Professional Documents
Culture Documents
When the day came for us to appear in court, father “I agree.” Father said.
brushed his old Army uniform and borrowed a pair
of shoes from one of my brothers. We were the first “Do you or do you not agree that while the
to arrive. Father sat on a chair in the center of the complaint and his children grew sickly and
courtroom. Mother occupied a chair by the door. tubercular you and your family became strong of
We children sat on a long bench by the wall. Father limb and fair in complexion?”
kept jumping up from his chair and stabbing the air
with his arms, as though we were defending himself “I agree.” Father said.
before an imaginary jury.
“How do you account for that?”
The rich man arrived. He had grown old and feeble;
his face was scarred with deep lines. With him was Father got up and paced around, scratching his head
his young lawyer. Spectators came in and almost thoughtfully. Then he said, “I would like to see the
filled the chairs. The judge entered the room and sat children of complaint, Judge.”
on a high chair. We stood in a hurry and then sat
down again. “Bring in the children of the complaint.”
After the courtroom preliminaries, the judge looked They came in shyly. The spectators covered their
at the Father. “Do you have a lawyer?” he asked. mouths with their hands, they were so amazed to
see the children so thin and pale. The children
“I don’t need any lawyer, Judge,” he said. walked silently to a bench and sat down without
looking up. They stared at the floor and moved their
“Proceed,” said the judge. hands uneasily.
The rich man’s lawyer jumped up and pointed his Father could not say anything at first. He just stood
finger at Father. “Do you or you do not agree that by his chair and looked at them. Finally, he said, “I
you have been stealing the spirit of the complaint’s should like to cross – examine the complaint.”
wealth and food?”
“Proceed.” toward the sound with wonder. Father came back
and stood before the complaint.
“Do you claim that we stole the spirit of your
wealth and became a laughing family while yours “Did you hear it?” he asked.
became morose and sad?” Father said.
“Hear what?” the man asked.
“Yes.”
“The spirit of the money when I shook this hat?” he
“Do you claim that we stole the spirit of your food asked.
by hanging outside your windows when your
servants cooked it?” Father said. “Yes.”
“Then we are going to pay you right now,” Father The rich man opened his mouth to speak and fell to
said. He walked over to where we children were the floor without a sound. The lawyer rushed to his
sitting on the bench and took my straw hat off my aid. The judge pounded his gravel.
lap and began filling it up with centavo pieces that
he took out of his pockets. He went to Mother, who “Case dismissed.” He said.
added a fistful of silver coins. My brothers threw in
their small change. Father strutted around the courtroom the judge even
came down from his high chair to shake hands with
“May I walk to the room across the hall and stay him. “By the way,” he whispered, “I had an uncle
there for a few minutes, Judge?” Father said. who died laughing.”
“As you wish.” “You like to hear my family laugh, Judge?” Father
asked?
“Thank you,” father said. He strode into the other
room with the hat in his hands. It was almost full of “Why not?”
coins. The doors of both rooms were wide open.
“Did you hear that children?” father said.
“Are you ready?” Father called.
My sisters started it. The rest of us followed them
“Proceed.” The judge said. soon the spectators were laughing with us, holding
their bellies and bending over the chairs. And the
The sweet tinkle of the coins carried beautifully in laughter of the judge was the loudest of all.
the courtroom. The spectators turned their faces
My Father Goes to Court
One morning, a police man knocked on
(Carlos Bulusan)
the door of the narrator’s house. The rich man had a
kid whose family lived in a small town on Luzon. When the trial came, the narrator’s family
The farm of his father was destroyed by a Natural came first. After a few minutes, the rich man’s
Calamity, which is flood. That is the reason why family came with a lawyer, their body was so thin
they preferred to live in a new place. They had a and they look sick. The narrator’s father didn’t had
rich man neighbor; his children rarely go outside. any lawyer, he fight on his own. The trial starts, the
Their house so tall, where their family can watch lawyer questioned the narrator’s father. In the first
the kid’s (narrator) house. The rich man’s servants question, the father didn’t agree that they stole the
were always cooking some delicious food, like fried spirit of the wealth and the food. The father agreed
chicken, ham, and bacon. The kid’s family inhaling in the second question, where he state that their
the heavenly spirit of those foods. family hung outside the rich man’s house and inhale
join their bonding, while the rich man only watch The rich man’s children went in shyly.
them. As day past on, the rich man’s family had a They are really thin and look like sick. When it is
problem. The children became thin, the wife had a time for the rich man, the narrator’s father was the
cough like the rich man. There was an opposite one who question him. The rich man agreed that
effect in the narrator’s family, they became bright while their family having fun, the rich man’s family
and healthy. Their sickness was not in the food, became worse and sad and they also stole the spirit
because their servants always frying something of their wealth. He also agreed that the narrator’s
delicious to eat. After that, their house was always family stole the spirit of their food by hanging
close, but the aroma of the food was still drifted by outside their windows while their servants cooking
the wind. the food. The narrator’s father commits to pay the
dismissed.