Literary Specimen #3: Will of the River

By: Alfredo Q. Gonzales

1 BY MY WIFE’S ancestral home flows a river. For a dozen summers I have visited it, and almost every
year I make an effort to trace its course back to its source in the neighboring hills; I do not consider my
vacation there complete without doing this. In common with other streams of its kind, our river suffers
much from the summer drought. I have seen it so shrunken that fish lay lifeless on the parched sand and
gravel of its bed. But this past summer I saw something I had never seen before, though I know that if I
had been sufficiently observant in other abnormally dry years, I am sure I could not have failed to notice
the same thing earlier.

2 One morning last April, in company with a student friend and my elder son. I started out for the hill to
spend the day by the rapids and cascades at a place called Intongasan. We followed the course of the
river. After we had walked a kilometer or more, I saw that the river had disappeared and its bed was dry. I
looked around in wonder because past our little country house below and out toward the sea half a mile or
so farther down, the river was flowing clear and steady in Its usual summer volume and depth. But where
we stood at the moment there was no water to be seen. All about us the wide river bed was hot and dry.

3 We pursued our way on toward the hills, however, and walking another kilometer we saw the stream
again, though it had spread itself so thin that it was lost at the edge of the waterless stretch of burning
sand and stones. And yet, continuing our way into the hills, we found the river grow deeper and stronger
than it was as it passed by our cottage.

4 To most people, I suppose, there is nothing strange or significant in this. Perhaps they have seen such a
phenomenon more than once before. To me, however, it was a new experience and it impressed me like
all new experiences. To me, it was not merely strange, it suggested a spiritual truth.

5 Flowing down from its cradle in the mountains just as it left the last foothills, the river had been
checked by the long, forbidding stretch of scorching sand. I had read of other streams that upon
encountering similar obstacles irretrievably lost themselves in sand or mud. But Bacong-because that is
the name of our river-determined to reach the sea, tunneled its way, so to speak, under its sandy bed, of
course choosing the harder and lower stratum beneath, until at last it appeared again, limpid and steady in
its march to sea.And then I thought of human life. I was reminded of many a life that stopped short of its
great end just because it lacked the power of will to push through hindrances.

6 But I thought most of all of those who, like our river, met with almost insurmountable obstacles but
undismayed continued their march, buried in obscurity perhaps but resolutely pushing their way to the
sea, to their life’s goal. I thought of men like Galileo, who continued his work long after his sight had
failed; of Beethoven, who composed his noblest and sublimest symphonies when he could no longer hear
a single note; of Stevenson, who produced some of his greatest work after he was doomed to die of
tuberculosis; and of Cecil Rhodes, who was sent to Africa to die of an incurable disease, but before he
obeyed the summons carved out an Empire in the Dark Continent. These resolute and sublime souls all
reminded me of what our river taught me-that if we cannot overcome obstacles, we can undercome them.

7 Another lesson I learned from Bacong is found in the fact that the river was not merely determined to
flow just anywhere; it was determined to reach the sea, to reach the great end. Many streams manage to
surmount barriers they meet along the way, but they come out of obstacles after much labor only to end in
a foul and stagnant marsh or lake. How like so many human lives! How like so many people who, in the
springtime of their youth and in the summer of their early manhood, showed splendid heroism against
frowning odds, determined to overcome those hostile barriers, only in the autumn of their lives to end in
defeat, disgrace, and remorse.
8 On the other hand, think of other lives that, like our river, kept their way even to the end of their course.

9 I believe it was on our way back from the hills that the lesson of faithfulness in the performance of
one’s duty was forcefully suggested to me. The truth occurred to me that nature often fulfills her duty
more faithfully than man does his.

10 And what is the duty of a river? It is to furnish safe running water for plant and fish and fowl and for
man and beast. The river is not there just to flow on and enjoy itself. The river must play its part in the
processes of nature; to live, in other words, for the rest of creation.

11 And so it should be with the life of man. It is not to be lived unto itself alone for its own joy and
satisfaction but for others in glad and devoted ministry. How life and beauty and goodness, indeed, would
perish from the world if man and nature should fail in their duty! If our river had not remained faithful to
its duty, instead of a landscape picturesque with the varied green of the foliage of shrubs and trees and
gay with the voices of the birds singing and calling to one another in the branches that April morning,
there would have been spread before us a wide expanse of desolate and lifeless land, fit only for the
wanderings of Cain.

12 For part of the ministering duty of a river is to flow on and on, otherwise be foul and unfit for use.
There is music in running water. Bacong, by continuing its march to the sea, kept itself fit for the service
of nature and man; and not only it expanded its field of usefulness.

13 And does this not suggest that the river of man’s life should be likewise? For if in the face of obstacles
it lacks the strength of will to continue keeping itself fit to serve and seeking new opportunities for
service, it will ultimately become useless to others.

14 As I marveled at the power of Bacong to push its way through such a seemingly impassable barrier, I
discerned the secret-a secret that has a message for all of us. For Bacong was able to carry on, to continue
its watery pilgrimage and reach the immensity and sublimity of the sea, only because its source is the vast
and lofty mountains. Unless a stream draws its power from a source of sufficient height and magnitude, it
cannot do as our river did this summer. It will not have the strength to cut its way through great obstacles
and reach the sea at last…

15 Here is one of the marvelous secrets of live, and how many have missed it! Verily, if a man derives his
strength and inspiration from a low and feeble source, he will fail to “arrive.” Unless a man draw his
power from some source of heavenly altitude, unless the stream of his life issues from a never-failing
source, unless, in other words, his soul is fed from heights of infinite power, he may well fear that he will
not reach the sea. But if his spirit is impelled and nourished by an inexhaustible power he will in spite of
all obstructions, finish his course, if not in the glory of dazzling achievement, at least in the nobility of a
completed task faithfully done.
 Arellano University
School of Education
Philippine Literature
Test #3:​ Gonzales​’ ​Will of the River (10 points)

Name: ______________________________Program, Year & Major: __________Score:______

Instructions: ​Do the following:

1) Individually, read the ​Gonzales​’ W

​ ill of the River ​twice or thrice without the help of Google
Search. Then, gather as one group to answer all the Guide Questions following the mandated number
of sentences per question.

2) As one group with the leader presiding during the online enlightenment discussion, come up with
ONE GROUP encoded answer to be finally submitted by the leader on October 21​.

3) Group Leaders must be ready for online enlightenment discussion on October 21 at 7pm.

4) Encode your responses in a legal size 8.5 x 14 using Calibri 11, single spaced within every paragraph
but double spaced between paragraphs.

5) Write your responses using the front page only.

Guide Questions:

1) Generally, what is the WILL of the RIVER? What are the two phenomena attributed to the
realization of that WILL?
The literary specimen, Will of the River, is something connected and related with how life or journey
flows or run, what will be his or her path? How life goes on about so much struggles, how it flows?
The two phenomena attributed to the realization is when we observe how the river flows during rainy
or summer season?
2) Along with the WILL and its two attributions, what are the four specific realizations given
by the author?
The four realizations given by the author are, first, like a river with almost insurmountable
obstacles but undismayed continued their life goals like Galileo, Beethoven, Stevenson,
Cecil Rhodes. It means if we cannot overcome obstacles, we can undercome them. Second,
river was not only merely determined to flow just anywhere, it was determined to reach the
sea, reach the great end. This means that, whatever we’re going through, whatever we do
to achieve our dreams, our goal will continue and will just end if we are died. Third, is that
faithfulness in the performance of one’s duty. Our greatest duty or responsibility in our lives
is to find our purpose why we are here in this world, to find our mission. Maybe its a
mission for ourselves, mission for other people that will make us happy. Also, the fourth
realization is, not to lived unto itself alone for its own joy and satisfaction but for others in
glad and devoted ministry.
3) The WILL of the RIVER is a perfect personification of a significant human experience,
which can be derived from the four keywords: RIVER, BOULDERS, SEA, and MOUNTAIN. In
one paragraph with 5-7 sentences, clearly discuss the SHE that is logically brought to the
fore by these four keywords.