Region 6: western visayas
translated as "joyful in
PROVINCES & CAPITAL
 AKLAN - Kalibo     jovial celebration of thanksgiving and
 ANTIQUE - San Jose     forms in programs and activities that
 CAPIZ - Roxas City    
 GUIMARAS - Jordan
 ILOILO - Iloilo City    
 NEGROS OCCIDENTAL -
Bacolod City
Boracay: The Beach Capital of the
Philippines
 Boracay Island is situated at the
northwestern tip of Panay, a large
Island in Western Visayas. It is
part of the town of Malay in Aklan
Ati-Atihan Festival
 Celebrated all over the towns of
Aklan , this is a week long
celebration in honor of the Patron
Saint Sto. Nino, which culminates
on the 3rd Sunday of January.
Binirayan Festival
Celebrated from April 30 to May 2, the
Binirayan Festival commemorates the
landing of the then Malay datus in
Malandog, Hamtic, Antique in the middle
of the 13th century to set up the first
Malayan settlement or barangay in this
country.
Sinadya sa Halaran Festival
Sinadya sa Halaran, loosely
offering/sharing,” is a festival of
sharing of these blessings that took
depicts oneness of Capiznon with his
Divine Source of blessings, with the
blessings themselves, and with the
whole humankind.
Manggahan sa Guimaras Festival
An identity festival of the province
of Guimaras celebrate every April 16-20
for the sustained promotion of Mango
Industry.
Paraw Regatta Festival
The regatta is usually held in
February of each year, is a race among
native outriggers in the strait between
Guimaras and Iloilo City.
Dinagyang Festival
Celebrated every fourth week of
January, Dinagyang is the festival of all
festivals of Iloilo.
Masskara Festival
Celebrated every fourth Sunday
of October in Bacolod City, it is a festive
celebration where revelers dance in the
streets wearing colorful smiling masks
and vibrant costumes.
Composo
Capiznon is derived from the
word “Kapis” a shell used to make
square panes for windows and suffix Five Classes of Social hierarchy
“non” for people.
 The Datu – head of the village.
- they belong to a larger group, Acts as a the judge in matters of
Visayan. dispute, a protector and defender
and feudal lord.
- the language is influenced by
Hiligaynon  The Timawa – class of warriors
protected the datu
- the language of the Ilongo.
 The Oripun- economic and
Name of Capiz political support for the datu.
 There’s Group of Spaniards lost  The Negrito
their way, they saw a mother
cuddling her twin sons. And they  The Outsiders
ask the name of the place, she
thought they were asking about
her sons, so she answered Ang Mga Pampam (The Prostitutes)
“Kapid” (twins).
The world was 42 years old
 Capiz was named after the twin
sons of Datu Sumakwel, one of When many Americans arrived;
the ten Bornean datu who settled
The women went crazy,
on the island. “Kapid” may also
refer to Capiz being Aklan’s twin. Single girls and the married
 1703 – Panay Island was divided Women became prostitutes,
into three provinces: Iloilo,
Antique, and Capiz (including Every morning, the prostitutes
Aklan),
Took their bath
 1956 – Aklan was separated from
On the shore, the prostitutes all sat,
Capiz.
But when the American pests came
 May 4, 1898 – Visayan Chapter
was organized. Gen. Esteban The pesky prostitutes embraced them.
Contreras, led the Filipino
revolutionaries against the These prostitutes were prostitutes;
Spanish garrison in Tanza del The prostitutes at Felipe’s
Norte,
Were more sauve, more delectable
 December 1898 - the Spaniards
left Pan-ay in defeat. Than those at Tony’s
Payment was in pesos,
Two pesos a night
And you could use them until dawn;
It was the old prostitute I pitied;
The American attacked,
the prostitute burped
Because of his weapon,
that was long and big
The pesky prostitute wriggled in pain.
Hinilawod is an epic poem written by
the early inhabitants of a place called
Sulod in central Panay.
 is not just a literary piece but
also a source of information
about culture, religion and rituals
of the ancient people of Sulod;
showing us that ancient Filipinos
believed in the “sacred,” in the
importance of family honor and in
personal courage and dignity.
 Epic of Labaw Donggon
THE EPIC OF LABAW DONGGON
Labaw Donggon is one of the
three handsome sons of the diwata
Abyang Alunsina and her husband
Buyung Paubari, the other two being
Humadapnon and Dumalapdap. Being
of semi-divine birth, the three possess
extraordinary powers. Labaw Donggon
for instance, miraculously grows into a
sturdy young man shortly after his birth
and embarks upon the first of his three
courting adventures.
The first object of his affections is
Abyang Ginbitinan, who lives “by the
mouth of Handog, by the river Halawud.”
Dressed in his best clothes, Labaw
Donggon goes to Ginbitinan’s house to
visit her and tell her that he will send his
parents to her parents to arrange the
marriage. This is done, the dowry is
agreed upon and given, and the
wedding is held.
Not long after his wedding to
Ginbitinan, Labaw Donggon hears about
another beautiful woman, Anggoy
Doronoon, of the underworld, and
conceives a desire to court her. So he
visits her and wins her without any
difficulty. Presumably [the text does not
say so] he stays with her for a while and
then returns to Handog.
Very soon, however, Labaw
Donggon is again restless with desire
for another woman. This time he
chooses a married woman, Malitung
Yawa Sinagmaling Diwata, “who resides
where the brilliant light of the sun starts,”
for she is the wife of Saragnayan, who
takes charge of the course of the sun.
Labaw Donggon dresses in his best, as
usual, and after gazing into a “crystal
ball” to know how Malitung Yawa looks,
sails upward in his magic boat to the
land of the sun. He is, however,
detected by Saragnayan, who intercepts
him. Upon learning Labaw Donggon’s
intentions upon his wife, Saragnayan
sternly tells him: “You can have Malitung
Yawa…if I do not have life anymore.” A
long, hard fight between the two men
follows, first, by using their respective
charms, and later by using their own
native strength. But though Labaw
Donggon submerges Saragnayan into
the water for seven years and puts him
on top of a stone and beats him within
his body and kept inside the body of a
pig. After many years of fighting, Labaw
Donggon weakens and Sarangnayan
eventually defeats him, binds his arms
and feet, and puts him inside a pigpen
below his kitchen.
Meanwhile, in Handog, Anggoy
Ginbitinan has borne a son, Asu
Mangga, who asks his mother about his
father. And down below in the
underworld, Anggoy Doronoon has also
given birth to a son, Buyung Baranugun.
Though his umbilical cord is still uncut,
Baranugun asks about his father and
insists that his poisoned arrow “which
with one shot pierces through seven
men.” Asu Mangga has likewise decided
to go in search of his father and dresses
up in his best clothes. Ginbitinan warns
him that he is likely to meet his young
brother and that if he does, they should
not fight each other.
The brothers do meet, Asu
Mangga riding on a magic boat and
Baranugun walking on the sea. The
latter joins his brother in his magic boat
and they plan their search. Looking into
the crystal ball, they learn the
whereabouts of their father and see the
pitiful state into which he has fallen: he
has become hairy all over. Vowing to
avenge their father’s humiliation, the
brothers steer their boat to the land of
darkness. By invoking the power of their
pamlang, the boat is able to soar to the
Land of the Morning Sun. Their arrival
does not escape the notice of
Saragnayan who wonders who they
may be. The two brothers recover their
father’s boat, find where he is
imprisoned under Saragnayan’s house,
break the iron bars of his cage by
invoking their pamlang, and lead him out
of his cage and their magic boat. There
they wash their father clean until he is
handsome once more. Labaw Donggon
tells them of his long and futile fight with
Saragnayan. The two sons then shout
their challenge to Saragnayan ten times.
It is so loud that Saragnayan loses his
courage.
In his fear, Saragnayan summons
help from all parts of the universe-from
the underworld, the upper world. Faced
with a huge army of helpers, Asu
Mangga and Baranugun advise them to
go home since their fight with
Saragnayan does not concern them. But
the men insist on fighting, so the two
brothers start shooting them down with
their poisoned arrows until only
Saragnayan is left. When they cannot
kill him, Baranugun sends Taghuy, his
spirit friend, to his grandmother, Abyang
Alunsina in the eastern sky for advice.
Alunsina sends back the information
that Saragnayan’s life is kept inside the
wild boar in the mountain, in Paling
Bukid. She further gives them the charm
that will put the boar to sleep so they
can get its heart. The two brothers find
the boar, put it to sleep and remove the
heart which they then roast and eat
whole. They then return to resume the
fight with Saragnayan.
All of a sudden, Saragnayan feels
weakness all over his body. He weeps,
knowing that he will be killed by Buyung
Baranugun. He therefore asks for time
to enable him to say good-bye to his
wife. A tender scene follows in which
Saragnayan cuddles his wife and, while
rocking her in the hammock, tells her of
his defeat by Baranugun and advises
her to obey Labaw Donggon and try to
get along well. He instructs the servants
to watch over her carefully and drive
away the flies so that her sleep will not lovely ones, the Donggon brothers
be disturbed. speak up, that they will each court one
of them. Upon hearing this, Labaw
The fight between Baranugun
Donggon speaks up, reminding them
and Saragnayan is violent but brief.
that they have to fetch Malitong Yawa
Baranugun succeeds in climbing
as his wife. The first two wives
Saragnayan’s head and, standing on top
momentarily feel jealous and threaten
of his head, Baranugun strikes
not to restore Labaw Donggon’s powers,
Saragnayan’s eyes with his poisoned
but upon the latter’s assurance that he
arrows. With a great cry, Saragnayan
will love all three of them equally and his
falls, his death struggles sending the
explanation that he needs children to
whole world a tremble, for it is in
inherit his name, they are appeased.
Saragnayan’s body that the earthquake
They let Labaw Donggon lie down and,
is kept. After killing Saragnayan,
as the two-woman jump over his head
Baranugun returns to their boat to take
and feet, they invoke to restore Labaw
his father home, but Labaw Donggon is
Donggon to his full power and bravery.
nowhere to be seen. He has run away
This completed, they help him rise and
and hidden inside fishing net. The two
ask him to give out a loud cry. Labaw
brothers sail home happily, thinking to
Donggon gives out a cry so powerful,
find their father already there.
that branches break off from trees and
But Labaw Donggon is not at the nearby bridge splits a sign that his
home, so his two brothers, power has been fully restored.
Humadapnon and Dumalapdap go on
an intensive search for him, the former
going inland and the latter seaward.
They finally find Labaw Donggon inside
the fish net, “covering himself and
shivering with fright.” They take him
home, first to Anggoy Ginbitinan at
Handog next to Anyang Doronoon in the
underworld. But Labaw Donggon can no
longer hear. His ears having been
stopped by some substance, and is out
of his mind, the wives pity and wish to
rehabilitate him although Ginbitinan
cannot help blaming him for what
happened, reproaching him for desiring
other men’s wives. Humadapnon,
however, defends Labaw Donggon by
saying: “Well, that’s how the older
one/Dear sisters should behave/ that’s
what the skilled one/ the fighter should
do.”
Then Humadapnon asks whether
Nagmalitong Yawa has any other
sisters. And when told that she has two
REGION 7: central visayas
PROVINCES & CAPITAL
 BOHOL - Tagbilaran City     years , the longest in the history.
 CEBU - Cebu City     
 NEGROS ORIENTAL -
Dumaguete City
 SIQUIJOR – Siquijor
 Boholonan
 Derived from “BOOL” which is the
earliest name of TAGBILIRAN
CITY – the capital of Bohol
 It refers to the people of the
island, their language, and
culture.
History
 1521 – Magellan sighted the
place and landed near Tagbiliran
City
 March 16, 1565 - Miguel Lopez
de Legaspi had a peace pact with
the native leaders, Sikatuna and
Sigala.
 19th century – Bohol became a
separate province through a
Spanish decree.
 1621 – Tamblot, a shaman led
the Boholano to reject the
Catholic religion and turn against
priest.
 1744 - another revolt arises,
which is led by Francisco
Dagohoy. The revolt lasted for 85
Boholano are engaged in
agriculture, fishing, cattle raising,
mineral production, and cottage
industries.
 They use manong, manang, tio,
and tia to show respect to the
elders. And Boholano is
considered of having strong
family ties.
 Boholano men usually marry at
the age of 20 and women at 18.
the men go to a period of service.
The wedding is held in church
 When a person dies, the relatives
clean the deceased with water
made of fragrant with leaves,
herbs, and preservatives (lime &
buyo).
 Letter to Pedro, Also Called Pete,
US Citizen
By Rene Estrella Amper
Letter to
Pedro (Copy)
Print the copy of the poem and bring to class.
Letter toPedro,U.S.Citizen Also Called Pete (Rene
Estrella Amper)
Pete, old friend,
There isn’t really much change have been bought by the mayor’s son. Now, there’s a

barbed wire
in our hometown since you left.

fence about them; the birds have gone away.

This morning, I couldn’t find anymore

The mayor owns a big sugar plantation,

the grave of Simeona, the cat we buried

three new cars, and a mansion,

at the foot of Miguel’s mango tree,

with the gate overhung with sampaguita.

when we were in grade four,

Inside the gate are guys who carry a rifle and a pistol.
after she was hit by a truck when crossing the street.

We still go to Konga’s store for rice

The bulldozer messed it up

and sardines and nails for the coffin.

while making the feeder road into the mountains to

reach the hearts of the farmers. Still only a handful go to mass on Sundays.

The farmers come down every Sunday In the church the men talk, sleep; the children play.

to sell their agony and their sweat for The priest is sad.

a few pesos, lose in the cockpit or get drunk on the Last night the storm came and blew away

way home.
the cornflowers.

A steel bridge named after the congressman’s wife

now spans the gray river where Tasyo, The cornfields are full of cries.

the old goat had split the skin of our young lizards Your cousin, Julia, has just become a whore.

to make us a man many years ago. She liked good clothes, good food, big money.

The long blue hills where we That’s why she became a whore.

used to shoot birds with slingshot or spend the Now our hometown has seven whores.

summer afternoon.
Pete, old friend,

we loved so much doing nothing in the tall grass

every time we have a good reason to get drunk and
 WESTERN SAMAR (SAMAR) -
Catbalogan City
be carried home in a wheelbarrow,

Waray
we always remember you. Oh we miss
 Refers to the people of Samar
both Pete and Pedro. and Leyte.

 Language spoken by the people.

Remember us to your American wife,
 People of Samar are called
you lucky bastard. I Samareños.

 People of Leyte as Leyteños.

slaw, your cock-eyed

 The bridge that connects Leyte

uncle, now calls himself Stanley and Samar is Sn. Juanico Bridge.

after he began wearing the clothes you sent him last

 History reveals that Waray had
their own system of writing, art,
Christmas.
science, and technology even
before the coming of Spaniards.
P.S. Tasyo, the old goat,

 The first conquistador who

sends your lizard his warmest congratulations. landed in Leyte was Magellan
next by Villalobos then Legaspi.
Letter to Pedro
 1569 – Jesuits started missionary
works. Establishes parishes in
different places.
Region 8: Eastern visayas
 1768 – Jesuits’ parishes were
PROVINCES & CAPITAL ceded by the Franciscans and
 BILIRAN - Naval     Augustinians.

 EASTERN SAMAR - Borongan  The Waray were replete with

City    Muslim raids. They resisted
Spanish levies and forced labor.
 LEYTE - Tacloban City
 1625 – The revolt expressed
 NORTHERN SAMAR - because they desire to return
Catarman     they traditional religious roots.

 SOUTHERN LEYTE - Maasin  1649 – Rebellion spread when

City Spanish forced Samareños and
 Leyteños to work in the shipyard
of Cavite.
 When General Lukban arrived in
Catbalogan, Waray joined forces
with the expeditionary troops
from Luzon.
 Samar became the hottest spot
of the revolution. His notable
victory was the massacre in an
American camp of Balangiga.
 When Gen. Jake Smith took
under control he ordered “KILL
AND BURN” scorched – earth
policy.
 They had slain the whole
villagers, turning Samar as
“howling wilderness”
 He ordered that all Filipinos
should be treated as enemies
except those who collaborated
with them and who were 10yrs
old below.
 Later, hostilities declined and the
Samareños and Leyteños were
making peace with the
Americans.
 Some revolutionist went to the
mountains and combined forces
with the Pulahan whose
members believe in anting –
anting.
 During the Commonwealth
period, Baker B. Sherman, first
superintendent of Samar and
Leyte reintroduced formal
schooling.
 World War II, civilian supported
the military in arm resistance but
the capture of Gen. Wainwright
dictated Col. Theous Cornell of
the district of Samar and Leyte to
surrender his troops.
 The Japanese language forces
landed in Leyte on May 25, 1942.
 The forces were organized to
combat with the Japanese. After
Gen. Douglas MC Arthur landed
in Leyte on Oct. 20, 1944.
 After the war, food production
and education were the first
priorities of Commonwealth
government.
 Pre – Spanish Waray society was
divided into three classes:
Nobles, Timawa, and slaves.
 The class standing was acquired
not only by blood but also the
qualities one possessed.
 They believe in many gods: one
for home, for farm, and for seas,
rivers and lakes. They called
these gods diwata.
 Magnificence
By Estrella D. Alfon
THE MAGNIFICENCE
Estrella D. Alfon
 her head and said, if you want to bother
There was nothing to fear, for the yourself. And the thing rested there, and the
man was always so gentle, so kind. At night man came in the evenings therefore, and he
when the little girl and her brother were helped solve fractions for the boy, and write
bathed in the light of the big shaded bulb correct phrases in language for the little girl.
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
In those days, the rage was for
for a while just beyond the pool of light, his
pencils. School children always have rages
feet in the circle of illumination, the rest of
going at one time or another. Sometimes for
him in shadow. The little girl and her brother
paper butterflies that are held on sticks, and
would look up at him where they sat at the
whirl in the wind. The Japanese bazaars
big table, their eyes bright in the bright light,
promoted a rage for those. Sometimes it is
and watch him come fully into the light, but
for little lead toys found in the folded waffles
voice soft, his manner slow. He would smell
that Japanese confection-makers had such
very faintly of sweat and pomade, but the
light hands with. At this particular time, it
children didn’t mind although they did
was for pencils. Pencils big but light in
notice, for they waited for him every evening
circumference not smaller than a man’s
as they sat at their lessons like this. He’d
thumb. They were unwieldy in a child’s
throw his visored cap on the table, and it
hands, but in all schools then, where
would fall down with a soft plop, then he’d
Japanese bazaars clustered there were all
nod his head to say one was right, or shake
colors of these pencils selling for very low,
it to say one was wrong.
but unattainable to a child budgeted at a
baon of a centavo a day. They were all five
centavos each, and one pencil was not at all
It was not always that he came. what one had ambitions for. In rages, one
They could remember perhaps two weeks kept a collection. Four or five pencils, of
when he remarked to their mother that he different colors, to tie with strings near the
had never seen two children looking so eraser end, to dangle from one’s book-
smart. The praise had made their mother basket, to arouse the envy of the other
look over them as they stood around children who probably possessed less.
listening to the goings-on at the meeting of
the neighborhood association, of which their
mother was president. Two children, one a
Add to the man’s gentleness and his
girl of seven, and a boy of eight. They were
kindness in knowing a child’s desires, his
both very tall for their age, and their legs
promise that he would give each of them not
were the long gangly legs of fine spirited
one pencil but two. And for the little girl who
colts. Their mother saw them with eyes that
he said was very bright and deserved more,
held pride, and then to partly gloss over the
who would get the biggest pencil he could
maternal gloating she exhibited, she said to
find.
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
 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 two pencils, one green, and
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 promise 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 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 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 you
will 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 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 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 frightened, 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 as 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 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 women
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.
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.

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.
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