Module Lesson III- Our People's Story: A Re/reading of Philippine Literature

What is Philippine Literature?

 A product, a reflection of and reaction to the period, place and people who produced it. (Balabar, et
al., 1989, p.5)
 Philippine literature is the body of works, both oral and written, that Filipinos whether native,
naturalized or foreign born, have created about the experience of people living in or relating to
Philippine Society. It is composed or written in one of the Philippine languages, in Spanish, in
English and in Chinese as well.
 May be produced in the capital city of Manila and in the different urban centers and rural outputs,
even in foreign lands where descendants of Filipino migrants use English or any of the languages
of the Philippines to create works that tell about their lives and aspirations.
 A collection of texts, both oral and written, whether published as books, serialized in periodicals,
recorded in tapes, mimeographed in loose sheets, etched on bamboo, chanted, at home or recited
around a fire, which are created by Filipinos of all ages and stock, of different languages both local
and foreign (including the Fil-Ams and OFW writings and literatures around the globe), in forms
indigeneous or borrowed as adapted which portray the experiences of Filipinos. (CCP
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Philippine Arts, vol. 9)

Reasons for Studying Philippine Literatures

1. To appreciate our literary heritage;

2. For us to realize our literary limitations conditioned by certain historical factors so we can take steps to
overcome them;
3. To understand that we have a great and noble tradition which can served as means to assimilate other
cultures and;
4. To show that as Filipinos who truly love and take pride in our own culture, we have to manifest our deep
concern for our own literature and this we can do by studying the literatures of our country.

Timelines in Philippine Literatures

TIMELINES IN PHILIPPINE LITERATURES: SOME HIGHLIGHTS

Kahayon, et al., (1989, p.5) describe the following features of Philippine literatures written in
English:
1. Philippine literatures in english is phenomenological since the inception of english in our culture;
2. Philippine literatures is about four hundred years old. Timelines may not be necessary to the study of
literature, but since literature and history are inescapably related it has become facilitative to map up
system which will aid us in delineating certain time boundaries. In addition, Balabar, et al., (1989) posits
that "Philippine literature is as old as its country s history.

The following are the timelines in Philippine literatures: for purposes of discussion:

1. Pre-Colonial Period ( B.C. to 1564)

a. The longest period in Philippine literatures.
b. The literary outputs of this period cannot be called substantial because much of it was oral (i.e.
tales, songs, riddles and proverbs).
c. Riddles- gives an enigma or puzzle
d. Proverbs - wise saying or "salawikain
e. Songs were also very much part of pre-colonial literature and the people's daily life.
f. Mimetic dances often accompanied these songs and rituals and were the precursor of the drama
form.
g. In prose, pre-colonial literature had myths, tales, fables, legends, and fantastic stories.
 h. The most significant and the longest form of pre-colonial poetry was the folk epic (narratives of
sustained length based on oral tradition, revolving around supernatural events or heroic deeds, in
the form of verse, which is either chanted or sung, with a certain seriousness of purpose,
embodying o validating the beliefs, customs, ideals or life - values of the people).
i. Popular epics: Biag ni Lam-Ang (Ilocos Region), Hinilawod (Panay Island), and Bantugan and
Indarapatra at Sulaymnan (Maguindanao)

2. The Spanish Regime (1565-1863)

The literary scene during this era was focused on religious themes due to the Christianization of
the Philippines by the Spaniards.
a. Took on a Religious Character
 Christianization of the Philippines
 Introduced the first printing press
 Doctrina Christiana - the first published book (1593)
b. Literary Output
 Catechisms
 Confession Manuals
 Grammar Books
 Dictionaries
c. Poems in Spanish and Tagalog were written by "Ladinos" who were well- versed in both languages.
 Pasyon-the most popular form of religious literature
 A long time narrative poem about the passion and death of Christ.
 Ang Mahal na Pasyon ni Jesu Cristong Panginoon Natin – Gaspar Aquilino de Belen's well known
pasyon.
 Sinakulo/ Cenaculo
 A dramatization of the pasyon
 A play on the passion and death of Christ
 Performed during the Holy week
 Two Popular Narrative Poems
i. Awit
. ii. Korido
o Sung or chanted
o Florante at Laura - Most Famous Awit
 Other Literary Types
i. Duplo" and "Karagatan"
ii. Komedya - most popular/drama form
 Prose
 Pagsusulatan ng Dalawang Binibini na si Urbana at Feliza by Marcelo de Castro

3. The Nationalistic Period (1864-1896)

a. The last of the 19th century saw a new breed of writers.
b. If the religion was the thematic focus during the Spanish Era, a strong feeling of nationalism
was the main agenda of this literary period.
c. The period is divided into the Propaganda and the Revolution. (Rizal, Lopez Jaena & Del
Pilar)
d. At the close of the 19th century the revolutionist took over and there was a shift not only in
language (from Spanish to Tagalog) but in the audience or readers from the "intelligentsia" to the
masses. (Balabar, 1989, p.25)
e. Bonifacio, Jacinto and Mabini were the prominent revolutionary writers.
f. This period was truly significant because it produced a literature that was realistic and truly
Filipino. (Balabar, 1989, p.26)
4 The United States Colonial Rule (1910-1930, 1920-1945)

a. Literature (in three languages) flourished

i. Spanish, English, Filipino
Reading, writing, speaking
b. May be divided into two periods:
i.. The Period of Apprenticeship
- Jose Garcia Villa - Paz Marquez Bernitez
"Footnote to Youth" "Dead Stars"
- Zoilo Galang - Paz Latorena
"Child of Sorrow "The Small Key"

ii. The Period of Emergence

- Before the war and the Japanese Occupation
- Noted Short Story writers
 Manuel E. Arguilla
 Arturo Rotor
 N.V.M. Gonzales
 Francisco Arcellana
 Bienvenido N. Santos

5. The Japanese Occupation (1942-1944)

a. This literary period broke away from tradition especially among the tagalog poets. Instead of
writing in the Balagtas tradition (rhetorical, verbose, figurative) poets wrote in simple language and
free verse.
b. There was a bountiful harvest in poetry, fiction and in the fields of drama and essay. (Balabar,
1989, p.27)
c. Broke away from tradition (war years)
 Rhetorical
 Verbose
 Figurative
(Balagtas Tradition)
d. Poets wrote in simple language and free verse (Ako ang Daigdig by Alejandro Abadula)
 Portray Filipino Life and Culture: Short story
 Flowering of Tagalog Short Poetry
 Palanca Awards/National Awards laurnched

6. The Contemporary Period (1960-1986)

a. Upheavals in Nation's History
- First quarter Storm of the Seventies
b. Martial Law Years
c. Assassination of Ninoy Aquino
d. A merging of the three traditions
 Oral Lore - Ethnic Tradition
 Spanish Tradition
 American Colonial tradition
e. Literary Expressions
 Give responses to the historical and political force that have shaped Philippine society
since the Pacific war.
7. Post Edsa Literature (1986____)
a. Lumbera and Lumbera (2005 pp.381-384) explain that the character of the Philippine literary
scene after "EDSA" maybe pinpointed by referring to the theories that inform literary production; to
the products issuing from the publishers; to the dominant concerns demonstrated by the writer s
output and to the direction towards which literary studies are tending
b. There is in the academe an emerging critical orientation that draws its concerns and insights
from literary theorizing current in England and the United States.
c. Post- EDSA publishing has been marked by adventurousness, a willingness to gamble on
"non-traditional" projects.
d. The fourth and final characteristic of post EDSA writing is the developing thrust towards the
retrieval and the recuperation of writing in Philippine languages other than Tagalog.
Today, Philippine literature may thus be classified into: (Ordonez, 2001 p. 36)
 The residual, a good part of which is oral and regional, but remaining in the margins
simply because the center of writing and publishing is in Metro Manila.
 The dominant language, largely in English and Tagalog-based Filipino; and
 The emergent, produced by those in the periphery, - the marginalized sectors, including
workers, peasants, urban poor, women, gays, lesbians and ethnic groups.
Sometimes residual oral literature such as komposo in Negros, solidom-ay in Cordillera,
ismayling in Samar and baliling in Mindanao are used to convey contemporary messages of struggle and
commitment
and are thus emergent.
Today, it is quite common to have Filipino writers published abroad -in the original English
translation if written in the local language. These include N.V.M. Gonzales, F. Sionil Jose, Ninotchka
Rosca, Jessica Hegedorn, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Epifiano San Juan Jr., Wilfredo Nolledo among
others.

21st Century Philippine Literature (Isagani Cruz, Ph.D.)

1. The proposed curriculum for Senior High School (SHS) contains two literature subjects- "21st Century
Literatures of the World" and "21st Century Literatures from the (Philippine) Regions." (It has been
suggested Arts that from the Regions.")

2. These are derived from the two literature subjects in the old General Education Curriculum (GEC),
namely, "Literatures of the World" and “Literatures of the Philippines." In the new GEC, these two literature
subjects are no longer included, because the new core subjects are all interdisciplinary rather then
disciplinal.

3. The two subjects in SHS are disciplinal. They are meant to ensure that all Filipino high school graduates
have a good understanding of what is happening today in the field of literature, and by extension, in the
arts.

4. Why 21st century only? Simply because SHS students were all born in or just before the 21st century.
This century is their century. For them, the 20th century is what the 19th century is to us teachers.

5. There is also another reason. Just as the British writer Virginia Woolf said of the turn of the 20th century,
namely, that "on or about December 1910 human character changed," something major happened to
literature on or about December 2000.

6. C21: Centre for Research in Twenty-first Century Writings, based in the University of Brighton, puts it
succinctly: "The first decade of the new millennium witnessed a range of exciting developments in
contemporary writings in English, from innovations in recognised forms such as the novel, poem, play and
short story to developments in digital writings, creative writings and genres. Alongside these developments,
the publishing industry also changed, with technological advances giving rise to the dawn of the eBook and
corporate sponsorship 1gniting debates about the usefulness of literary prizes and festivals."

7. Just think of the most recent literary texts done in the Philippines. We have "textula," a poetry genre
mastered by rrank Rivera: entire poems are written and read on mobile phones. Graphic novels are
becoming as respectable as prose novels among literary critics. Poems meant to be recited in front of large
audiences have become more fashionable than poems meant to be read silently by a single reader
(fulfilling one of Cirilo Bautista's prophecies about the future of poetry, by the way).

8. Elsewhere in the world, writers are doing things they did not do much until recently. Think of prose
novels being serialized on blogs, with readers suggesting to authors (and authors obediently accepting)
that the plot or the characters should be changed. Think of hypertextual poems, where readers move from
one website to another because of embedded links in the words, sometimes not returning to the original
pages at all. Think of enhanced eBooks, where readers are treated to audiovisual clips that not only
support the narrative in a novel, but actually are crucial to the development of plot and character. Think of
flash fiction, which has been brought to an extreme with six-word and even one-word short stories.

9. Of course, none of these forms of literature were born only in the 21st century. Hypertext, for example,
has been around for at least two decades.

10. Six-word short stories have been around for a long time. The best-known is Ernest Hemingway's six-
word story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Urban legend (which may actually be true) says
Hemingway called it his best work.

11. Pre-21st century writers like Margaret Atwood have written such stories. Atwood, for example, wrote
this: "Longed for him. Got him. Shit."

12. Neil Gaiman (perhaps the best example of a 20th century writer who has successfully transformed
himself into a 21st century writer) wrote this: "I’m dead. I've missed you. Kiss...?

13. There is a growing body of literary criticism on 21st century literature. There is, for example, an entire
journal devoted to it, "C21 Literature: Journal of 21 st Century Writing.”

14. There have been several professional conferences on the topic, such as "E-reading between the lines:
21st century literature, digital platforms and literacies" last July in Brighton. The paper titles reveal some of
the main trends in the emergent field: "Digital Theory on Literature Reading Lists, The Digitisation of
Reader Response, Star Texts: The Next Generation, The Book App, Digital Literatures: Digital
Democracies [or] Digital Threats?" The conference raised a practical question: "Should readers be given
the choice of both printed and electronic formats -or is the (printed) book set to become the vinyl of the
twenty-first century?"

15. In our country, graphic novels such as Ferdinand Benedict G. Tan and Jonathan A. Baldisimo's "Trese
5: Midnight Tribunal" and Carlo Vergara's "Zsazsa Zaturnnah sa Kalakhang Maynila 1'" are challenging the
traditional definition of fiction. Even more in-your-face is Alan Navarra's "Ang Panlimang Alas ay Nakabaon
sa lyong Dibdib, a literary text that defies classification into any of the traditional categories ot "poetry,
fiction, and drama." (Even if we added the genre-come-lately Creative Nonfiction, Navarra's work still does
not quite
fit in.)
16. Since curricular reform happens only every decade, the SHS curriculum will still be in place by the year
2022. By that year, the 20th century will no longer be in the memory of our students. We pre-digital
teachers of the two literature subjects must ensure that their frame of reference will be theirs and not ours.

Module IV- Kritisismo: Readings in Philippine Regional Literatures

1. Literary Map of Region I- Ilocos Region

Provinces Capital
Ilocos Norte - Laoag City
Ilocos Sur - Vigan City
La Union - San Fernando City
Pangasinan - Lingayen

2. Representative literary texts

2.1. Riddles
a. No sibibiag may-ayat
No matay maibibitin- tabako

b. Adda imbitin ko nga uging,

Tangtangaden ti ubbing- lumbay (duhat)

c. No bigat lussok,
No rabit takop- bintana

2.2 Folksongs
Ti Ayat Ti Meysa Nga Ubing
1. Ti ayat ti maysa nga ubing,
2. Nasamsam-it ngem hasmin
3. Kasla sabong nga apag-ukrad
4. Iti bulan ti Abril
5. Ti ayat ti maysa a lakay,
6. Aglalo no agkabaw,
7. Napait, napait, napait a makasubkar.
8. Anansa a tao lelong,
9. Agsapulka tay balo
10. A kapadpad ta ubanmo ken dayta tuppolmo
11. Ta bay-am a panunuten
12. Ti ayat ti maysa nga ubing
13. Aglalo, aglalo no addan makin-aywanen

PAMULINAWEN - Ilocano Song

1. Pamulinawen, pusok indenggamman

2. Toy umas-asug, agrayo ita sadiam.
3. Panunotem man, dika pagintultulngan
4. Toy agayat, agrayo y ita sadiam
(Repeat)

5. Issemmo diak kalipatan,

6. Toy nasudi unay a nagan,
7. Uray sadin ti ayan, lugar (sandinoman)
8. Awagakto nga awagan
9. (No malagipka), Pusok ti mabang-aran
(Repeat)

10. Pamulinawen, pusok indenggamman

11. Toy umas-asug, agrayo ita sadiam.
12. Panunotem man, dika pagintultulngan
13. Toy agayat, agrayo y ita sadiam
14. Toy agayat, agrayo y ita sadiam

2.3 Prose

BIAG NI LAM-ANG
Pedro Bucaneg

Pedro Bucaneg (March 1592- c. 1630) was a Filipino poet. Blind since birth, he
is the acknowledge author of the Ilocano epic Biag ni Lam-ang (Life of Lam-
ang). He is considered the “Father of Ilocano Literature.” A street inside the
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex in Pasay City, Philippines is
named in his honor.
His surname is lent to the Bucanegan, the Ilocano equivalent of the Balagtasan

Sa lambak ng Nalbuan sa baybayin ng Ilog Naguilian sa La Union ay may mag-asawang kilala sa

pangalang Don Juan at Namongan.
Nang malapit nang magsilang ng sanggol si Namongan, nilusob ng tribo ng Igorot ang nayon at pinatay
ang maraming tauhan ni Don Juan. Sa laki ng galit, nilusob naman ni Don Juan ang mga Igorot upang
ipaghiganti ang mga tauhan niya. Hindi na nakabalik si Don Juan sa kanyang nayon. Ang naging balita,
siya ay pinugutan ng ulo ng mga Igorot.
Isinilang ni Namongan ang kanyang anak. Ang sanggol ay nagsalita agad at siya na ang pumili ng
pangalang Lam-ang at siya na rin ang pumili ng kanyang magiging ninong.
Nang malaman ni Lam-ang ang masakit na nangyari sa kanyang ama, sumumpa siyang ipaghihiganti niya
ito. Sa gulang na siyam na buwan pa lamang, ay malakas, matipuno at malaking lalaki na siya. Ayaw man
siyang payagan ng kanyang ina upang hanapin ang bangkay ng kanyang ama, ay nagpilit din si Lam-ang
na makaalis.
Kasama niya sa pagtungo sa lupain ng mga Igorot ang isang mahiwagang tandang, ang tangabaran, at
mahiwagang aso. Baon rin niya ang kanyang talisman mula sa punong saging. Sa tulong ng kanyang
talisman ay madali niyang nalakbay ang mga kabundukan at kaparangan. Sa laki ng pagod ni Lam-ang,
siya ay nakatulog. Napangarap niya ang mga Igorot na pumatay sa kanyang ama na nagsisipagsayaw at
nililigiran ang pugot na ulo ng kanyang ama. Nagpatuloy si Lam-ang sa paglalakbay at narating ang pook
ng mga Igorot. Nakita niya ang ulo ni Don Juan na nasa sarukang, isang haliging kawayan.
Hinamon ni Lam-ang ang mga Igorot. Pinauwi ng mga Igorot si Lam-ang upang huwag siyang matulad sa
ginawa nila kay Don Juan. Sumigaw ng ubos lakas si Lam-ang at nayanig ang mga kabundukan. Ang tinig
niyang naghahamon ay narinig ng marami kaya’t dumating ang maraming Igorot at pinaulanan si Lam-ang
ng kanilang mga sibat. Hindi man lamang nasugatan si Lam-ang. Nang maubusan ng sibat ang mga Igorot
ay si Lam-ang naman ang kumilos. Hinugot niya ang mahaba niyang itak at para lamang siyang tumatabas
ng puno ng saging, na pinagpapatay niya ang mga nakalaban.
Umuwi si Lam-ang sa Nalbuan. Naligo siya sa Ilog Amburayan sa tulong ng mga dalaga ng tribu. Dahil sa
dungis na nanggaling kay Lam-ang, namatay ang mga isda sa Ilog Amburayan at nagsiahon ang mga igat
at alimasag sa pampang.
Matapos mamahinga ay gumayak na si Lam-ang patungo sa Kalanutian upang manligaw sa isang dilag na
nagngangalang Ines Kannoyan. Kasama ni Lam-ang ang kanyang mahiwagang tandang at mahiwagang
aso.
Sa daan patungo sa Kalanutian ay nakalaban niya ang higanteng si Sumarang. Pinahipan ni Lam-ang sa
hangin si Sumarang at ito ay sinalipadpad sa ikapitong bundok.
Sa tahanan nina Ines ay maraming tao. Hindi napansin si Lam-ang. Tumahol ang mahiwagang aso ni Lam-
ang. Nabuwal ang bahay. Tumilaok ang mahiwagang tandang. Muling tumayo ang bahay. Napansin si
Lam-ang.
Ipinagtapat ng tandang at aso ang kanilang layunin. Nais pakasalan ni Lam-ang si Ines. Hindi naman
tumutol ang mga magulang ni Ines kung magbibigay si Lam-ang ng panhik o bigay-kaya na kapantay ng
kayamanan nina Ines.
Nagpadala si Lam-ang ng dalawang barkong puno ng ginto at nasiyahan ang mga magulang ni Ines.
Si Ines at si Lam-ang ay ikinasal nang marangya at maringal sa simbahan. Pagkatapos ng kasalan, bilang
pagtupad sa kaugalian ng mga tao sa Kalanutian, kailangang manghuli si Lam-ang ng mga isdang rarang.
Nakikinikinita ni Lam-ang na may mangyayari sa kanya, na siya ay makakain ng pating na berkahan.
Ipinagbilin ni Lam-ang ang dapat gawin sakaling mangyayari ito.
Si Lam-ang ay sumisid na sa dagat. Nakain siya ng berkahan. Sinunod ni Ines ang bilin ni Lam-ang.
Ipinasisid niya ang mga buto ni Lam-ang. Tinipon ito at tinakpan ng saya ni Ines. Inikut-ikutan ng
mahiwagang tandang at mahiwagang aso. Tumilaok ang tandang at tumahol ang aso.
Walang anu-ano’y kumilos ang mga butong may takip na saya. Nagbangon si Lam-ang na parang bagong
gising sa mahimbing na pagkakatulog.
Nagyakap si Lam-ang at si Ines. Kanilang niyakap din ang aso at tandang. At namuhay silang maligaya sa
mahabang panahon.

I. Write 5 riddles (bugtong) and atleast 2 folksongs of your region/ place.

II. Write the English translation of the Ilocos Folksong “PAMULINAWEN.”

III. BIAG NI LAM-ANG

a. Identify the following elements of fiction:
1. Characters _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2. Setting _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3. Conflict _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
4. Point of View _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
5. Theme _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. Write the plot structure of the story.

Climax

Complication Denouement
 Exposition Resolution

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROUGHT HOME A WIFE
Manuel E. Arguilla

Manuel Estabilla Arguilla (Nagrebcan, Bauang 1910 – 1944) was an Ilokano writer in
English, patriot, and martyr. He is known for his widely anthologized short story
"How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife," the main story in the collection How
My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Short Stories, which won first
prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940. His stories "Midsummer" and
"Heat" were published in Tondo, Manila by the Prairie Schooner.

She stepped down from the carretela of Ca Celin with a quick, delicate grace. She was lovely. She was tall.
Shelooked up to my brother with a smile, and her forehead was on a level with his mouth.

"You are Baldo," she said and placed her hand lightly on my shoulder. Her nails were long, but they were
not
painted. She was fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom. And a small dimple appeared
momently
high on her right cheek.

"And this is Labang of whom I have heard so much." She held the wrist of one hand
with the other and looked at Labang, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud. He swallowed and
brought up to his mouth more cud and the sound of his insides was like a drum.

I laid a hand on Labang's massive neck and said to her: "You may scratch his forehead now."

She hesitated and I saw that her eyes were on the long, curving horns. But she came and touched
Labang's forehead with her long fingers, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud except that his big
eyes half closed. And by and by she was scratching his forehead very daintily.

My brother Leon put down the two trunks on the grassy side of the road. He paid Ca Celin twice the usual
fare from the station to the edge of Nagrebcan. Then he was standing beside us, and she turned to him
eagerly. I watched Ca Celin, where he stood in front of his horse, and he ran his fingers through its forelock
and could not keep his eyes away from her.

"Maria---" my brother Leon said.

He did not say Maring. He did not say Mayang. I knew then that he had always called her Maria and that to
us all she would be Maria; and in my mind I said 'Maria' and it was a beautiful name.

"Yes, Noel."

Now where did she get that name? I pondered the matter quietly to myself, thinking Father might not like it.
But it was only the name of my brother Leon said backward and it sounded much better that way.

"There is Nagrebcan, Maria," my brother Leon said, gesturing widely toward the west.

She moved close to him and slipped her arm through his. And after a while she said quietly.

"You love Nagrebcan, don't you, Noel?"

Ca Celin drove away hi-yi-ing to his horse loudly. At the bend of the camino real where the big duhat tree
grew, he rattled the handle of his braided rattan whip against the spokes of the wheel.

We stood alone on the roadside.

The sun was in our eyes, for it was dipping into the bright sea. The sky was wide and deep and very blue
above us: but along the saw-tooth rim of the Katayaghan hills to the southwest flamed huge masses of
clouds. Before us the fields swam in a golden haze through which floated big purple and red and yellow
bubbles when I looked at the sinking sun. Labang's white coat, which I had wshed and brushed that
morning with coconut husk, glistened like beaten cotton under the lamplight and his horns appeared tipped
with fire. He faced the sun and from his mouth came a call so loud and vibrant that the earth seemed to
tremble underfoot. And far away in the middle of the field a cow lowed softly in answer.

"Hitch him to the cart, Baldo," my brother Leon said, laughing, and she laughed with him a big uncertainly,
and I saw that he had put his arm around her shoulders.

"Why does he make that sound?" she asked. "I have never heard the like of it."

"There is not another like it," my brother Leon said. "I have yet to hear another bull call like Labang. In all
the
world there is no other bull like him."

She was smiling at him, and I stopped in the act of tying the sinta across Labang's neck to the opposite end
of the yoke, because her teeth were very white, her eyes were so full of laughter, and there was the small
dimple high up on her right cheek.

"If you continue to talk about him like that, either I shall fall in love with him or become greatly jealous."

My brother Leon laughed and she laughed and they looked at each other and it seemed to me there was a
world of laughter between them and in them. I climbed into the cart over the wheel and Labang would have
bolted, for he was always like that, but I kept a firm hold on his rope. He was restless and would not stand
still, so that my brother Leon had to say "Labang" several times. When he was quiet again, my brother
Leon lifted the trunks into the cart, placing the smaller on top.
She looked down once at her high-heeled shoes, then she gave her left hand to my brother Leon, placed a
foot on the hub of the wheel, and in one breath she had swung up into the cart. Oh, the fragrance of her.
But Labang was fairly dancing with impatience and it was all I could do to keep him from running away.

"Give me the rope, Baldo," my brother Leon said. "Maria, sit down on the hay and hold on to anything."
Then
he put a foot on the left shaft and that instand labang leaped forward. My brother Leon laughed as he drew
himself up to the top of the side of the cart and made the slack of the rope hiss above the back of labang.
The wind whistled against my cheeks and the rattling of the wheels on the pebbly road echoed in my ears.

She sat up straight on the bottom of the cart, legs bent togther to one side, her skirts spread over them so
that only the toes and heels of her shoes were visible. her eyes were on my brother Leon's back; I saw the
wind on her hair.

When Labang slowed down, my brother Leon handed to me the rope. I knelt on the straw inside the cart
and pulled on the rope until Labang was merely shuffling along, then I made him turn around.

"What is it you have forgotten now, Baldo?" my brother Leon said.

I did not say anything but tickled with my fingers the rump of Labang; and away we went---back to where I
had unhitched and waited for them. The sun had sunk and down from the wooded sides of the Katayaghan
hills shadows were stealing into the fields. High up overhead the sky burned with many slow fires.

When I sent Labang down the deep cut that would take us to the dry bed of the Waig which could be used
as a path to our place during the dry season, my brother Leon laid a hand on my shoulder and said sternly:

"Who told you to drive through the fields tonight?"

His hand was heavy on my shoulder, but I did not look at him or utter a word until we were on the rocky
bottom of the Waig.

"Baldo, you fool, answer me before I lay the rope of Labang on you. Why do you follow the Wait instead of
the camino real?"

His fingers bit into my shoulder.

"Father, he told me to follow the Waig tonight, Manong." Swiftly, his hand fell away from my shoulder and
he reached for the rope of Labang. Then my brother Leon laughed, and he sat back, and laughing still, he
said:
"And I suppose Father also told you to hitch Labang to the cart and meet us with him instead of with
Castano
and the calesa."

Without waiting for me to answer, he turned to her and said, "Maria, why do you think Father should do
that,
now?" He laughed and added, "Have you ever seen so many stars before?"

I looked back and they were sitting side by side, leaning against the trunks, hands clasped across knees.
Seemingly, but a man's height above the tops of the steep banks of the Wait, hung the stars. But in the
deep gorge the shadows had fallen heavily, and even the white of Labang's coat was merely a dim, grayish
blur. Crickets chirped from their homes in the cracks in the banks. The thick, unpleasant smell of dangla
bushes and cooling sun-heated earth mingled with the clean, sharp scent of arrais roots exposed to the
night air and of the hay inside the cart.

"Look, Noel, yonder is our star!" Deep surprise and gladness were in her voice. Very low in the west,
almost
touching the ragged edge of the bank, was the star, the biggest and brightest in the sky.

"I have been looking at it," my brother Leon said. "Do you remember how I would tell you that when you
want
to see stars you must come to Nagrebcan?"

"Yes, Noel," she said. "Look at it," she murmured, half to herself. "It is so many times bigger and brighter
than it was at Ermita beach."

"The air here is clean, free of dust and smoke."

"So it is, Noel," she said, drawing a long breath.

"Making fun of me, Maria?"

She laughed then and they laughed together and she took my brother Leon's hand and put it against her
face.

I stopped Labang, climbed down, and lighted the lantern that hung from the cart between the wheels.

"Good boy, Baldo," my brother Leon said as I climbed back into the cart, and my heart sant.

Now the shadows took fright and did not crowd so near. Clumps of andadasi and arrais flashed into view
and quickly disappeared as we passed by. Ahead, the elongated shadow of Labang bobbled up and down
and swayed drunkenly from side to side, for the lantern rocked jerkily with the cart.

"Have we far to go yet, Noel?" she asked.

"Ask Baldo," my brother Leon said, "we have been neglecting him."

"I am asking you, Baldo," she said.

Without looking back, I answered, picking my words slowly:

"Soon we will get out of the Wait and pass into the fields. After the fields is home---Manong."

"So near already."

I did not say anything more because I did not know what to make of the tone of her voice as she said her
last words. All the laughter seemed to have gone out of her. I waited for my brother Leon to say something,
but he was not saying anything. Suddenly he broke out into song and the song was 'Sky Sown with Stars'---
the same that he and Father sang when we cut hay in the fields at night before he went away to study. He
must have taught her the song because she joined him, and her voice flowed into his like a gentle stream
meeting a stronger one. And each time the wheels encountered a big rock, her voice would catch in her
throat, but my brother Leon would sing on, until, laughing softly, she would join him again.
Then we were climbing out into the fields, and through the spokes of the wheels the light of the lantern
mocked the shadows. Labang quickened his steps. The jolting became more frequent and painful as we
crossed the low dikes.

"But it is so very wide here," she said. The light of the stars broke and scattered the darkness so that one
could see far on every side, though indistinctly.

"You miss the houses, and the cars, and the people and the noise, don't you?" My brother Leon stopped
singing.

"Yes, but in a different way. I am glad they are not here."

With difficulty I turned Labang to the left, for he wanted to go straight on. He was breathing hard, but I knew
he was more thirsty than tired. In a little while we drope up the grassy side onto the camino real. "---you
see," my brother Leon was explaining, "the camino real curves around the foot of the Katayaghan hills and
passes by our house. We drove through the fields because---but I'll be asking Father as soon as we get
home."

"Noel," she said.

"Yes, Maria."

"I am afraid. He may not like me."

"Does that worry you still, Maria?" my brother Leon said. "From the way you talk, he might be an ogre, for
all
the world. Except when his leg that was wounded in the Revolution is troubling him, Father is the mildest-
tempered, gentlest man I know."

We came to the house of Lacay Julian and I spoke to Labang loudly, but Moning did not come to the
window, so I surmised she must be eating with the rest of her family. And I thought of the food being made
ready at home and my mouth watered. We met the twins, Urong and Celin, and I said "Hoy!" calling them
by name. And they shouted back and asked if my brother Leon and his wife were with me. And my brother
Leon shouted to them and then told me to make Labang run; their answers were lost in the noise of the
wheels.

I stopped labang on the road before our house and would have gotten down but my brother Leon took the
rope and told me to stay in the cart. He turned Labang into the open gate and we dashed into our yard. I
thought we would crash into the camachile tree, but my brother Leon reined in Labang in time. There was
light downstairs in the kitchen, and Mother stood in the doorway, and I could see her smiling shyly. My
brother Leon was helping Maria over the wheel. The first words that fell from his lips after he had kissed
Mother's hand were:

"Father... where is he?"

"He is in his room upstairs," Mother said, her face becoming serious. "His leg is bothering him again."

I did not hear anything more because I had to go back to the cart to unhitch Labang. But I hardly tied him
under the barn when I heard Father calling me. I met my brother Leon going to bring up the trunks. As I
passed through the kitchen, there were Mother and my sister Aurelia and Maria and it seemed to me they
were crying, all of them.

There was no light in Father's room. There was no movement. He sat in the big armchair by the western
window, and a star shone directly through it. He was smoking, but he removed the roll of tobacco from his
mouth when he saw me. He laid it carefully on the windowsill before speaking.

"Did you meet anybody on the way?" he asked.

"No, Father," I said. "Nobody passes through the Waig at night."

He reached for his roll of tobacco and hithced himself up in the chair.

"She is very beautiful, Father."

"Was she afraid of Labang?" My father had not raised his voice, but the room seemed to resound with it.
And again I saw her eyes on the long curving horns and the arm of my brother Leon around her shoulders.

"No, Father, she was not afraid."

"On the way---"

"She looked at the stars, Father. And Manong Leon sang."

"What did he sing?"

"---Sky Sown with Stars... She sang with him."

He was silent again. I could hear the low voices of Mother and my sister Aurelia downstairs. There was also
the voice of my brother Leon, and I thought that Father's voice must have been like it when Father was
young. He had laid the roll of tobacco on the windowsill once more. I watched the smoke waver faintly
upward from the lighted end and vanish slowly into the night outside.

The door opened and my brother Leon and Maria came in.

"Have you watered Labang?" Father spoke to me.

I told him that Labang was resting yet under the barn.

"It is time you watered him, my son," my father said.

I looked at Maria and she was lovely. She was tall. Beside my brother Leon, she was tall and very still.
Then I went out, and in the darkened hall the fragrance of her was like a morning when papayas are in
bloom.
HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROUGHT HOME A WIFE

a. Identify the following elements of fiction:

1. Characters _____________________________________________________________
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2. Setting _____________________________________________________________
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3. Conflict _____________________________________________________________
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4. Point of View _____________________________________________________________
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5. Theme _____________________________________________________________
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b. Write the plot structure of the story.

Climax

Complication Denouement

Exposition Resolution

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