce of his strength just to stay
sane.
He strode to his desk and stared at the album with photographs, which he had not
looked at in years. The wedding picture showed a vibrant smiling girl with a ring of
tiny white flowers around her blonde curly hair. His face was unlined then, and his
moustache seemed an affection. Anxious eyes peered through round eyeglasses, as if
he knew then that the future would give him anguish.
He studied the other pictures – serious daguerreotypes – that unleashed a flood of
emotions. He found himself weeping at some, smiling at others. He remembered
Blanche’s soft voice: “Oh, Tiger, I adore you so.” Blanche in bed, waiting for him.
And later, Blanche in bed, pale, thin, with limp hair. She had been eaten bit by bit by
consumption; she had been consumed, only a skeleton, that coughed incessantly and
spat blood remained. Gerald did not believe in God, but he had prayed for her death,
just so it would end. When she died, he was surprised to feel another kind of grief,
more acute, more searing.
After her funeral, his mind would go on and on about how useless he was – a doctor
whose wife died of consumption was a failure. And always the soft voice: “Oh, Tiger,
how could you?”
Returning from his work each night, he had found himself waiting for her voice: How
was your day, Tiger? He saw slight women with curly blonde hair and he followed
them. He plunged into a depression – not eating, unable to work, to think clearly, to
talk coherently. He stayed shut up in his room with wine – coloured drapes. At times
he thought he was losing his mind. When he pointed a gun to his forehead, a part of
him panicked and said: NO. That part had taken over and started running his life
again. Eat, so you will gain weight; exercise, so your body will be healthy; work, so
your mind will not dwell on the agony.
It was this part that led him to the Islands, far away, from slight women with curly
blonde hair. It was the same part that now said: Blanche is dead, you are alive; you
have the right to laugh and be happy just as Agustina laughs and is happy.
38

Gerald struggled within himself but would not allow himself to surrender his
mourning. He decided not to see Agustina; he would not allow her to corrupt him.
Governor General William H. Taft’s handwritten letter from Manila arrived the
morning and Gerald reread it several times, trying to absorb the congratulatory words.
He felt nothing. He would have not cared if the letter had never come. He realized he
didn’t really care, nowadays. Work was predictable; there was a little risk. He applied
himself and the laurels came. But the successes, the commendations did not fill
emptiness. He picked up the conch shell that he used as a paper weight and tapped it,
listening to the hollow ring that echoed in his office.
Gerald went to Jaime’s office to show him the letter. Jaime appeared cross; he sat
erect and immobile as he listened quietly.
“Well?” Gerald asked after reading the letter aloud.
“The letter – it’s a fine letter, don’t you think?” he hoped for an enthusiastic reply that
would rub some life into him.
“The Mayor’s mother is dead.” Jaime said. “She choked on some food.”
“Too bad. Well, at least it wasn’t typhoid or anything contagious,” he said.
Jaime’s black eyes snapped at him. “You bastard!” he said. “All you can think about
is work. You have no soul.”
Gerald could not work the rest of the morning. He felt a growing restlessness, a vague
uneasiness that he could not pinpoint. No soul. Had he indeed lost his soul? Was that
why he could not feel and why he didn’t care about anything? In trying to bring order
to his life, in restructuring it after Blanche died, had he lost a vital part of himself –
his soul?
Funerals, Gerald thought as he walked into the Mayor’s house, were dreary, maudlin
affairs, where people wore long faces and tried to sound sincere as they dug up some
memory of the deceased.
He braced himself when he saw mourners in black and the huge black bow on the
Mayor’s front door. Inside, he was surprised to see the number of people crowding
the place. Some wept; others laughed and related stories about the old woman. A
rather festive air filled the place.
The Mayor hugged Gerald, saying, “What a tragedy, what a tragedy! She was eating
pickled pig snout when suddenly she choked. It was over before any of us could do
anything. She loved you like a son and worried that you were too thin.”
“I’m sorry,” mumbled Gerald.
The Mayor brought him to the casket in the living room. “Mama chose her own
funeral picture,” the Mayor said as he pointed at the huge picture of a slim, young
girl, propped up next to the coffin. “She was a vain woman. The picture was taken
almost half a century ago.”
The mayor continued, “Her mind was not clear. She wanted to be buried in her
wedding gown but it was far too small. I had to hire three seamstresses to work all
39

night. They ripped and stitched, adding panels to the cloth of the dress. It was still too
small. Finally we decided to clothe her in another dress and to lay her wedding gown
on top, pinning it here and there to keep it in place. Family deaths can be trying,” he
said.
The old Spanish friar said a Latin Mass and spoke lengthily about her goodness and
kindness. “She had a rich and long life,” he concluded. Six men picked up the casket
and carried it downstairs. Near the hearse, an old man riding a horse stopped them.
He was dressed in revolutionary uniform with medals hanging on his chest, and a gun
on his right hand which he fired once. Gasping, the mourners stopped still. The old
man ordered the men to open the casket. He got off his horse, bent over the casket
and planted a kiss on the corpse’s lips. Then, he got back on his horse and galloped
off.
It took a while for the mourners to compose themselves and continue to the cemetery.
A pair of scissors was placed under the satin pillow; family members kissed the body;
the priest blessed the coffin and she was finally buried.
Everybody returned to the Mayor’s house for a huge banquet. Jaime tried to explain
the revelry by saying that the person was feted on his birth, his marriage, and his
death. “It’s the end of a good life, my friend,” he said.
Agustina, who was there, walked up to Gerald. “It was a beautiful funeral,” she said.
“I’ve never attended one like it,” he replied and laughed. “I guess it was.”
They were near a window and she looked out, “Ah, the moon is full.”
From his room, Gerald watched the large moon rise, shining on the starapple and
jackfruit trees in his backyard. It was a warm night, even with all the windows open.
He waited for even the slightest breeze to stir the silvery leaves, but there was no
wind and a restlessness grew in him.
At last he decided to go to the river. Silence and oppressive heat dominated Ubec as
he walked the cobblestones. He reached the path leading to the river and the sea. The
moon was so bright that the air seemed to vibrate as he followed the trail that
widened, then narrowed, then widened again, until he reached the riverbank.
After leaving his things under a coconut tree, he walked to the water and saw how
clear it was. Little gray fish darted between colourful rocks. In the distance the river
and sea shimmered brilliantly.
The water felt cool and silky. Gerald swam back and forth, marvelling at the
brazenness of the fish that brushed against him, some even nibbling his toes. He
spotted a bright green rock and wondered about it. Diving at the river bottom, he
fetched it. When he surfaced, he saw her standing next to his things. He was not
surprised; he knew she would be there.
Moonlight bathed her, making her glow. A green and red tapis was wrapped around
her, exposing golden shoulders and neck, showing mounds of flesh.
Gerald felt life stirring in him and, holding his breath, he waded to the shore. She
40

walked toward him. The water splashed and the small gray fish skittered away when
she slipped into the water. He watched the river creep higher and higher as her tapis
floated gracefully around her, until they fell into each other’s arms.

2. My Father Goes To Court (Carlos Bulusan)- When I was four, I lived with my
mother and brothers and sisters in a small town on the island of Luzon. Father’s farm
had been destroyed in 1918 by one of our sudden Philippine floods, so several years
afterwards we all lived in the town though he preferred living in the country. We had
as a next door neighbour a very rich man, whose sons and daughters seldom came out
of the house. While we boys and girls played and sang in the sun, his children stayed
inside and kept the windows closed. His house was so tall that his children could look
in the window of our house and watched us played, or slept, or ate, when there was
any food in the house to eat.
Now, this rich man’s servants were always frying and cooking something good, and
the aroma of the food was wafted down to us form the windows of the big house. We
hung about and took all the wonderful smells of the food into our beings. Sometimes,
in the morning, our whole family stood outside the windows of the rich man’s house
and listened to the musical sizzling of thick strips of bacon or ham. I can remember
one afternoon when our neighbour’s servants roasted three chickens. The chickens
were young and tender and the fat that dripped into the burning coals gave off an
enchanting odour. We watched the servants turn the beautiful birds and inhaled the
heavenly spirit that drifted out to us.
Some days the rich man appeared at a window and glowered down at us. He looked at
us one by one, as though he were condemning us. We were all healthy because we
went out in the sun and bathed in the cool water of the river that flowed from the
mountains into the sea. Sometimes we wrestled with one another in the house before
we went to play. We were always in the best of spirits and our laughter was
contagious. Other neighbours who passed by our house often stopped in our yard and
joined us in laughter.
As time went on, the rich man’s children became thin and anaemic, while we grew
even more robust and full of life. Our faces were bright and rosy, but theirs were pale
and sad. The rich man started to cough at night; then he coughed day and night. His
wife began coughing too. Then the children started to cough, one after the other. At
night their coughing sounded like the barking of a herd of seals. We hung outside
their windows and listened to them. We wondered what happened. We knew that they
were not sick from the lack of nourishment because they were still always frying
something delicious to eat.
One day the rich man appeared at a window and stood there a long time. He looked at
my sisters, who had grown fat in laughing, then at my brothers, whose arms and legs
41

were like the molave, which is the sturdiest tree in the Philippines. He banged down
the window and ran through his house, shutting all the windows.
From that day on, the windows of our neighbour’s house were always closed. The
children did not come out anymore. We could still hear the servants cooking in the
kitchen, and no matter how tight the windows were shut, the aroma of the food came
to us in the wind and drifted gratuitously into our house.
One morning a policeman from the presidencia came to our house with a sealed
paper. The rich man had filed a complaint against us. Father took me with him when
he went to the town clerk and asked him what it was about. He told Father the man
claimed that for years we had been stealing the spirit of his wealth and food.
When the day came for us to appear in court, father brushed his old Army uniform
and borrowed a pair of shoes from one of my brothers. We were the first to arrive.
Father sat on a chair in the centre of the courtroom. Mother occupied a chair by the
door. We children sat on a long bench by the wall. Father kept jumping up from his
chair and stabbing the air with his arms, as though we were defending himself before
an imaginary jury.
The rich man arrived. He had grown old and feeble; his face was scarred with deep
lines. With him was his young lawyer. Spectators came in and almost filled the
chairs. The judge entered the room and sat on a high chair. We stood in a hurry and
then sat down again.
After the courtroom preliminaries, the judge looked at the Father. “Do you have a
lawyer?” he asked.
“I don’t need any lawyer, Judge,” he said.
“Proceed,” said the judge.
The rich man’s lawyer jumped up and pointed his finger at Father. “Do you or you do
not agree that you have been stealing the spirit of the complaint’s wealth and food?”
“I do not!” Father said.
“Do you or do you not agree that while the complaint’s servants cooked and fried fat
legs of lamb or young chicken breast you and your family hung outside his windows
and inhaled the heavenly spirit of the food?”
“I agree.” Father said.
“Do you or do you not agree that while the complaint and his children grew sickly
and tubercular you and your family became strong of limb and fair in complexion?”
“I agree.” Father said.
“How do you account for that?”
Father got up and paced around, scratching his head thoughtfully. Then he said, “I
would like to see the children of complaint, Judge.”
“Bring in the children of the complaint.”
They came in shyly. The spectators covered their mouths with their hands, they were
so amazed to see the children so thin and pale. The children walked silently to a
42

bench and sat down without looking up. They stared at the floor and moved their
hands uneasily.
Father could not say anything at first. He just stood by his chair and looked at them.
Finally he said, “I should like to cross – examine the complaint.”
“Proceed.”
“Do you claim that we stole the spirit of your wealth and became a laughing family
while yours became morose and sad?” Father said.
“Yes.”
“Do you claim that we stole the spirit of your food by hanging outside your windows
when your servants cooked it?” Father said.
“Yes.”
“Then we are going to pay you right now,” Father said. He walked over to where we
children were sitting on the bench and took my straw hat off my lap and began filling
it up with centavo pieces that he took out of his pockets. He went to Mother, who
added a fistful of silver coins. My brothers threw in their small change.
“May I walk to the room across the hall and stay there for a few minutes, Judge?”
Father said.
“As you wish.”
“Thank you,” father said. He strode into the other room with the hat in his hands. It
was almost full of coins. The doors of both rooms were wide open.
“Are you ready?” Father called.
“Proceed.” The judge said.
The sweet tinkle of the coins carried beautifully in the courtroom. The spectators
turned their faces toward the sound with wonder. Father came back and stood before
the complaint.
“Did you hear it?” he asked.
“Hear what?” the man asked.
“The spirit of the money when I shook this hat?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Then you are paid,” Father said.
The rich man opened his mouth to speak and fell to the floor without a sound. The
lawyer rushed to his aid. The judge pounded his gravel.
“Case dismissed.” He said.
Father strutted around the courtroom the judge even came down from his high chair
to shake hands with him. “By the way,” he whispered, “I had an uncle who died
laughing.”
“You like to hear my family laugh, Judge?” Father asked?
“Why not?”
“Did you hear that children?” father said.
43

My sisters started it. The rest of us followed them soon the spectators were laughing
with us, holding their bellies and bending over the chairs. And the laughter of the
judge was the loudest of all.

3. Magnificence- There was nothing to fear, for the man was always so gentle, so kind.
At night when the little girl and her brother were bathed in the light of the big shaded
bulb that hung over the big study table in the downstairs hall, the man would knock
gently on the door, and come in. he would stand for a while just beyond the pool of
light, his feet in the circle of illumination, the rest of him in shadow. The little girl
and her brother would look up at him where they sat at the big table, their eyes bright
in the bright light, and watch him come fully into the light, but his voice soft, his
manner slow. He would smell very faintly of sweat and pomade, but the children
didn’t mind although they did notice, for they waited for him every evening as they
sat at their lessons like this. He’d throw his visored cap on the table, and it would fall
down with a soft plop, then he’d nod his head to say one was right, or shake it to say
one was wrong.
It was not always that he came. They could remember perhaps two weeks when he
remarked to their mother that he had never seen two children looking so smart. The
praise had made their mother look over them as they stood around listening to the
goings-on at the meeting of the neighborhood association, of which their mother was
president. Two children, one a girl of seven, and a boy of eight. They were both very
tall for their age, and their legs were the long gangly legs of fine spirited colts. Their
mother saw them with eyes that held pride, and then to partly gloss over the maternal
gloating she exhibited, she said to the man, in answer to his praise, But their
homework. They’re so lazy with them. And the man said, I have nothing to do in the
evenings, let me help them. Mother nodded her head and said, if you want to bother
yourself. And the thing rested there, and the man came in the evenings therefore, and
he helped solve fractions for the boy, and write correct phrases in language for the
little girl.
In those days, the rage was for pencils. School children always have rages going at
one time or another. Sometimes for paper butterflies that are held on sticks, and whirr
in the wind. The Japanese bazaars promoted a rage for those. Sometimes it is for little
lead toys found in the folded waffles that Japanese confection-makers had such light
hands with. At this particular time, it was for pencils. Pencils big but light in
circumference not smaller than a man’s thumb. They were unwieldy in a child’s
hands, but in all schools then, where Japanese bazaars clustered there were all colors
of these pencils selling for very low, but unattainable to a child budgeted at a baon of
a centavo a day. They were all of five centavos each, and one pencil was not at all
what one had ambitions for. In rages, one kept a collection. Four or five pencils, of
different colors, to tie with strings near the eraser end, to dangle from one’s book-
44

basket, to arouse the envy of the other children who probably possessed less.
Add to the man’s gentleness and his kindness in knowing a child’s desires, his
promise that he would give each of them not one pencil but two. And for the little girl
who he said was very bright and deserved more, ho would get the biggest pencil he
could find.
One evening he did bring them. The evenings of waiting had made them look forward
to this final giving, and when they got the pencils they whooped with joy. The little
boy had tow pencils, one green, one blue. And the little girl had three pencils, two of
the same circumference as the little boy’s but colored red and yellow. And the third
pencil, a jumbo size pencil really, was white, and had been sharpened, and the little
girl jumped up and down, and shouted with glee. Until their mother called from down
the stairs. What are you shouting about? And they told her, shouting gladly, Vicente,
for that was his name. Vicente had brought the pencils he had promised them.
Thank him, their mother called. The little boy smiled and said, Thank you. And the
little girl smiled, and said, Thank you, too. But the man said, Are you not going to
kiss me for those pencils? They both came forward, the little girl and the little boy,
and they both made to kiss him but Vicente slapped the boy smartly on his lean hips,
and said, Boys do not kiss boys. And the little boy laughed and scampered away, and
then ran back and kissed him anyway.
The little girl went up to the man shyly, put her arms about his neck as he crouched to
receive her embrace, and kissed him on the cheeks.
The man’s arms tightened suddenly about the little girl until the little girl squirmed
out of his arms, and laughed a little breathlessly, disturbed but innocent, looking at
the man with a smiling little question of puzzlement.
The next evening, he came around again. All through that day, they had been very
proud in school showing off their brand new pencils. All the little girls and boys had
been envying them. And their mother had finally to tell them to stop talking about the
pencils, pencils, for now that they had, the boy two, and the girl three, they were
asking their mother to buy more, so they could each have five, and three at least in the
jumbo size that the little girl’s third pencil was. Their mother said, Oh stop it, what
will you do with so many pencils, you can only write with one at a time.
And the little girl muttered under her breath, I’ll ask Vicente for some more.
Their mother replied, He’s only a bus conductor, don’t ask him for too many things.
It’s a pity. And this observation their mother said to their father, who was eating his
evening meal between paragraphs of the book on masonry rites that he was reading. It
is a pity, said their mother, People like those, they make friends with people like us,
and they feel it is nice to give us gifts, or the children toys and things. You’d think
they wouldn’t be able to afford it.
The father grunted, and said, the man probably needed a new job, and was softening
his way through to him by going at the children like that. And the mother said, No, I
45

don’t think so, he’s a rather queer young man, I think he doesn’t have many friends,
but I have watched him with the children, and he seems to dote on them.
The father grunted again, and did not pay any further attention.
Vicente was earlier than usual that evening. The children immediately put their
lessons down, telling him of the envy of their schoolmates, and would he buy them
more please?
Vicente said to the little boy, Go and ask if you can let me have a glass of water. And
the little boy ran away to comply, saying behind him, But buy us some more pencils,
huh, buy us more pencils, and then went up to stairs to their mother.
Vicente held the little girl by the arm, and said gently, Of course I will buy you more
pencils, as many as you want
And the little girl giggled and said, Oh, then I will tell my friends, and they will envy
me, for they don’t have as many or as pretty.
Vicente took the girl up lightly in his arms, holding her under the armpits, and held
her to sit down on his lap and he said, still gently, What are your lessons for
tomorrow? And the little girl turned to the paper on the table where she had been
writing with the jumbo pencil, and she told him that that was her lesson but it was
easy.
Then go ahead and write, and I will watch you.
Don’t hold me on your lap, said the little girl, I am very heavy, you will get very
tired.
The man shook his head, and said nothing, but held her on his lap just the same.
The little girl kept squirming, for somehow she felt uncomfortable to be held thus, her
mother and father always treated her like a big girl, she was always told never to act
like a baby. She looked around at Vicente, interrupting her careful writing to twist
around.
His face was all in sweat, and his eyes looked very strange, and he indicated to her
that she must turn around, attend to the homework she was writing.
But the little girl felt very queer, she didn’t know why, all of a sudden she was
immensely frightened, and she jumped up away from Vicente’s lap.
She stood looking at him, feeling that queer frightened feeling, not knowing what to
do. By and by, in a very short while her mother came down the stairs, holding in her
hand a glass of sarsaparilla, Vicente.
But Vicente had jumped up too soon as the little girl had jumped from his lap. He
snatched at the papers that lay on the table and held them to his stomach, turning
away from the mother’s coming.
The mother looked at him, stopped in her tracks, and advanced into the light. She had
been in the shadow. Her voice had been like a bell of safety to the little girl. But now
she advanced into glare of the light that held like a tableau the figures of Vicente
holding the little girl’s papers to him, and the little girl looking up at him
46

frightenedly, in her eyes dark pools of wonder and fear and question.
The little girl looked at her mother, and saw the beloved face transfigured by some
sort of glow. The mother kept coming into the light, and when Vicente made as if to
move away into the shadow, she said, very low, but very heavily, Do not move.
She put the glass of soft drink down on the table, where in the light one could watch
the little bubbles go up and down in the dark liquid. The mother said to the boy,
Oscar, finish your lessons. And turning to the little girl, she said, Come here. The
little girl went to her, and the mother knelt down, for she was a tall woman and she
said, Turn around. Obediently the little girl turned around, and her mother passed her
hands over the little girl’s back.
Go upstairs, she said.
The mother’s voice was of such a heavy quality and of such awful timbre that the girl
could only nod her head, and without looking at Vicente again, she raced up the
stairs. The mother went to the cowering man, and marched him with a glance out of
the circle of light that held the little boy. Once in the shadow, she extended her hand,
and without any opposition took away the papers that Vicente was holding to himself.
She stood there saying nothing as the man fumbled with his hands and with his
fingers, and she waited until he had finished. She was going to open her mouth but
she glanced at the boy and closed it, and with a look and an inclination of the head,
she bade Vicente go up the stairs.
The man said nothing, for she said nothing either. Up the stairs went the man, and the
mother followed behind. When they had reached the upper landing, the woman called
down to her son, Son, come up and go to your room.
The little boy did as he was told, asking no questions, for indeed he was feeling
sleepy already.
As soon as the boy was gone, the mother turned on Vicente. There was a pause.
Finally, the woman raised her hand and slapped him full hard in the face. Her
retreated down one tread of the stairs with the force of the blow, but the mother
followed him. With her other hand she slapped him on the other side of the face
again. And so down the stairs they went, the man backwards, his face continually
open to the force of the woman’s slapping. Alternately she lifted her right hand and
made him retreat before her until they reached the bottom landing.
He made no resistance, offered no defense. Before the silence and the grimness of her
attack he cowered, retreating, until out of his mouth issued something like a whimper.
The mother thus shut his mouth, and with those hard forceful slaps she escorted him
right to the other door. As soon as the cool air of the free night touched him, he
recovered enough to turn away and run, into the shadows that ate him up. The woman
looked after him, and closed the door. She turned off the blazing light over the study
table, and went slowly up the stairs and out into the dark night.
When her mother reached her, the woman, held her hand out to the child. Always
47

also, with the terrible indelibility that one associated with terror, the girl was to
remember the touch of that hand on her shoulder, heavy, kneading at her flesh, the
woman herself stricken almost dumb, but her eyes eloquent with that angered fire.
She knelt, She felt the little girl’s dress and took it off with haste that was almost
frantic, tearing at the buttons and imparting a terror to the little girl that almost made
her sob. Hush, the mother said. Take a bath quickly.
Her mother presided over the bath the little girl took, scrubbed her, and soaped her,
and then wiped her gently all over and changed her into new clothes that smelt of the
clean fresh smell of clothes that had hung in the light of the sun. The clothes that she
had taken off the little girl, she bundled into a tight wrenched bunch, which she threw
into the kitchen range.
Take also the pencils, said the mother to the watching newly bathed, newly changed
child. Take them and throw them into the fire. But when the girl turned to comply, the
mother said, No, tomorrow will do. And taking the little girl by the hand, she led her
to her little girl’s bed, made her lie down and tucked the covers gently about her as
the girl dropped off into quick slumber.
4. My Brother’s peculiar chicken - My brother Kiko once had a very peculiar chicken.
It was peculiar because no one could tell whether it was a rooster or a hen. My
brother claimed it was a rooster. I claimed it was a hen. We almost got whipped
because we argued too much.
The whole question began early one morning. Kiko and I were driving the chickens
from the cornfield. The corn had just been planted, and the chickens were scratching
the seeds out for food. Suddenly we heard the rapid flapping of wings. We turned in
the direction of the sound and saw two chickens fighting in the far end of the field.
We could not see the birds clearly as they were lunging at each other in a whirlwind
of feathers and dust.
“Look at that rooster fight!” my brother said, pointing exactly at one of the chickens.
“Why, if I had a rooster like that, I could get rich in the cockpits.”
“Let’s go and catch it,” I suggested.
“No, you stay here. I will go and catch it,” Kiko said.
My brother slowly approached the battling chickens. They were so busy fighting that
they did not notice him. When he got near them, he dived and caught one of them by
the leg. It struggled and squawked. Kiko finally held it by both wings and it became
still. I ran over where he was and took a good look at the chicken.
“Why, it is a hen,” I said.
“What is the matter with you?” my brother asked. “Is the heat making you sick?”
“No. Look at its face. It has no comb or wattles.”
“No comb and wattles! Who cares about its comb or wattles? Didn’t you see it in
fight?”
“Sure, I saw it in fight. But I still say it is a hen.”
48

“Ahem! Did you ever see a hen with spurs on its legs like these? Or a hen with a tail
like this?”
“I don’t care about its spurs or tail. I tell you it is a hen. Why, look at it.”
The argument went on in the fields the whole morning. At noon we went to eat lunch.
We argued about it on the way home. When we arrived at our house Kiko tied the
chicken to a peg. The chicken flapped its wings and then crowed.
“There! Did you hear that?” my brother exclaimed triumphantly. “I suppose you are
going to tell me now that hens crow and that carabaos fly.”
“I don’t care if it crows or not,” I said. “That chicken is a hen.”
We went into the house, and the discussion continued during lunch.
“It is not a hen,” Kiko said. “It is a rooster.”
“It is a hen,” I said.
“It is not.”
“It is.”
“Now, now,” Mother interrupted, “how many times must Father tell you, boys, not to
argue during lunch? What is the argument about this time?”
We told Mother, and she went out look at the chicken.
“That chicken,” she said, “is a binabae. It is a rooster that looks like a hen.”
That should have ended the argument. But Father also went out to see the chicken,
and he said, “Have you been drinking again?” Mother asked.
“No,” Father answered.
“Then what makes you say that that is a hen? Have you ever seen a hen with feathers
like that?”
“Listen. I have handled fighting cocks since I was a boy, and you cannot tell me that
that thing is a rooster.
Before Kiko and I realized what had happened, Father and Mother were arguing
about the chicken by themselves. Soon Mother was crying. She always cried when
she argued with Father.
“You know very well that that is a rooster,” she said. “You are just being mean and
stubborn.”
“I am sorry,” Father said. “But I know a hen when I see one.”
“I know who can settle this question,” my brother said.
“Who?” I asked.
“The teniente del Barrio, chief of the village.”
The chief was the oldest man in the village. That did not mean that he was the wisest,
but anything always carried more weight if it is said by a man with gray hair. So my
brother untied the chicken and we took it to the chief.
“Is this a male or a female chicken?” Kiko asked.
“That is a question that should concern only another chicken,” the chief replied
“My brother and I happen to have a special interest in this particular chicken. Please
49

give us an answer. Just say yes or no. Is this a rooster?”

“It does not look like any rooster I have ever seen,” the chief said.
“Is it a hen, then?” I asked.
“It does not look like any hen I have ever seen. No, that could not be a chicken. I have
never seen like that. It must be a bird of some other kind.”
“Oh, what’s the use!” Kiko said, and we walked away.
“Well, what shall we do now?” I said.
“I know that,” my brother said. “Let’s go to town and see Mr. Cruz. He would know.”
Mr. Eduardo Cruz lived in a nearby town of Katubusan. He had studied poultry
raising in the University of the Philippines. He owned and operated the largest poultry
business in town. We took the chicken to his office.
“Mr. Cruz,” Kiko said, “is this a hen or a rooster?”
Mr. Cruz looked at the bird curiously and then said:
“Hmmm. I don’t know. I couldn’t tell in one look. I have never run across a chicken
like this before.”
“Well, is there any way you can tell?”
“Why, sure. Look at the feathers on its back. If the feathers are round, then it’s a hen.
If they are pointed, it’s a rooster.”
The three of us examined the feathers closely. It had both.
“Hmmm. Very peculiar,” said Mr. Cruz.
“Is there any other way you can tell?”
“I could kill it and examined its insides.”
“No. I do not want it killed,” my brother said.
I took the rooster in my arms and we walked back to the barrio.
Kiko was silent most of the way. Then he said:
“I know how I can prove to you that this is a rooster.”
“How?” I asked.
“Would you agree that this is a rooster if I make it fight in the cockpit and it wins?”
“If this hen of yours can beat a gamecock, I will believe anything,” I said.
“All right,” he said. “We’ll take it to the cockpit this Sunday.”
So that Sunday we took the chicken to the cockpit. Kiko looked around for a suitable
opponent. He finally picked a red rooster.
“Don’t match your hen against that red rooster.” I told him. “That red rooster is not a
native chicken. It is from Texas.”
“I don’t care where it came from,” my brother said. “My rooster will kill it.”
“Don’t be a fool,” I said. “That red rooster is a killer. It has killed more chickens than
the fox. There is no rooster in this town that can stand against it. Pick a lesser
rooster.”
My brother would not listen. The match was made and the birds were readied for the
killing. Sharp steel gaffs were tied to their left legs. Everyone wanted to bet on the red
50

gamecock.
The fight was brief. Both birds were released in the centre of the arena. They circled
around once and then faced each other. I expected our chicken to die of fright.
Instead, a strange thing happened. A lovesick expression came into the red rooster’s
eyes. Then it did a love dance. That was all our chicken needed. It rushed at the red
rooster with its neck feathers flaring. In one lunge, it buried its spurs into its
opponent’s chest. The fight was over.
“Tiope! Tiope! Fixed fight!” the crowd shouted.
Then a riot broke out. People tore bamboo benches apart and used them as clubs. My
brother and I had to leave through the back way. I had the chicken under my arm. We
ran toward the coconut groves and kept running till we lost the mob. As soon as we
were safe, my brother said:
“Do you believe it is a rooster now?”
“Yes,” I answered.
I was glad the whole argument was over.
Just then the chicken began to quiver. It stood up in my arms and cackled with
laughter. Something warm and round dropped into my hand. It was an egg.
5. Servant Girl- ROSA was scrubbing the clothes she was washing slowly. Alone in the
washroom of her mistress’ house she could hear the laughter of women washing clothes
in the public bathhouse from which she was separated by only a thin wall. She would
have liked to be there with the other women to take part in their jokes and their laughter
and their merry gossiping, but they paid a centavo for every piece of soiled linen they
brought there to wash and her mistress wanted to save this money. A pin she had failed
to remove from a dress sank its point deep into her finger. She cried to herself in
surprise and squeezed the finger until the blood came out. She watched the bright red
drop fall into the suds of soap and looked in delight at its gradual mingling into the
whiteness. Her mistress came upon her thus and, shouting at her, startled her into busily
rubbing while she tried not to listen to the scolding words. When her mistress left her,
she fell to doing her work slowly again, and sometimes she paused to listen to the talk
in the bathhouse behind her. A little later her mistress’ shrill voice told her to go to the
bathhouse for drinking water. Eagerly wiping her hands on her wet wrap, she took the
can from the kitchen table and went out quickly. She was sweating at the defective
town pump when strong hands closed over hers and started to help her. The hands
pressing down on hers made her wince and she withdrew her hands hastily. The
movement was greeted by a shout of laughter from the women washing and Rosa
looked at them in surprise. The women said to each other “Rosa does not like to be
touched by Sancho” and then slapped their thighs in laughter. Rosa frowned and picked
up her can. Sancho made a move to help her but she thrust him away, and the women
roared again, saying “Because we are here, Sancho, she is ashamed.” Rosa carried the
can away, her head angrily down, and Sancho followed her, saying “Do not be angry,”
51

in coaxing tones. But she went her slow way with the can. Her mistress’ voice came to
her, calling impatiently, and she tried to hurry. When she arrived, the woman asked her
what had kept her so long, and without waiting for an answer she ranted on, saying she
had heard the women joking in the bathhouse, and she knew what had kept the girl so
long. Her anger mounting with every angry word she said, she finally swung out an
arm, and before she quite knew what she was doing, she slapped Rosa’s face. She was
sorry as soon as she realized what she had done. She turned away, muttering still, while
Rosa’s eyes filled with sudden tears. The girl poured the water from the can into the
earthen jar, a bitter lump in her throat, and thought of what she would do to people like
her mistress when she herself, God willing, would be “rich.” Soon however, she
thought of Sancho, and the jokes the women had shouted at her. She thought of their
laughter and Sancho following her with his coaxing tones, and she smiled slowly.
Getting back to her washing, she gathered the clothes she had to bleach, and piled them
into a basin she balanced on her head. Passing her mistress in the kitchen, she said
something about going to bleach the clothes and under her breath added an epithet. She
had to cross the street to get to the stones gathered about in a whitened circle in a
neighbor’s yard where she was wont to lay out the clothes. She passed some women
hanging clothes on a barbed-wire fence to dry. They called to her and she smiled at
them. Some dogs chasing each other on the street, she did not notice because the women
were praising her for the whiteness of the linen in the basin on her head. She was
answering them that she hadn’t even bleached them yet, when one of the dogs passed
swiftly very close to her. Looking down, she saw in wide alarm another dog close on
the heels of the first. An instinctive fear of animals made her want to dodge the
heedlessly running dog, and she stepped gingerly this way and that. The dog, intent on
the other it was pursuing, gave her no heed and ran right between her legs as Rosa held
on to the basin in frantic fear lest it fall and the clothes get soiled. Her patadiong was
tight in their wetness about her legs, and she fell down, in the middle of the street. She
heard the other women’s exclamations of alarm and her first thought was for the
clothes. Without getting up, she looked at the basin and gave obscene thanks when she
saw the clothes still piled secure and undirtied. She tried to get up, hurrying lest her
mistress come out and see her thus and slap her again. Already the women were setting
up a great to do about what had happened. Some were coming to her, loudly abusing
the dogs, solicitousness on their faces. Rosa cried, “Nothing’s the matter with me.” Still
struggling to get up, she noticed that her wrap had been loosened and had bared her
breasts. She looked around wildly, sudden shame coloring her cheeks, and raised the
wrap and tied it securely around herself again. She could stand but she found she could
not walk. The women had gone back to their drying, seeing she was up and apparently
nothing the worse for the accident. Rosa looked down at her right foot which twinged
with pain. She stooped to pick up the basin and put it on her head again. She tried
stepping on the toes of her right foot but it made her wince. She tried the heel but that
52

also made her bite her lip. Already her foot above the ankle was swelling. She thought
of the slap her mistress had given her for staying in the bathhouse too long and the slap
she was most certain to get now for delaying like this. But she couldn’t walk, that was
settled. Then there came down the street a tartanilla without any occupant except
the cochero who rang his bell, but she couldn’t move away from the middle of the
street. She looked up at the driver and started angrily to tell him that there was plenty
of room at the sides of the street, and that she couldn’t move anyway, even if there
weren’t. The man jumped down from his seat and bent down and looked at her foot.
The basin was still on Rosa’s head and he took it from her, and put it in his vehicle.
Then he squatted down and bidding Rosa put a hand on his shoulders to steady herself,
he began to touch with gentle fingers the swelling ankle, pulling at it and massaging it.
They were still in the middle of the street. Rosa looked around to see if the women
were still there to look at them but they had gone away. There was no one but a small
boy licking a candy stick, and he wasn’t paying any attention to them.
The cochero looked up at her, the sweat on his face, saw her looking around with pain
and embarrassment mingled on her face. Then, so swiftly she found no time to protest,
he closed his arms about her knees and lifted her like a child. He carried her to
his tartanilla, plumped her down on one of the seats. Then he left her, coming back
after a short while with some coconut oil in the hollow of his palm. He rubbed the oil
on her foot, and massaged it. He was seated on the seat opposite Rosa’s and had raised
the injured foot to his thigh, letting it rest there, despite Rosa’s protest, on his blue faded
trousers. The basin of wet clothes was beside Rosa on the seat and she fingered the
clothing with fluttering hands. The cochero asked her where she lived and she told him,
pointing out the house. He asked what had happened, and she recited the whole thing
to him, stopping with embarrassment when she remembered the loosening of
her patadiong and the nakedness of her bosom. How glad she was he had not seen her
thus. The cochero had finished with her foot, and she slid from the seat, her basin on a
hip. But he took it from her, asking her to tell him where the bleaching stones were. He
went then, and himself laid out the white linen on the stones, knowing like a woman,
which part to turn to the sun. He came back after a while, just as Rosa heard with
frightened ears the call of her mistress. She snatched the basin from the cochero’s hand
and despite the pain caused her, limped away. She told her mistress about the accident.
The woman did not do anything save to scold her lightly for being careless. Then she
looked at the swollen foot and asked who had put oil on it. Rosa was suddenly shy of
having to let anyone know about her cochero, so she said she had asked for a little oil
at the store and put it on her foot herself. Her mistress was unusually tolerant, and Rosa
forgot about the slapping and said to herself this was a day full of luck! It was with
very sharp regret that she thought of her having forgotten to ask the cochero his name.
Now, in the days that followed, she thought of him, the way he had wound an arm
around her knees and carried her like a little girl. She dreamed about the gentleness of
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his fingers. She smiled remembering the way he had laid out the clothes on stones to
bleach. She knew that meant he must do his own washing. And she ached in tenderness
over him and his need for a woman like her to do such things for him—things like
mending the straight tear she had noticed at the knee of his trousers when her foot had
rested on them; like measuring his tartanilla seat cushions for him, and making them,
and stringing them on his vehicle. She thought of the names for men she knew and
called him by it in thinking of him, ever afterwards. In her thoughts she spoke to him
and he always answered. She found time to come out on the street for a while, every
day. Sometimes she would sweep the yard or trim the scraggly hedge of viola bushes;
or she would loiter on an errand for tomatoes or vinegar. She said to herself, He dreams
of me too, and he thinks of me. He passes here every day wishing to see me. She never
saw him pass, but she said to herself, He passes just when I am in the house, that’s why
I never see him. Some tartanilla would pass, and if she could, as soon as she heard the
sound of the wheels, she looked out of a window, hoping it would be Angel’s.
Sometimes she would sing very loudly, if she felt her mistress was in a good humor
and not likely to object. She told herself that if he could not see her, he would at least
wish to hear her voice. She longed no more to be part of the group about the water tank
in the bathhouse. She thought of the women there and their jokes and she smiled, in
pity, because they did not have what she had, some one by the name of Angel, who
knew how to massage injured feet back to being good for walking and who knew how
to lay out clothes for bleaching. When they teased her about Sancho, who insisted on
pumping her can full every time she went for drinking water, she smiled at the women
and at the man, full of her hidden knowledge about someone picking her up and being
gentle with her. She was too full of this secret joy to mind their teasing. Where before
she had been openly angry and secretly pleased, now she was indifferent. She looked
at Sancho and thought him very rude beside… beside Angel. He always put his hands
over hers when she made a move to pump water. He always spoke to her about not
being angry with the women’s teasing. She thought he was merely trying to show off.
And when one day Sancho said, “Do not mind their teasing; they would tease you more
if they knew I really feel like they say I do,” she glared at him and thought him
unbearably ill-mannered. She spat out of the corner of her mouth, letting him see the
grimace of distaste she made when she did so, and seeing Sancho’s disturbed face, she
thought, If Angel knew, he’d strike you a big blow. But she was silent and proud and
unsmiling. Sancho looked after her with the heavy can of water held by one hand, the
other hand flung out to balance herself against the weight. He waited for her to turn and
smile at him as she sometimes did, but she simply went her way. He flung his head up
and then laughed snortingly. Rosa’s mistress made her usual bad-humored sallies
against her fancied slowness. Noticing Rosa’s sudden excursions into the street, she
made remarks and asked curious questions. Always the girl had an excuse and her
mistress soon made no further questions. And unless she was in bad temper, she was
54

amused at her servant’s attempts at singing. One night she sent the maid to a store for
wine. Rosa came back with a broken bottle empty of all its contents. Sudden anger at
the waste and the loss made her strike out with closed fists, not caring where her blows
landed until the girl was in tears. It often touched her when she saw Rosa crying and
cowering, but now the woman was too angry to pity. It never occurred to Rosa that she
could herself strike out and return every blow. Her mistress was thirtyish, with peaked
face and thin frame, and Rosa’s strong arms, used to pounding clothes and carrying
water, could easily have done her hurt. But Rosa merely cried and cried, saying now
and then Aruy! Aruy!, until the woman, exhausted by her own anger left off striking the
girl to sit down in a chair, curse loudly about the loss of such good wine, and ask where
she was going to get the money to buy another bottle. Rosa folded her clothes into a
neat bundle, wrapped them in her blanket, and getting out her slippers, thrust her feet
into them. She crept out of a door without her mistress seeing her and told herself she’d
never come back to that house again. It would have been useless to tell her mistress
how the bottle had been broken, and the wine spilled. She had been walking alone in
the street hurrying to the wine store, and Sancho had met her. They had talked; he
begging her to let him walk with her and she saying her mistress would be angry if she
saw. Sancho had insisted and they had gone to the store and bought the wine, and then
going home, her foot had struck a sharp stone. She had bent to hold a foot up, looking
at the sole to see if the stone had made it bleed. Her dress had a wide, deep neck, and
it must have hung away from her body when she bent. Anyway, she had looked up to
find Sancho looking into the neck of her dress. His eyes were turned hastily away as
soon as she straightened up, and she thought she could do nothing but hold her peace.
But after a short distance in their resumed walk home, he had stopped to pick up a long
twig lying on the ground. With deft strokes he had drawn twin sharp peaks on the
ground. They looked merely like the zigzags one does draw playfully with any stick,
but Rosa, having seen him looking into her dress while she bent over, now became so
angry that she swung out and with all her force struck him on the check with her open
palm. He reeled from the unexpected blow, and quickly steadied himself while Rosa
shot name after name at him. Anger rose in his face. It was nearly dark, and there was
no one else on the street. He laughed, short angry laughter, and called her back name
for name. Rosa approached him and made to slap him again, but Sancho was too quick
for her. He had slipped out of her way and himself slapped her instead. The surprise of
it angered her into sudden tears. She swung up the bottle of wine she had held tightly
in one hand, and ran after the man to strike him with it. Sancho slapped her arm so hard
that she dropped the bottle. The man had run away laughing, calling back a final
undeserved name at her, leaving her to look with tears at the wine seeping into the
ground. Some people had come toward her then, asking what had happened. She had
stooped, picked up the biggest piece of glass, and hurried back to her mistress,
wondering whether she would be believed and forgiven. Rosa walked down street after
55

street. She had long ago wiped the tears from her face, and her thoughts were of a place
to sleep, for it was late at night. She told herself she would kill Sancho if she ever saw
him again. She picked up a stone from the road, saying, I wish a cold wind would strike
him dead, and so on; and the stone she grasped tightly, saying, If I meet him now, I
would throw this at him, and aim so well that I would surely hit him. She rubbed her
arm in memory of the numbing blow the man had dealt it, and touched her face with
furious shame for the slap he had dared to give her. Her fists closed more tightly about
the stone and she looked about her as if she expected Sancho to appear. She thought of
her mistress. She had been almost a year in the woman’s employ. Usually she stayed
in a place, at the most, for four months. Sometimes it was the master’s smirking ways
and evil eyes, sometimes it was the children’s bullying demands. She had stayed with
this last mistress because in spite of her spells of bad humor, there were periods
afterward when she would be generous with money for a dress, or for a cine with other
maids. And they had been alone, the two of them. Sometimes the mistress would get
so drunk that she would slobber into her drink and mumble of persons that must have
died. When she was helpless she might perhaps have starved if Rosa had not forcibly
fed her. Now, however, thought of the fierce beating the woman had given her made
Rosa cry a little and repeat her vow that she would never step into the house again.
Then she thought of Angel, the cochero who had been gentle, and she lost her tears in
thinking how he would never have done what Sancho did. If he knew what had
happened to her, he would come running now and take her to his own home, and she
would not have to worry about a place to sleep this night. She wandered about, not
stopping at those places where she knew she would be accepted if she tried, her mind
full of the injustices she had received and of comparisons between Sancho and Angel.
She paused every time a tartanilla came her way, peering intently into the face of
the cochero, hoping it would be he, ready to break her face into smiles if it were indeed.
She carried her bundle on her arm all this while, now clenching a fist about the stone
she still had not dropped and gnashing her teeth. She had been walking about for quite
a while, feeling not very tired, having no urgent need to hurry about finding herself a
place, so sharp her hopes were of somehow seeing her cochero on the streets. That was
all she cared about, that she must walk into whatever street she came to, because only
in that way would he see her and learn what they had done to her. Then, turning into a
street full of stores set side by side, she felt the swish of a horse almost brushing against
her. She looked up angrily at the cochero’s laughing remark about his whip missing
her beautiful bust. An offense like that, so soon after all her grief at what Sancho had
done, inflamed her into passionate anger, and mouthing a quick curse, she flung the
stone in her hand at the cochero on his seat. It was rather dark and she did not quite see
his face. But apparently she hit something, for he suddenly yelled a stop at the horse,
clambered down, and ran back to her, demanding the reason for her throwing the stone.
She exclaimed hotly at his offense with the whip, and then looking up into his face, she
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gasped. She gasped and said, “Angel!” For it was he. He was wearing a striped shirt,
like so many other people were wearing, and he had on the very same trousers of dark
blue he had worn when he massaged her foot. But he gazed at her in nothing but anger,
asking whether her body was so precious that she would kill his horse. Also, why did
she keep saying Angel; that was not his name! Rosa kept looking up at him not hearing
a word of his threats about taking her to the municipio, saying only Angel, Angel, in
spite of his protests that that was not his name. At last she understood that
the cochero did not even remember her and she realized how empty her thoughts of
him now were. Even his name was not Angel. She turned suddenly to walk away from
him, saying, “You do not even remember me.” The cochero peered at her face and
exclaimed after a while, “Oh yes! the girl with the swollen foot!” Rosa forgot all the
emptiness, forgot the sudden sinking of her heart when she had realized that even he
would flick his whip at a girl alone on the road, and lifted her smiling face at him,
stopping suddenly to tell him her foot had healed very quickly. The cochero asked her
after a while where she was going, and she said breathlessly, without knowing just why
she answered so, “I am going home!” He asked no questions about where she had been,
why she was so late. He bade her ride in his vehicle, grandly saying he would not make
her pay, and then, with many a loud exclamation to his horse, he drove her to her
mistress’ house. Rosa didn’t tell him what had happened. Nor anything about her
dreams. She merely answered the questions the cochero asked her about how she had
been. “With the grace of God, all right, thank you.” Once he made her a sly joke about
his knowing there were simply lots of men courting her. Rosa laughed breathlessly and
denied it. She wished they would never arrive, but they soon did. The cochero waited
for her to get out, and then drove off, saying “Don’t mention it” to her many thanks.
She ran after the tartanilla when it had gone off a little way, and asked, running beside
the moving vehicle, looking up into his face, “What is your name?”
The cochero shouted, without stopping his horse, “Pedro” and continued to drive away.
Rosa went into the house without hesitation, forgetting all her vows about never
stepping into it again and wondering why it was so still. She turned on the lights and
found her mistress sleeping at a table with her head cradled in her arms, a new wine
bottle before her, empty now of all its contents. With an arm about the thin woman’s
waist, she half dragged her into her bed. When the woman would wake, she would say
nothing, remembering nothing. Rosa turned on the light in the kitchen and hummed her
preparations for a meal.
6. The Virgin - He went to where Miss Mijares sat, a tall, big man, walking with an
economy of movement, graceful and light, a man who knew his body and used it
well. He sat in the low chair worn decrepit by countless other interviewers and laid all
ten fingerprints carefully on the edge of her desk. She pushed a sheet towards him,
rolling a pencil along with it. While he read the question and wrote down his answers,
she glanced at her watch and saw that it was ten. "I shall be coming back quickly,"
57

she said, speaking distinctly in the dialect (you were never sure about these people on
their first visit, if they could speak English, or even write at all, the poor were always
proud and to use the dialect with them was an act of charity), "you will wait for me."
As she walked to the cafeteria, Miss Mijares thought how she could easily have said,
please wait for me, or will you wait for me? But years of working for the placement
section had dulled the edges of her instinct for courtesy. She spoke now peremtorily,
with an abruptness she knew annoyed the people about her.
When she talked with the jobless across her desk, asking them the damning questions
that completed their humiliation, watching pale tongues run over dry lips, dirt crusted
handkerchiefs flutter in trembling hands, she was filled with an impatience she could
not understand. Sign here, she had said thousands of times, pushing the familiar form
across, her finger held to a line, feeling the impatience grow at sight of the man or
woman tracing a wavering "X" or laying the impress of a thumb. Invariably, Miss
Mijares would turn away to touch the delicate edge of the handkerchief she wore on
her breast.
Where she sat alone at one of the cafeteria tables, Miss Mijares did not look 34. She
was slight, almost bony, but she had learned early how to dress herself to achieve an
illusion of hips and bosom. She liked poufs and shirrings and little girlish pastel
colors. On her bodice, astride or lengthwise, there sat an inevitable row of thick
camouflaging ruffles that made her look almost as though she had a bosom, if she
bent her shoulders slightly and inconspicuously drew her neckline open to puff some
air into her bodice.
Her brow was smooth and clear and she was always pushing off it the hair she kept in
tight curls at night. She had thin cheeks, small and angular, falling down to what
would have been a nondescript, receding chin, but Nature's hand had erred and given
her a jaw instead. When displeased, she had a lippy, almost sensual pout, surprising
on such a small face.
So while not exactly an ugly woman, she was no beauty. She teetered precariously on
the border line to which belonged countless others who you found, if they were not
working at some job, in the kitchen of some married sister's house shushing a brood
of devilish little nephews.
And yet Miss Mijares did think of love. Secret, short-lived thoughts flitted through
her mind in the jeepneys she took to work when a man pressed down beside her and
through her dress she felt the curve of his thigh; when she held a baby in her arms, a
married friend's baby or a relative's, holding in her hands the tiny, pulsing body, what
thoughts did she not think, her eyes straying against her will to the bedroom door and
then to her friend's laughing, talking face, to think: how did it look now, spread upon
a pillow, unmasked of the little wayward coquetries, how went the lines about the
mouth and beneath the eyes: (did they close? did they open?) in the one final, fatal
coquetry of all? to finally, miserably bury her face in the baby's hair. And in the
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movies, to sink into a seat as into an embrace, in the darkness with a hundred
shadowy figures about her and high on the screen, a man kissing a woman's mouth
while her own fingers stole unconsciously to her unbruised lips.
When she was younger, there had been other things to do--- college to finish, a niece
to put through school, a mother to care for.
She had gone through all these with singular patience, for it had seemed to her that
love stood behind her, biding her time, a quiet hand upon her shoulder (I wait. Do not
despair) so that if she wished she had but to turn from her mother's bed to see the man
and all her timid, pure dreams would burst into glory. But it had taken her parent
many years to die. Towards the end, it had become a thankless chore, kneading her
mother's loose flesh, hour after hour, struggling to awaken the cold, sluggish blood in
her drying body. In the end, she had died --- her toothless, thin-haired, flabby-fleshed
mother --- and Miss Mijares had pushed against the bed in grief and also in gratitude.
But neither love nor glory stood behind her, only the empty shadows, and nine years
gone, nine years. In the room for her unburied dead, she had held up her hands to the
light, noting the thick, durable fingers, thinking in a mixture of shame and bitterness
and guilt that they had never touched a man.
When she returned to the bleak replacement office, the man stood by a window, his
back to her, half-bending over something he held in his hands. "Here," she said,
approaching, "have you signed this?"
"Yes," he replied, facing her.
In his hands, he held her paperweight, an old gift from long ago, a heavy wooden
block on which stood, as though poised for flight, an undistinguished, badly done
bird. It had come apart recently. The screws beneath the block had loosened so that
lately it had stood upon her desk with one wing tilted unevenly, a miniature eagle or
swallow? felled by time before it could spread its wings. She had laughed and
laughed that day it had fallen on her desk, plop! "What happened? What happened?"
they had asked her, beginning to laugh, and she had said, caught between amusement
and sharp despair, "Some one shot it," and she had laughed and laughed till faces
turned and eyebrows rose and she told herself, whoa, get a hold, a hold, a hold!
He had turned it and with a penknife tightened the screws and dusted it. In this man's
hands, cupped like that, it looked suddenly like a dove.
She took it away from him and put it down on her table. Then she picked up his paper
and read it.
He was a high school graduate. He was also a carpenter.
He was not starved, like the rest. His clothes, though old, were pressed and she could
see the cuffs of his shirt buttoned and wrapped about big, strong wrists.
"I heard about this place," he said, "from a friend you got a job at the pier." Seated, he
towered over her, "I'm not starving yet," he said with a quick smile. "I still got some
money from that last job, but my team broke up after that and you got too many jobs
59

if you're working alone. You know carpentering," he continued, "you can't finish a
job quickly enough if you got to do the planing and sawing and nailing all by your
lone self. You got to be on a team."
Perhaps he was not meaning to be impolite? But for a jobseeker, Miss Mijares
thought, he talked too much and without call. He was bursting all over with an
obtruding insolence that at once disarmed and annoyed her.
So then she drew a slip and wrote his name on it. "Since you are not starving yet," she
said, speaking in English now, wanting to put him in his place, "you will not mind
working in our woodcraft section, three times a week at two-fifty to four a day,
depending on your skill and the foreman's discretion, for two or three months after
which there might be a call from outside we may hold for you."
"Thank you," he said.
He came on the odd days, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday.
She was often down at the shanty that housed their bureau's woodcraft, talking with
Ato, his foreman, going over with him the list of old hands due for release. They
hired their men on a rotation basis and three months was the longest one could stay.
"The new one there, hey," Ato said once. "We're breaking him in proper." And he
looked across several shirted backs to where he stopped, planing what was to become
the side of a bookcase.
How much was he going to get? Miss Mijares asked Ato on Wednesday. "Three," the
old man said, chewing away on a cud. She looked at the list in her hands, quickly
running a pencil down. "But he's filling a four-peso vacancy," she said. "Come now,"
surprised that she should wheedle so, "give him the extra peso." "Only a half," the
stubborn foreman shook his head, "three-fifty."
"Ato says I have you to thank," he said, stopping Miss Mijares along a pathway in the
compound.
It was noon, that unhappy hour of the day when she was oldest, tiredest, when it
seemed the sun put forth cruel fingers to search out the signs of age on her thin,
pinched face. The crow's feet showed unmistakably beneath her eyes and she smiled
widely to cover them up and aquinting a little, said, "Only a half-peso --- Ato would
have given it to you eventually."
"Yes, but you spoke for me," he said, his big body heaving before her. "Thank you,
though I don't need it as badly as the rest, for to look at me, you would knew I have
no wife --- yet."
She looked at him sharply, feeling the malice in his voice. "I'd do it for any one," she
said and turned away, angry and also ashamed, as though he had found out suddenly
that the ruffles on her dress rested on a flat chest.
The following week, something happened to her: she lost her way home.
Miss Mijares was quite sure she had boarded the right jeepneys but the driver, hoping
to beat traffic, had detoured down a side alley, and then seeing he was low on gas, he
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took still another shortcut to a filling station. After that, he rode through alien
country.
The houses were low and dark, the people shadowy, and even the driver, who earlier
had been an amiable, talkative fellow, now loomed like a sinister stranger over the
wheel. Through it all, she sat tightly, feeling oddly that she had dreamed of this, that
some night not very long ago, she had taken a ride in her sleep and lost her way.
Again and again, in that dream, she had changed direction, losing her way each time,
for something huge and bewildering stood blocking the old, familiar road home.
But that evening, she was lost only for a while. The driver stopped at a corner that
looked like a little known part of the boulevard she passed each day and she alighted
and stood on a street island, the passing headlights playing on her, a tired, shaken
woman, the ruffles on her skirt crumpled, the hemline of her skirt awry.
The new hand was absent for a week. Miss Mijares waited on that Tuesday he first
failed to report for some word from him sent to Ato and then to her. That was
regulation. Briefly though they were held, the bureau jobs were not ones to take
chances with. When a man was absent and he sent no word, it upset the system. In the
absence of a definite notice, someone else who needed a job badly was kept away
from it.
"I went to the province, ma'am," he said, on his return.
"You could have sent someone to tell us," she said.
"It was an emergency, ma'am," he said. "My son died."
"How so?"
A slow bitter anger began to form inside her. "But you said you were not married!"
"No, ma'am," he said gesturing.
"Are you married?" she asked loudly.
"No, ma'am."
"But you have -- you had a son!" she said.
"I am not married to his mother," he said, grinning stupidly, and for the first time she
noticed his two front teeth were set widely apart. A flush had climbed to his face,
suffusing it, and two large throbbing veins crawled along his temples.
She looked away, sick all at once.
"You should told us everything," she said and she put forth hands to restrain her anger
but it slipped away she stood shaking despite herself.
"I did not think," he said.
"Your lives are our business here," she shouted.
It rained that afternoon in one of the city's fierce, unexpected thunder-storms. Without
warning, it seemed to shine outside Miss Mijares' window a gray, unhappy look.
It was past six when Miss Mijares, ventured outside the office. Night had come
swiftly and from the dark sky the thick, black, rainy curtain continued to fall. She
stood on the curb, telling herself she must not lose her way tonight. When she flagged
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a jeepney and got in, somebody jumped in after her. She looked up into the
carpenter's faintly smiling eyes. She nodded her head once in recognition and then
turned away.
The cold tight fear of the old dream was upon her. Before she had time to think, the
driver had swerved his vehicle and swung into a side street. Perhaps it was a different
alley this time. But it wound itself in the same tortuous manner as before, now by the
banks of overflowing esteros, again behind faintly familiar buildings. She bent her
tiny, distraught face, conjuring in her heart the lonely safety of the street island she
had stood on for an hour that night of her confusion.
"Only this far, folks," the driver spoke, stopping his vehicle. "Main street's a block
straight ahead."
"But it's raining," someone protested.
"Sorry. But if I got into a traffic, I won't come out of it in a year. Sorry."
One by one the passengers got off, walking swiftly, disappearing in the night.
Miss Mijares stepped down to a sidewalk in front of a boarded store. The wind had
begun again and she could hear it whipping in the eaves above her head. "Ma'am," the
man's voice sounded at her shoulders, "I am sorry if you thought I lied."
She gestured, bestowing pardon.
Up and down the empty, rain-beaten street she looked. It was as though all at once
everyone else had died and they were alone in the world, in the dark.
In her secret heart, Miss Mijares' young dreams fluttered faintly to life, seeming
monstrous in the rain, near this man --- seeming monstrous but sweet overwhelming.
I must get away, she thought wildly, but he had moved and brushed against her, and
where his touch had fallen, her flesh leaped, and she recalled how his hands had
looked that first day, lain tenderly on the edge of her desk and about the wooden bird
(that had looked like a moving, shining dove) and she turned to him with her ruffles
wet and wilted, in the dark she turned to him.
7. Ang Inang Matapobre- Laging bukambibig ni Aling Osang na ang anak na engineer
na si Monching ay dapat lang makapag-asawa ng isang mayaman dahil may mataas
itong katungkulan sa kumpanyang pinapasukan at topnotcher pa sa board exam. Kaya
gayon na lamang ang galit at pagkabigla nito nang malaman niyang si Corazon na
kapitbahay niya ang naging kasintahan ng anak. Ayaw niya sa babaeng ito. Gagawa
siya ng paraan upang mapaglayo ang dalawa. Kinausap ni Aling Osang ang anak,
ipinakakalas kay Corazon. “Ngunit Mama, si Corazon ay mahal ko at mahal din niya
ako. Mabait siya, masipag, magalang, at kilala n’yo ang pamilya. Isa rin siyang kapita-
pitagang guro. Bakit ayaw n’yo sa kanya?” “Gusto ko’y mayaman ang mapangasawa
mo. Kung si Corazon lang, hindi ako makapapayag. “Pero, hindi mahirap sina Corazon,
Mama. May lupa’t bahay sila, may tindahan at may niyugan. “Pero hindi rin s ila
mayaman! May tindahan at niyugan nga, tatlo naman silang magkakapatid na
maghahati kung saka-sakali. Baka maging sandalan ka lang ng pamilya niya pagdating
62

ng araw. Higit pa kay Corazon ang babaeng hinahangad ko para sa iyo, anak. Huwag
mo sana akong bibiguin.” Tumahimik na lang si Monching upang huwag nang humaba
pa ang pagtatalo nila ng ina. Nag-iisa siyang anak at lumaki siyang masunurin. Mula
noon, naging madalang na ang pagkikita nila ni Corazon. Tinanggap ni Monching ang
malalaking project ng kumpanya sa iba’t ibang lugar sa Visayas at Mindanao. Si
Corazon naman ay naging abala rin sa pagtuturo lalo na nang ma-promote ito bilang
Head Teacher. Mahigit dalawang taon ang mabilis na lumipas. Nakatanggap ng sulat
si Aling Osang mula kay Monching. Ito pala ay may asawa’t anak na sa Bacolod.
Anang isang bahagi ng sulat: “Mama, napikot po ako ng solong anak ng boss ko.
Nagpakasal po kami at ngayon ay 3 months old na ang baby girl namin na kamukha
ninyo. Napakayaman po ng boss ko, na ama ni Lanie. Binilhan po kaming lupa at bahay
na pinuno ng mamahaling kasangkapan. May ipinagawa rin akong playhouse sa gilid
ng bahay. Sana mabigyan ko kayo ng maraming apo, Mama. Kalakip nito ang Twenty-
thousand pesos para sa pagbabakasyon n’yo ni Papa rito sa Bacolod. Aasahan ko po
kayo sa Linggo. Excited na itiniklop ni Aling Osang ang sulat. “Martes pa lang ngayon,
hindi ko na mahihintay pa ang araw ng linggo. Sabik na akong makita sila.” Nang araw
ring iyon ay bumiyahe ang mag-asawa mula Bohol patungong Bacolod via Cebu. Nang
sapitin nila ang tahanan ng anak, sa gate ay sinalubong sila ng katulong at napag-
alamang wala roon si Monching. Nasa Davao kasama ang Father-in-law at sa Sabado
pa ng gabi ang dating. Miyerkules na noon kaya nag-pasiya ang mag-asawa na hintayin
na lang ang anak kaysa bumalik pa ng Bohol. Lumabas ng pinto si Lanie, ang asawa ni
Monching. Maganda ito ngunit bakit hindi man lamang nagmano sa kanila gayong
sinabi na ng maid kung sino sila. Ni hindi nga sila nginitian, pormal itong nagsalita:
“Wala pa si Monching eh. Kung hihintayin ninyo, okey lang.” At inutusan ang katulong
na ihatid ang dalawa sa tutuluyan nito ang playhouse sa gilid ng bahay. Tatlong araw
at tatlong gabi na sina Aling Osang sa playhouse, hinahatiran ng pagkain ng katulong,
ngunit minsan man ay hindi pa sila nakapasok sa loob ng malaking bahay. Ni hindi na
nga nila nakita o nakausap muli ang manugang na halatang malayo ang loob pa kanila.
Sabado ng tanghali. Lumabas ng bahay si Lanie, kasama ang yaya na may kalong na
bata. Agad ay lumapit Si Aling Osang, sabik na niyakap at hinalikan ang apo. Pagalit
na nagsalita si Lanie, “Tama na, baka mangati ang bata!” Sumakay ito ng kotse, kasama
ang anak at yaya at lumabas ng gate. Ang naiwang katulong ang nagsabing pupunta si
Lanie sa bahay ng ina na di-kalayuan doon, tapos ay tutuloy sa airport upang salubungin
ang ama at si Monching. Nakadama ng tuwa si Aling Osang. Naligo silang mag-asawa
sa maliit na banyo sa gilid ng playhouse. Nagbihis at sabik na hinintay ang pagdating
ng anak. Makapapasok na sila sa malaking bahay, ang isip ni Aling Osang. Makikita
na niya ang loob nito. Ngunit lumalim na ang gabi ay wala pa rin si Monching, pati na
si Lanie. Nakatulog na sila sa kahihintay. Linggo ng umaga. Nagising sina Aling Osang
sa katok sa pinto. Sinabi ng maid na maaantala raw ang uwi ni Monching sa susunod
na linggo pa dahil may panibagong project na namang sinisimulan. May iniabot na
63

Two-thousand pesos kay Aling Osang ang maid. Ipinabibigay raw ni Lanie para
pamasahe pabalik ng Bohol. “Sa loob ng bapor, iniisip ni Aling Osang ang mahal na
anak, Bakit parang napakahirap yata niya itong makita? Halos tatlong taon na itong
nawalay sa kanya. Maligaya kaya ito sa piling ng maganda at mayamang asawa ngunit
pangit ang ugali? Kung si Corazon ang nakatuluyan ni Monching, ilang apo na kaya
ngayon ang sa kanya ay yumayakap at naglalambing?
Sising-sisi si Aling Osang. Siya ang naging dahilan kung kaya lumayo si Monching at
nagtrabaho sa ibang lugar. Kailan kaya sila muling mag-kikita? Alam niyang hindi ito
uuwi ng Bohol upang maiwasan si Corazon na hanggang ngayon ay patuloy na
nagmamahal at umaasa.
Kung hindi naging matapobre si Aling Osang, sana’y nakita niyang higit ang halaga ng
magandang ugali kaysa sa materyal na kayamanan.
8. Ang Batang Espesyal- Lima ang naging anak ni Mang Ramon at Aling Mila. Ang
bunso na isang lalaki ay abnormal. Ang tawag dito ay mongoloid. Ang batang abnormal
pinangalanan nilang Pepe. Malambot ang mga paa at mga kamay ni Pepe. Kahit na
malaki na siya ay kailangan parin siyang alalayan ng kanyang ina sa paglalakad para
hindi siya mabuwal. Ang kanyang bibig ay nakakibit kaya kung magsalita siya ay
mahirap maintindihan.
Kahit naman abnormal ay mahal na mahal ng mag-asawa si Pepe. Noong maliit pa ito
ay palitan ang mag-asawa sa pag-aalaga sa kanya. Hindi kinakitaan ng panghihinawa
ang mag-asawa sa pag-aalaga sa anak. Kahit binata na ay palagi pa ring nakasunod sa
kanya ang kanyang ina. Inaakay siya. Minsan ay sinusubuan siya. Pinapaliguan. Ano
pa at malaking panahon ng kanyang inay ay sa kanya lamang naiuukol.
Ang hindi alam ni Aling Mila ay nagseselos na ang iba pa niyang anak. Napapansin ng
mga ito na mas malaking oras ang ibinigay niya kay Pepe kaysa sa mga ito. Lingid sa
kanya ay nag-usap-usap ang apat na magkakapatid. Napagkasunduan ng mga ito na
kausapin siya para ipahayag sa kaniya ang kanilang mga hinanakit. Isang gabi matapos
niyang patulugin si Pepe ay nilapitan siya ng apat na anak. Sinabi ng mga ito ang
kanilang malaking mga hinanakit.
Gulat na gulat si Aling Mila. Hindi niya alam na nagseselos na pala ang apat niyang
anak dahil sa sobrang pag aasikaso niya kay Pepe. Pero nakahanda na ang kanyang
paliwanag sa mga ito.
“Kayo ay mga buo, walang kulang,” pagsisimula ni Aling Mila.
“Kahit wala kami ng itay ninyo ay mabubuhay kayo ng maayos. Pero ang kapatid ninyo
ay hindi, kung kaya siya ang higit naming inaasikaso,” isa-isang tinitigan ni Aling Mila
ang kanilang mga anak.” Pero hindi naman namin kayo pinababayaan hindi ba?”
Walang nakasagot sa isa man sa apat. Hiyang-hiya silang lahat.
9. Ang Nawawalang Sapatos ni Kulas- Nasa katamtamang estado ng pamumuhay ang
pamilya ng batang si Nicholas Cruz. Mas kilala siya sa Kalye Sampaguita bilang si
Kulas, sampung taong gulang na anak nina Julio at Vina Cruz. Nagtatrabaho sa isang
pagawaan ng mga kasangkapan sa bahay ang ama ni Kulas samantalang kahera naman
isang tindahan ang kanyang ina. Isang araw, habang tinatali ni Vina ang sintas ng
sapatos ng anak ay nagtaka ito. “Nak, ba’t ang lumang rubber shoes mo ang suot mo?
64

Di ba binilhan ka namin ng papa mo ng bago?” tanong ng ina sa bata. Hindi sumagot

si Kulas at nagkataon naman na bumusina na ang sasakyan na maghahatid sa kanya sa
paaralan. Humalik ito sa mama niya at dali-daling tumakbo palabas ng bahay. “Leon,
bilisan mo nariyan na iyong school bus,” sabi ni Kulas sa nakababatang kapatid habang
tumatakbo siya palabas. Natapos ang kalahating-araw ng klase at hinatid na pauwi sa
kanilang bahay sina Kulas at Leon. Pagdating nila sa sala, nagulat ang panganay na
may karton na naglalaman ng bagong sapatos. “Ma, kanino po ‘tong rubber
shoes?” tanong ni Kulas sa ina niya. Ngumiti ang ina at sinabihan siyang sa kanya
iyon. Bagong rubber shoes at mukhang mamahalin yung binili ng mama niya para sa
kanya. Kinabukasan, sinuot niya ito papuntang paaralan dahil sakto naman na P.E. nila.
Pagkalipas ng isang linggo, nagulat si Vina noong sinumbatan sya ni Julio habang nag-
aayos siya sa harap ng salamin at ang asawa naman ay nagbabasa ng dyaryo sa higaan
nila. “Akala ko ba binilhan mo ng bagong sapatos si Kulas kaya naubos ang sweldo
mo. Bakit mukhang luma yata yung nabili mo,” sabi ni Julio. Nagulat si Vina sa sinabi
ng asawa. Idiniin niya bumili talaga siya ng bago at mahal iyon kaya humiram pa siya
ng pera sa may-ari ng tindahan. Pagdating ng tanghalian, nakarating na ang mga bata.
Tama si Julio at luma na ang sapatos na suot ni Kulas. Nagulat ang ina at tinanong ang
anak. “Nak, binilhan kita ng bagong sapatos, e, bakit luma pa rin iyang sinusuot
mo?” tanong ni Vina sa anak. Nagdahilan si Kulas na nakalimutan niya raw na may
bago na pala siyang sapatos. Inutusan siya ng ina na kunin iyon at dalhin ito sa kanya.
Ilang minuto na naghintay si Vina pero hindi bumalik si Kulas. Pinuntahan niya ito sa
kwarto at nadatnan niya palakad-lakad si Kulas at balisa. Tinanong ulit ni Vina ang
anak tungkol sa sapatos niya. Pang-apat na pares ng sapatos na iyon na binili para sa
kanya ngayong taon. “Mama, patawad po. Binigay ko po sa kaibigan ko sa labas ng
paaralan ang bagong sapatos na bili niyo para sa akin,” pagtatapat ng bata. “Ano?
Binilhan ka ng bago tapos ipamimigay mo lang pala? Walang mali sa pagbibigay anak
pero sana, inisip mo rin na binili namin ng papa mo iyon para sa iyo. Nag sinungaling
ka pa,” sabi ni Vina sa anak. Pinuri ng ina ang bata sa pagiging mapagbigay nito pero
pinaalalahanan rin niya na mali ang magsinungaling kahit ano pa ang dahilan. Inihayag
niya rin kay Kulas na sana ay pahalagahan nito ang mga binibigay nila ng ama niya
dahil pinaghihirapan nila ito. Humingi ng patawad si Kulas at nangako sa ina na
pahahalagahan na niya ang susunod na mga sapatos at mga gamit na ibibigay sa kanya
ng mama at papa niya. Nangako rin siyang hindi na siya magsisinungaling.
10. Si Inday at ang Kanyang Bagong Selpon- Malapit nang makatapos ng elementarya
si Inday at parehas silang nasasabik ng nanay niya sa pinakahihintay na araw. Si Aling
Peling halos hindi na makatulog kaka-isip kung ano ireregalo sa nag-iisang anak. Isang
araw, namasyal si Inday sa bahay ng isa niyang kaibigan at nagkaroon ng oras si Aling
Peling na bumili ng sorpresa para sa anak. Dali-dali siyang pumunta sa pamilihan at
doon nakakita siya ng isang selpon. “Sakto to. Medyo malayo ang paaralan na
papasukan ni Inday sa sekondarya, kakailanganin niya ‘to,” sabi ni Aling Peling sa
65

sarili. Nagkasya ang pera ng matanda para sa bagong selpon na ireregalo sa anak sa
pagtatapos niya sa elementary. Pagkauwi nito sa bahay, agad niya itong binalot at
itinago sa kanyang aparador. Lumipas ang isang linggo at dumating na ang araw na
pinakahihintay nina Aling Peling at Inday. Mangiyak-ngiyak ang matanda habang
isinusuot sa anak ang medalya sa ibabaw ng entablado. Pagkatapos ng seremonya,
nagpakuha ng litrato ang mag-ina. Inabot rin ni Aling Peling ang kanyang sorpesa kay
Inday na agad naman nitong binuksan. “Naku! Bagong selpon? Yehey! Salamat Nanay!
May selpon na ako,” sigaw ng anak. Simula noong gabing iyon, palagi nang nakatutok
sa selpon si Inday. Kahit bakasyon, malimit sila kung makapag-usap ng nanay niya.
Palagi niya kasing ka-text si Rico o ‘di kaya ay nagtatawagan sila. “Alam mo bessy,
magkikita kami ni Rico bukas. Sa wakas makikilala ko na rin siya. Siguro guwapo siya
no, matangkad, maputi,” kwento ni Inday sa kaibigan niya. Narinig ni Aling Peling ang
mga sinabi ni Inday kay Fiona tungkol kay Rico. Tinawag niya ang anak at kinausap
ito. “Teka bessy tawag ako ni Nanay. Tatawag na lang ako sa’yo ulit. Bye! Nay, bakit
po?” tanong ni Inday sa ina. “Ano yung narinig kong makikipagkita ka sa hindi mo
kakilala? Ganun ka ba ka kampante na mabuting tao yan, e, sa selpon mo lang nakilala,”
sabi ni Aling Peling sa anak. “Kaya nga po magkikita kami nay upang magkakilala
kaming dalawa. Hirap naman sa inyo minsan na nga lang ako lumabas marami pa akong
maririnig,” sabi ni Inday bago padabog na pumasok sa kwarto niya. Nagulat si Aling
Peling sa inasal ng anak. Dati-rati ay ni hindi ito magawa na sagutin siya nang ganun.
Nagtimpi na lang ang matanda at ipinagpatuloy ang pagluluto ng kanilang hapunan.
Kinabukasan, pagka gising ni Aling Peling ay wala na ang anak sa tabi niya. Inisip niya
na lang na umalis na siguro yun at sana’y mag-iingat siya. Hindi man lang nagpaalam
si Inday sa ina niya. Bumangon na ang matanda, nagluto ng almusal, at inihanda ang
kanyang mga paninda sa araw na iyon. Pagkatapos kumain ay lumakad na siya dala-
dala ang kanyang mga lutong bibingka. Naglako si Aling Peling malapit sa parke.
Marami ang bumili sa kanya at noong papaalis na siya para umuwi ay nakita niya si
Inday mula sa malayo. Kahit hindi niya masyadong maaninag ang mukha ng anak, alam
niyang umiiyak ito. “Nak! Inday! Anong nangyari sa ‘yo ba’t ka umiiyak?” tanong ng
matanda sa anak. “Nay nawawala po si Rico! Dala-dala niya po yung bag ko. Kanina
nag-uusap lang kami rito tapos biglang naiihi raw siya kaya umalis saglit,” sabi ng anak
habang umiiyak. Kinuwento ni Inday na nagkita sila ni Rico sa parke at pagkatapos ng
isang oras na pag-uusap ay nag-presenta itong bitbitin ang bag niya. Habang naglalakad
sila ay isinabit ng binata ang bag ni Inday sa kanya kung kaya’t nahiya na siyang kunin
ito. Kasama sa nawalang bag ni Inday ang bagong selpon na ipinag-ipunan at binigay
ng nanay niya sa kanya. Lubos ang kanyang pagsisisi dahil hindi siya nakinig kay Aling
Peling.
66

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