RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

Panitikan ng Digmaan at Paglaya

(Japanese Occupation)

Philippine Literature

Submitted by:
Barrun, Naisa Marrie B.
Catubigan Micaella N.
Santos, Reynante Jhey C
Sunio, Adcelbyen L.
Vercio, Filipina T.
Vero, Danice S.

Submitted to:
Prof. Elisa Ruales

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Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

Pangalan: Vero, Danice S. Section: CBET-19-501E

PANITIKAN NG DIGMAAN AT PAGLAYA (JAPANESE OCCUPATION)

Ang Pananakop ng mga Hapones ay ang panahon sa Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas mula 1942
hanggang 1945 noong Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig kung kailan nilusob ng Imperyo ng Hapon
ang Pilipinas na dating nasa ilalim ng kapangyarihan ng Estados Unidos.

I. Mga Mahahalagang Pangyayari Noong Pananakop ng mga Hapon

● Disyembre 8, 1941 - Pagsalakay ng mga Hapon sa Pearl Harbor

o Noong Disyembre 8, 1941 ay sinalakay ng puwersang Hapon ang Pearl Harbor sa
Hawaii. Sunod-sunod na sinalakay ng mga Hapon ang mga base ng mga Amerikano
sa Davao, Cavite, Baguio, Clark Field at Zambales.
● Disyembre 10, 1941 – Pagdating ng mga Hapon
o Narating ng mga Hapon ang Aparri, Cagayan at Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Dumaong naman
ang malaking puwersa ng mga Hapon sa Lingayen, Pangasinan. Unti-unting nasakop
ng mga Hapon ang buong Pilipinas.
● Disyembre 26, 1941- Idineklara ang Maynila bilang Open City
o Upang iligtas sa trahedya ng digmaan ang Maynila, idineklara ni Hen, McArthur ito
bilang Open City noong Disyembre 26, 1941. Iniutos din nito na alisin ang mga
kagamitang pandigma sa Maynila at ilipat sa Bataan.
o War Plan Orange. Ipinag-utos ni Hen. McArthur ang pagsasanib puwersa ng mga
Pilipino at Amerikano sa Bataan at Corregidor. Kasama sa mga inilikas ang mga
pinuno ng pamahalaang Komonwelt.
● Enero 3, 1942 – Japanese Military Administration
o Itinatag ng mga Hapon ang Japanese Military Administration. Ito ay pinamumunuan ni
Heneral Masaharu Homma bilang Direktor Heneral.
● Enero 23, 1942 – Central Administrative Organization (CAO)
o Hinirang ng mga hapon si Jorge B. Vargas bilang pangulo ng Executive Commision at
itinatag ng mga Hapon ang Central Administrative Organization (CAO) bilang kapalit
ng pamahalaang Komonwelt.
● Pebrero 20, 1942 – Paglikas ni Pangulong Quezon

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o Sa payo ni Pangulong Roosevelt, tumakas si Pangulong Quezon at kanyang pamilya

maging gabinete mula Corregidor papuntang Australia. Iniwan niya ang pamamahala
ng Pilipinas kay Jose Abad Santos. Mula Australia, dinala sila sa Washington D.C.
● Marso 11, 1942 – Pagtakas ni Heneral McArthur
o Labag man sa kanyang kalooban, nilisan ni Heneral McArthur ang Corregidor
papuntang Australia. Humalili sa kanyang bilang pinuno si Heneral Jonathan
Wainwright. Pagdating sa Australia, ipinahayag niya ang makasaysayang pangakong
“I shall return”.
● Abril 9, 1942 – Pagsuko ng Bataan
o Dahil sa matinding hirap at gutom, isinuko ni Heneral Edward P. King, kumander ng
USAFFE sa Bataan, ang mga puwersa nito kay Heneral Masaharu Homma.
o Ang mga sumukong sundalo ay nagmartsa sa loob ng maraming araw ng walang
pagkain atinumin mula Mariveles, Bataan hanggang San Fernando, Pampanga. Mula
dito, sila ay isinakay sa mga tren at dinala sa Camp O’ Donnel sa Capas Tarlac.
• Mayo 6, 1942 – Pagsuko ng Corregidor
o Isinuko ni Heneral Jonathan Wainwright ang Corregidor sa mga Hapon. Ipinag-utos
niya rin ang pagsuko sa lahat ng puwersa ng USAFFE sa buong Pilipinas.
o Matapos sumuko ang Corregidor, napasailalim ang Pilipinas sa mga bagong
mananakop. Sinikap ng mga Pilipino na sumuko ang Corregidor mamuhay ng maayos
bagamat may banta ng panganib. Ito ang simula ng pananakop ng Hapon na tumagal
hanggang sa bumalik ang mga Amerikano noong 1945.
• Hunyo 11, 1942 – Military Order No.2
o Sa bisa ng Military Order No. 2, nilikha ang Commission of Education, Health and
Public Welfare. Ilan sa mga layunin nito ang pagsupil sa mga kaisipang kanluranin,
pagtuturo ng wikang Niponggo at pagtaguyod ng pagmamahal sa paggawa.
● Disyembre 8, 1942 - Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
o Pinangakuan ng mga Hapones ang mga Pilipino na bibigyan ng kalayaan kung ito ay
makikiisa sa patakaran nilang Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Binuwag ang
mga partido pulitikal at itinatag ang Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas
(KALIBAPI).
• Oktubre 14, 1943 - Ikalawang Republika ng Pilipinas. Itinatag ang Preparatory Commission
for Philippine Independence upang bumuo ng bagong Saligang Batas. Sa bisa nito, itinatag
ang Ikalawang Republika ng Pilipinas (Puppet Government) sa pamumuno ni Jose P. Laurel
bilang pangulo.

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IBA PANG KAGANAPANG PAMPULITIKAL AT PANLIPUNAN

● Kilusang Gerilya. Nabuhay sa takot ang mga Pilipino. Laganap sa buong kapuluan ang
walang awang pagpaparusa at pagpatay sa mga Pilipino. Naging instrumento ng kalupitan ng
mga Hapones ang mga Kempeitai (pulis-militar) at MAKAPILI (Pilipinong maka-Hapon). .
Dahil sa kalupitan ng mga Hapones, maraming mga Pilipino ang sumali sa kilusang gerilya.
Ito ay itinatag ng mga dating sundalo na Pilipino at Amerikano. Ang iba sa kanila ay itinatag
ng mga dating pinuno ng bayan o lalawigan.
Ang pinakamalaking pangkat ng mga gerilya ay ang HUKBALAHAP (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban
sa Hapon) na itinatag ni Luis Taruc. Ito ay binubuo ng mga magsasaka mula sa Giitna at
Katimugang Luzon.
● Suliraning Pangkabuhayan. Nagkaroon ng kakulangan sa pagkain dahil sa pagkasira ng
mga taniman at sakahan. Ang presyo ng mga bilihin ay nagsitaasan. Upang mabigyang lunas
ang kakulangan ng pagkain,binuo ng pamahalaan ang Philippine Commodities Distribution
Control upang mag-rasyon ng mga pagkain. Nagtayo rin ito ng mga Bigasang Bayan (BIBA)
upang maging maayos ang pagbebenta ng bigas.

● Comfort Women. Maraming mga babae ang naging biktima ng mga panggagahasa ng mga
sundalong Hapones. Sila ay tinawag bilang mga comfort women. Noong una, ayaw aminin ng
pamahalaang Hapon ang gawaing ito, hanggang sa naglakas-loob na inihayag ni Maria Rosa
Henson (Lola Rosa) ang kaniyang karanasan noong 1992.
● Mickey Mouse Money. Ipinatupad ng mga Hapones ang paggamit ng mga bagong salaping
papel. Tinawag ito ng mga Pilipino bilang Mickey Mouse Money sapagkat halos wala itong
halaga. Ang isang salop ng bigas ay nagkakahalaga ng isang bayong ng pera.

Ang Liberasyon ng mga Pilipino Mula sa Hapon

Ang mga Plipino ay hindi naghintay lamang sa pagbabalik ng mga Amerikano upang sila ay
ligtas sa kuko ng mga Hapon. Hindi nila hinayaang mayurakan ang kanilang dangal nang walang
kalaban-laban. Sa malit na paraan, at kahít kulang sa sandata at kagamitan, isinulong nila ang
kanlang karapatan. Katulad ng panahon ng paglaban sa mga Kastila at Amerikano, ang mga sibilyan
ay nagbigay ng suporta sa mga kilusang nabanggit tinatago ang mga sugatan, ginagamot at
pinakakain ng palihim. Ginamit ng mga kababaihan ang kanilang kagandahan sa panlilinlang ng mga
Hapon, at ang mga kabataan ay naging tagapagdala ng mga armas at mensahe upang
maipagpatuloy ang lihim na operasyon ng mga kilusan.

Nang bumalik si Hen. Douglas MacArthur sa Pilipinas kasama ang mga hukbong
Amerikanong lulupig sa mga Hapon noong Enero 9, 1944, ang mga Pilipino'y hindi nanood lamang.

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Nagbigay ng dobleng lakas at tapang ang pagdating ng mga tropang Amerikano upang ang mga
Plipino ay makilahok sa kanilang liberasyon sa kamay ng mga Hapon. Habang sumusugod ang mga
Amerikano sa mga pampang at himpapawid, mula sa loob ng bansa ay itinataboy naman ng mga
gerilya at ng mga HUK ang mga Hapon sa labas ng mga lalawigan at bayan-bayan.

LAYUNIN NG PANANAKOP NG MGA HAPON

1. Lumalaki ang populasyon ng Hapon at kailangan ng mas malaking teritoryo. Pangalawa,

lumalaki ang kanilang produksyon at kinakailangang magkaroon ng pamilihan ang kanilang
mga kalakal. Pangatlo, ang bansang Hapon ay naghahanap ng makukuhanan ng mga likas
na yaman upang gamitin sa paggawa ng mga makabagong teknolohiya at mga kagamitang
pandigma.
2. Hadlangan ang mga Amerikano na gawing base-militar ang Pilipinas.
3. Pamunuan ang Asya at mapaalis ang mga Amerikano at Espanyol.

MGA SANGGUNIAN:

Japanese Occupation of the Philippines. (2020, January 11). Philippine History.

https://www.philippine-history.org/japanese-occupation.html

Lpt, L. G. G. A., MA. (2012, February 12). Panahon ng hapon. Slideshare.

https://www.slideshare.net/lanceabalos/panahon-ng-hapon

P. (2014, June 14). Philippines under Japanese puppet government. Slideshare.

https://www.slideshare.net/preyaleandrina/philippines-under-japanese-puppet-government

Palero, J. M. (2019, February 29). AP 6 Ang Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas. Scribb.
https://www.slideshare.net/jmpalero/ap-6-ang-pananakop-ng-mga-hapones-sa-pilipinas

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Name: Filipina T. Vercio Section: CBET-19-501E

Qualities of Produced Literature on Japanese Occupation (Katangian ng

Literatura sa Panahon ng Pananakop ng mga Hapon) Written Report

Nakapag-ambag ang mga dayuhang mananakop, Hapones, ng maganda sa

paglilimbag ng iba’t ibang uri ng pampanitikang Pilipino dahil mas yumabong ang mga
akdang naisulat at nagawa sa panahon na ito. Ilan sa mga katangian ng mga akda sa
Pilipinas noong Panahon ng Hapon ay:

1. Matimpi ang pagpapahayag ng paksa

2. Nagsasalaysay ng madudulang pangyayari
3. Walang balangkas ang kuwento
4. Ang paksa ay nauukol sa iba’t ibang karanasan sa buhay ng tao
5. Gumagamit ng mga payak na pangungusap kaya madaling maunawaan
Golden Age of Philippine Literature

Itinuring ring Gintong Panahon (Golden Age) ang panitikang pamPilipino sa panahon
na ito dahil sumibol ang kagalingan ng mga Pilipino sa paggawa ng mga akda. Dahil sa
mahigpit na ipinagbabawal ng mga Hapones ang pagsusulat ng mga akda sa wikang Ingles,
maraming Pilipinong manunulat ang nahikayat na sumulat ng kanilang mga sariling akda
dahil mas malaya nilang maipapahayag ang kanilang sarili, kaugalian, at mga paniniwala ng
mga Pilipino sa mga isuuslat nila kesa noong panahon ng Amerikano. Ito rin ang panahong
nagpataas sa uri ng mga pamumunang pampanitikan, mga sanaysay, at mga maikling
kuwento.

Themes:

1. Nasyonalismo
2. Buhay sa mga baryo
3. Relihiyon
4. Pag-ibig
5. Paniniwala
6. Sining
Literary Genres

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1. Haiku- uri ng tula na nagmula sa Japan na binubuo ng tatlong taludtod at labinpitong

pantig at nagtataglay ng talinghaga o malalalim na pananalita. Ang structure ay 5-7-
5. Ang mga kadalasang paksa rin nito ay tungkol sa kapaligiran.
Example:
Tutubi (Gonzalo K. Flores)

Hila mo’y tabak…

Ang bulaklak, nanginig!

Sa paglapit mo.

2. Tanaga- ito ay uri ng isang maikling tulang Tagalog. Binubuo ito ng apat na taludturan
na may pituhang pantig. Ang tanaga ay itinuturing na malayang tula at sagana sa
talinghaga. Ito ay may structure na 7-7-7-7 Syllabic verse, na may AABB rhyme
scheme. Ito ay kadalasang walang pamagat o titulo.
Example:
Totoong sinungaling,
At talagang malihim,
Pipi kung kausapin,
Walang kibo’y matabil,
Ang isa sa kaaway,
Na marami ang bilang,
Ang iyong pangilangan,
Ayan… katabi mo lang!
-(Ildefonso Santos)
3. Filipino Drama (Dula)- Uri ng panitikan kung saan mga totoong tao ang gumaganap.
Kadalasang itinatanghal sa mga teatro. Ito ay nahahati sa maraming yugto at ilang
tagpo. Ang halimbawa nito ay ang “Sino Ba Kayo” na isinulat ni Julian Balmaceda sa
wikang Ingles ngunit itrinanslate sa wikang Tagalog ni Francisco Rodrigo. Ito ay unang
itinanghal sa Metropolitan Theater sa Maynila noong Pebrero 20 1943.
REFERENCES:

Aniñon, M. (n.d.). Panahon ng Hapon. slideshare.

https://www.slideshare.net/margielynaninon/panahon-ng-hapon-65691176

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Armayan, C. (n.d.). PANITIKAN SA PANAHON NG HAPON. Prezi.Com.

https://prezi.com/vhghnrvha_lk/panitikan-sa-panahon-ng-hapon/

Cornejo, J. R. (n.d.). PANAHON NG HAPON. Scribd.

https://www.scribd.com/document/488355630/PANAHON-NG-HAPON

Palero, J. M. (n.d.). Filipino 8 Mga Akdang Lumaganap sa Panahon ng Hapones.

slideshare. https://www.slideshare.net/jmpalero/filipino-8-mga-akdang-lumaganap-sa-
panahon-ng-hapones

T. (2019, October 15). Ano ang Tanaga? TAGALOG LANG.

https://www.tagaloglang.com/ano-ang-tanaga/

T. (2021a, July 1). HAIKU. TAGALOG LANG. https://www.tagaloglang.com/haiku/

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Name: Reynante Jhey C. Santos Section: CBET-19-501E

Brief Background of the place

Itinuturing ito ng marami na gintong panahon ng maikling kuwento at ng dulang

Tagalog. Ang wikang Ingles nanakuhang maipasok ng mga Amerikano hanggang sa
kamalayan ng mga Pilipino ay ipinagbawal gamitin ng mga Hapones kung kayat ang
nagtamasa ng bunga ng pagbabawal na ito ay ang panitikang Pilipino sa wikang
Tagalog. Ang isang manunulat ay likas na manunulat, kayat nang ipagbawal ang
pasulat ng Ingles siya’y napilitang gumamit ng wikang Tagalog upang makapagsulat
lamang. Ang isang naging bunga nito ay ang paglitaw ng isang uri ng pamamaraan
sa pagsusulat na gagad sa Ingles, maging sa pagbuo ng mga pangungusap
hanggang sa istilo ng pagsusulat.

Nabigyang- sigla ang Pambansang Wika dahil na rin sa pagtataguyod ng

pananakop. Binigyan pa nila ng pagkakataon ang isang Pilipino, si Jose P Laurel
upang mangulo sa baying sa kanilang pamamatnubay. Nasangkot ang Pilipinas.
Nasakop ng mga Hapones.

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Pangalan: Sunio, Adcelbyen L. Section: CBET-19-501E

Mga kilalang manunulat noong panahon ng pananakop ng Hapon

Halos lahat ng pahayagan sa ingles ay pinahinto ng mga Hapones at sa panahong ito, walang kalayaan sa
pagsasalita at pamamahayag. Inilarawan ni Victoria abelardo ang pagsulat ng filipino sa panahon ng
pananakop ng mga Hapon bilang pesimista at mapait.

Karamihan sa mga manunulat at may-akda may dalawang paraan lamang upang magpatuloy sa kanilang
propesyon eto ay magsulat ng akda patago o magsulat sa lengwaheng tagalog. Ang panitikang Filipino ay
nakaranas din ng panibagong atensyon dahil ang mga manunulat sa ingles ay bumaling sa pagsulat sa
Filipino.

MGA AUTHOR SA PANAHON NG

PANANAKOP NG HAPON

• Jose Ma Hernandez- ay manunulat at

guro. Nag-aral siya ng pagsulat at
pagtatanghal ng dula sa Amerika.
Kilalang dula niya ang Panday Pira

• Francisco Soc Rodrigo- isang manunulat, abogado,

broadcaster, at senator sa ikatatlo hanggang ika-anim
na kongreso ng Republika ng Pilipinas ang kanyang
kilalang dula ay Sa pula sa puti

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• Clodualdo del Mundo jr- ay isang

screenwriter, director, at author. Noong
1968, ay nakapagtapos siya ng bachelor of
arts degree sa unibersidad ng Ateneo de
Manila. Ang kanyang kilalang dula ay
pinamagatang Bulaga

• Julian Cruz Balmaceda- ay isang essayist,

poet, playwright, novelist, journalist at linguist.
Gumawa din siya ngilang komposisyon na
nakasulat sa Filipino, Ingles at Espanyol. Ang
kanyang kilalang komposisyon ay Sino ba kayo?,
Dahil sa Anak, at Higante ng Patay.

Maikling kwentong filipino sa panahon ng mga Hapon

Mas lumawig ang larangan ng pagsulat ng maikling kwento sa panahon ng mga hapon. Ilan sa mga kilalang
manunulat ng maikling kwento ay sina: Brigid Batungbakal, Macario Pineda, Narciso Ramos, Serafin
Guinginido, Liwayway Arceo, Alicia Lopez, at Ligaya perez

Pinakamahusay na mga sulatin noong 1945 ay pinili ng grupo ng mga hukom na binubuo nina: Francisco
Icasiano, Jose Esperanza, Antonio Rosales, Clodualdo del Mundo at Teodoro Santos. bilang resulta ng pagpili
na ito, ang mga sumusunod ay nakakuha ng unang tatlong premyo

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• Unang Gatimpala: Narciso Reyes sa kanyang

“Lupang tinubuan”

• Ikalawang Gantimpala: Liwayway Arceo sa kanyang

“Uhaw ang Tigang na lupa”

• Ikatlong Gantimpala: NVM Gonzales sa kanyang

“Lungsod nayon at dagat dagatan”

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Pangalan: Barrun, Naisa Marrie B. Section: CBET-19-501E

Pangalan: Rafael Zulueta da Costa
• He uses the name R. Zulueta da Costa as a writer, and Rafael
Zulueta as a businessman.
• Rafael Zulueta da Costa is a Filipino poet.

Sanggunian:
https://aboutphilippines.org/files/Like-The-Molave.pdf
https://www.howold.co/person/r-zulueta-da-costa




Like The Molave - poem
by/Rafael Zulueta da Costa
I.
Not yet, Rizal, not yet. Sleep not in peace: There are a thousand waters to be spanned; there are a
thousand mountains to be crossed; there are a thousand crosses to be borne.
Our shoulders are not strong; our sinews are grown flaccid with dependence, smug with ease under
another's wing. Rest not in peace;
Not yet, Rizal, not yet. The land has need
of young blood-and, what younger than your own, Forever spilled in the great name of freedom,
Forever oblate on the altar of
the free? Not you alone, Rizal. O souls
And spirits of the martyred brave, arise!
Arise and scour the land! Shed once again
your willing blood! Infuse the vibrant red
into our thin anemic veins; until
we pick up your Promethean tools and, strong, Out of the depthless matrix of your faith
in us, and on the silent cliffs of freedom,
we carve for all time your marmoreal dream! Until our people, seeing, are become
like the Molave, firm, resilient, staunch,
rising on the hillside, unafraid,
Strong in its own fiber, yes, like the Molave!
II.
Not yet,Rizal,not yet. The glory hour will come Out of the silent dreaming
from the seven thousand fold silence
We shall emerge, saying WE ARE FILIPINOS! and no longer be ashamed
sleep not in peace
the dream is not yet fully carved hard the wood but harder the woods yet the molave will stand
yet the molave monument will rise and god's walk on brown legs

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Pangalan: Carlos Bulosan

“Of the million Filipinos who found themselves in the United States in the two
decades before and after World War II, Carlos Bulosan, his entire life & works,
represents the heroic struggles and sacrifices of the Filipino community as a
colonized and an emergent national agency in world history.” - E. San Juan Jr.,
1999

• Si Carlos Bulosan ay isang Filipino American na manunulat at aktibista
• Noong1950s, siya ay kinilala na pinaka mahusay sa semi-fictional, semi-
autobiographical novel na - America Is In the Heart (1946)

An array of communities, including Asian/Pacific Islanders, organized labor, academics and intellectuals,
and a wide range of social justice; ethnic; and activist communities, recall Bulosan as a progressive anti-
colonial, pro-labor, humanitarian voice.

Carlos Bulosan Writings
1. America Is in the Heart, was published in 1946. It depicts the terrible
living and working conditions of Filipino immigrants struggling to
survive in America.
2. Letter from America (1942)
3. Chorus from America (1942)
4. The Voice of Bataan (1943)
5. The Cry and the Dedication (written in the 1950s and published
posthumously in 1995)
6. The Sound of Falling Light (1960).

“ Oo, ako ay magiging isang manunulat at bubuhayin ko kayo ulit sa
aking mga salita.” – Carlos Bulosan, America is in the Heart: A
Personal History






Sanggunian:
https://bulosan.org
https://content.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/bulosan/index.html
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/148317.Carlos_Bulosan
de Guzman, Jennica (2014). Makabuluhang Buhay ni Carlos Bulosan. Wordpress.com.
https://www.google.com.ph/amp/s/uclaliwanagatdilim2015.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/carlos-
bulosan/amp/

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My Father's Tragedy by Carlos Bulosan

It was one of those lean years of our lives. Our rice field was destroyed by locusts that came from the
neighboring towns. When the locusts were gone, we planted string beans but a fire burned the whole
plantation. My brothers went away because they got tired working for nothing. Mother and my sisters went
from house to house, asking for something to do, but every family was plagued with some kind of disaster.
The children walked in the streets looking for the fruit that fell to the ground from the acacia tree. The men
hung on the fence around the market and watched the meat dealers hungrily. We were all suffering from lack
of proper food.

But the professional gamblers had money. They sat in the fish house at the station and gave their orders aloud.
The loafers and other bystanders watched them eat boiled rice and fried fish with silver spoons. They never
used forks because the prongs stuck between their teeth. They always cut their lips and tongues with the
knives, so they never asked for them. If the waiter was new and he put the knives on the table, they looked at
each other furtively and slipped them into their pockets. They washed their hands in one big wooden bowl of
water and wiped their mouths with the leaves of the arbor trees that fell on the ground.

The rainy season was approaching. There were rumors of famine. The grass did not grow and our carabao
became thin. Father’s fighting cock, Burick, was practically the only healthy thing in our household. Its father,
Kanaway, had won a house for us some three years before, and Fathers had commanded me to give it the
choicest rice. He took the soft-boiled eggs from the plate of my sister Marcela, who was sick with meningitis
that year. He was preparing Burick for something big, but the great catastrophe came to our town. The
peasants and most of the rich men spent their money on food. They had stopped going to the cockpit for fear
of temptation; if they went at all, they just sat in the gallery and shouted at the top of their lungs. They went
home with their heads down, thinking of the money they would have won.

It was during this impasse that Father sat every day in our backyard with his fighting cock. He would not go
anywhere. He would not do anything. He just sat there caressing Burick and exercising his legs. He spat at his
hackles and rubbed them, looking far away with a big dream. When mother came home with some food, he
went to the granary and sat there till evening. Sometimes he slept there with Burick, but at dawn the cock
woke him up with its majestic crowing. He crept into the house and fumbled for the cold rice in the pot under
the stove. Then, he put the cock in the pen and slept on the bench all day.

Mother was very patient. But the day came when she kicked him off the bench. He fell on the floor face down,
looked up at her, and then resumed his sleep. Mother took my sister Francisca with her. They went from house
to house in the neighborhood, pounding rice for some people and hauling drinking water for others. They
came home with their share in a big basket that Mother carried on her head.

Father was still sleeping on the bench when they arrived. Mother told my sister to cook some of the rice. The
dipped a cup in the jar and splashed the cold water on Father’s face. He jumped up, looked at mother with
anger, and went to Burick’s pen. He gathered the cock in his arms and went down the porch. He sat on a log
in the backyard and started caressing his fighting cock.

Mother went on with her washing. Francisca fed Marcela with some boiled rice. Father was still caressing
Burick. Mother was mad at him.

“Is that all you can do?” she shouted at him.

“Why do you say that to me?” Father said, “I’m thinking of some ways to become rich.”

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

Mother threw a piece of wood at the cock. Father saw her in time. He ducked and covered the cock with his
body. The wood struck him. It cut a hole at the base of his head. He got up and examined Burick. He acted as
though the cock were the one that got hurt. He looked up at Mother and his face was pitiful.

“Why don’t you see what you are doing?” he said, hugging Burick.

“I would like to wring that cock’s neck,” mother said.

“That’s his fortune,” I said.

Mother looked sharply atme. “Shut up, idiot!” she said. “ You are becoming more like your father every day.”

I watched her eyes move foolishly. I thought she would cry. She tucked her skirt between her legs and went
on with her work. I ran down the ladder and went to the granary, where Father was treating the wound on his
head. I held the cock for him.

“Take good care of it, son,” he said.

“Yes, Sir,” I said.

“Go to the river and exercise its legs. Come back right away. We are going to town.”
I rand down the street with the cock, avoiding the pigs and dogs that came in my way. I plunged into the water
in my clothes and swam with Burick. I put some water in my mouth and blew it into his face. I ran back to our
house slapping the water off my clothes. Father and I went to the cockpit.

It was Sunday, but there were many loafers and gamblers at the place. There were peasants and teachers.
There was a strange man who had a black fighting cock. He had come from one of the neighboring towns to
seek his fortune in our cockpit.

His name was Burcio. He held her our cock above his head and closed one eye, looking sharply at Burick’s eyes.
He put it on the ground and bent over it, pressing down the cock’s back with his hands. Burcio was testing
Burick’s strength. The loafers and gamblers formed a ring around them, watching Burcio’s deft hands expertly
moving around Burick.

Father also tested the cock of Burcio. He threw it in the air and watched it glide smoothly to the ground. He
sparred with it. The black cock pecked at his legs and stopped to crow proudly for the bystanders. Father
picked it up and spread its wings, feeling the tough hide beneath the feathers.

The bystanders knew that a fight was about to be matched. They counted the money in their pockets without
showing it to their neighbors. They felf the edges of the coins with amazing swiftness and accuracy. Only a
highly magnified amplifier could have recorded the tiny clink of the coins that fell between deft fingers. The
caressing rustle of the paper money was inaudible. The peasants broke from the ring and hid behind the
coconut trees. They unfolded their handkerchiefs and counted their money. They rolled the paper money in
their hands and returned to the crowd. They waited for the final decision.

“Shall we make it this coming Sunday?” Burcio asked.

“It’s too soon for my Burick,” Father said. His hand moved mechanically into his pocket. But it was empty. He
looked around at his cronies.

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

But two of the peasants caught Father’s arm and whispered something to him. They slipped some money in
his hand and pushed him toward Burcio. He tried to estimate the amount of money in his hand by balling it
hard. It was one of his many tricks with money. He knew right away that he had some twenty-peso bills. A
light of hope appeared in his face.

“This coming Sunday is all right,” he said.

All at once the men broke into wild confusion. Some went to Burcio with their money; others went to Father.
They were not bettors, but inventors. Their money would back up the cocks at the cockpit.

In the late afternoon the fight was arranged. We returned to our house with some hope. Father put Burick in
the pen and told me to go to the fish ponds across the river. I ran down the road with mounting joy. I found a
fish pond under the camachile tree. It was the favorite haunt of snails and shrimps. Then I went home.

Mother was cooking something good. I smelled it the moment I entered the gate. I rushed into the house and
spilled some of the snails on the floor. Mother was at the stove. She was stirring the ladle in the boiling pot.
Father was still sleeping on the bench. Francisca was feeding Marcela with hot soup. I put the nails and shrimps
in a pot and sat on the bench.

Mother was cooking chicken with some bitter melons. I sat wondering where she got it. I knew that our poultry
house in the village was empty. We had no poultry in town. Father opened his eyes when he heard the
bubbling pot.

Mother put the rice on a big wooden platter and set it on the table she filled our plates with chicken meat and
ginger. Father got up suddenly and went to the table. Francisca sat by the stove. Father was reaching for the
white meat in the platter when Mother slapped his hand away. She was saying grace. Then we put our legs
under the table and started eating.

It was our first tatse of chicken in a long time. Father filled his plate twice and ate very little rice. He usually
ate more rice when we had only salted fish and some leaves of tress. We ate “grass” most of the time. Father
tilted his plate and took the soup noisily, as though he were drinking wine. He put the empty plate near the
pot and asked for some chicken meat.

“It is good chicken,” he said.

Mother was very quiet. She put the breast on a plate and told Francisca to give it to Marcela. She gave me
some bitter melons. Father put his hand in the pot and fished out a drumstick.

“Where did you get this lovely chicken?” he asked.

“Where do you think I got it?” Mother said.

The drumstick fell from his mouth. It rolled into the space between the bamboo splits and fell on the ground.
Our dog snapped it and ran away. Father’s face broke in great agony. He rushed outside the house. I could
hear him running toward the highway. My sister continued eating, but my appetite was gone.

“What are you doing, Son?” Mother said. “Eat your chicken.”

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

Pangalan: Catubigan, Micaella N. Section: CBET-19-501E

Uhaw ang Tigang na Lupa ni Liwayway A. Arceo

1
Ilang gabi nang ako ang kapiling niya sa higaan. Tila musmos akong dumarama sa init ng
kanyang dibdib at nikikinig sa pintig ng kanyang puso. Ngunit, patuloy akong nagtataka sa
malalim na paghinga niya, sa kanyang malungkot na pagtitig sa lahat ng bagay, paghikbi...
2
Ilang araw ko nang hindi nadadalaw ang aklatan: ilang araw ko nang hindi nasasalamin ang
isang larawang mahal sa akin: bilugang mukha, malapad na noo, hati-sa-kaliawang buhok,
singkit na mga mata, hindi katangusang ilong, mga labing duyan ng isang ngiting puspos-
kasiyahan...Sa kanya ang aking noo at mga mata. Ang aking hawas na mukha, ilong na
kawangki ng tuka ng isang loro, at maninipis na labi, ay kay Ina...
3
Sa Ina ay hindi palakibo: siya ay babaing abilang at sukat ang pangungusap. Hindi niya ako
inuutusan. Bihira siyang magalit sa akin at kung nagkakagayon ay maikli ang kanyang
pananalita: Lumigkit ka!...At kailangang ‘di ako makita. Kailangang ‘do ko masaksihan ang
kikislap na poot sa kanyang mga mata. Kailangang ‘di ko namamalas ang pagkagat niya sa
kanyang labi. Kailangang ‘do ko na makita ang panginginig ng kanyang mga daliri. Ito rin ang
katumbas ng kanyang mariing huwang kung mayroon siyang ipinagbabawal. Ang ngiti ni Ina
ay patak ng ulan kung tag-araw: ang bata kong puso ay tigang na lupang uhaw na uhaw...
4
Minsan man ay hindi ko narinig na may pinagkagalitan sila ni Ama bagama’t hindi ko
mapaniwalaang may magkabiyak ng pusong hindi nagkakahinampuhan. Marahil ay sapagkat
kapwa sila may hawak na kainawaan: ang pagbibigayan sa isa’t isa ay hindi nalilimot
kailanman.
5
Kung gabi ay hinahanap ko ang kaaliwang idinudulat ng isang amang nagsasalaysay tungkol
sa mga kapre at nuno at tungkol sa magagandang ada at prinsesa; ng isang nagmamasid at
nakangiting ina; ng isang pulutong ng nakikinig na magaganda at masasayang bata. Ngunit,
sa halip niyon ay minalas ko si Ama sa kanyang pagsusulat; sa kanyang pagmamakinilya;
sa kanyang pagbabasa. Minamasdan ko kung paano niya pinapangunot ang kanyang noo;
kung paano niya ibinubuga ang asong nagbubuhat sa kanyang tabako; kung paano siya
titingin sa akin na tila may hinahanap; kung paano niya ipipikit ang kanyang mga mata; kung
paano siya magpapatuloy sa pagsulat... Si Ina ay isang magandang tanawin kung nanunulsi
ng mga punit na damit; kung nag-aayos ng mga uhales at nagkakabit ng mga butones sa
mga damit ni Ama. Sa kanyang pagbuburda ng aking mga kamison at panyolito – sa galaw

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

ng kanyang mga daliri – ay natutunghan ko ang isang kapana-panabik na kuwento. Ngunti,

ang pananabik na ito’y napapawi.

Kabagu-tbagot ang aking pag-iisa at ako ay naghahanap ng kasama sa bahay: isang batang
marahil ay nasa kanyang kasinungalingang gulang o isang saggol na kalugud-lugod, may
ngiti ng kawalang-malay, mabango ang hininga, may maliit na paa at kamay na
nakatutuwang pisilin, may mga pisngi at labing walang bahid-kasalanan at kasiya-siyang
hagkan, o isang kapatid ba kahulihan ng gulang, isang maaaring maging katapatan...
6
Sakali mang hindi nagkagalit si Ina at Ama, o kung nagkakagalit man ay sadyang hindi
ipinamamalay sa akin, ay hinahanap ko rin ang magiliw na palitan ng mga titig, ng mga ngiti,
ng mga biruan. Sapat na ang isang tuyot na aalis na ako sa pagpapaalam ni Ama. Sapat na
ang naningil na ang maniningil sa ilaw o sa tubig o sa telepono upang sakupin ang panahong
itatagal ng isang hapunan. Sapat na panakaw sa sulyap ni Ama upang ipadamang may
naririnig siya. Mabibilang sa mga daliri ng aking dalawang kamay kung makailan kaming
nagpasyal: Si Ama, si Ina at ako. Malimit na ako ang kasama ni Ina; hindi ko nakitang sinarili
nila ang pag-aaliw.
7
Inuumaga man si Ama sa pag-uwi kung minsan ay hindi ko kinapapansinan ng kakaibang
kilos si Ina. Nahihiga rin siya pagdating ng mga sandali ng pamamahinga at kung nakatutulog
siya o hindi ay hindi ko matiyak. Marahil ay ito ang tunay na madarama ng kataling-puso ng
isang taong inaangkin ng madla... Ngunit, walang pagsisisi sa kanyang tinig.
8
Ilang taon na ngayon ang nakaraan nang minsang may ibinalik na aklat ang aming
tagapaglaba: yaon daw ay nakuha niya sa isang lukbutan ng amerikana ni Ama. Ibinigay ko
yaon kay Ina: yaon daw ay talaarawan ni Ama. Kinabukasan ay may bakas ng luha ang mga
mata ni Ina. Kapansin-pansin ang lalo niyang hindi pagkabo buhat noon. Lalo siyang naging
malungkot sa aking paningin. Ano ang nasa isang talaarawan?
9
Lasing na lasing si Ama. Karaniwan nang umuuwing lasing si Ama ngunit, kakaiba ang
kalasingan niya nagyong gabi. Hinihilamusan siya ni Ina ng malahiningang tsaa, ngunit wala
itong naibigay na ginhawa. Hindi rin kumikino si Ina: nasa mga mata niya ang hindi
maipahayag na pagtutol. Sapagkat may isusulat ako...sapagkat ikamamatay ko ang
pighating ito...sapagkat...
10
Idinaraing ngayon ni Ama ang kanyang dibdib at ulo: hindi raw siya makahingang mabuti.
Marahil ay may sipon ka, ani ina. Sinisinat ka nga. Isang panyolitong basa ng malamig na
tubig ang itinali ko sa ulo ni Ama. Wala siyang tutol sa aking ginagawa. Sinusundan niya ng
tingin ang bawat kilos ko. Ang kanyang mga bisig, buhat sa siko hanggang sa palad, at ang

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

kanyang binti, buhat sa tuhod hanggang sa mga talampakan, ay makailan kong binuhusan
ng tubig na mainit na inakala kong matatagalan niya – tubig na pinaglagaan ng mga dahong
ng alagaw. Kinulob ko siya ng makakapal na kumot matapos na inumin niya ang ibinigay
kong mainit na tubig na pinigaan ng kalamansi. Nakangiti si Ama: Manggagamot pala ang
aking dalaga! Sinuklian ko ng isang mahinang halakhak ang ngiti niyang yaon: hindi ako
dating binibiro ni Ama. Sana’y ako si na sa mga sandaling yaon: sana’y lalo kong ituturing na
mahalaga ang nadarama kong kasiyahan...
11
Nabigo ako sa aking pag-asa: nakaratay nang may ilang araw si Ama. Halos hindi siya
hinihiwalayan ni Ina: si ilalim ng kanyang mga mata ay may mababakas na namang maiitim
na guhit. Anang manggagamot ay gagawin niya ang lahat ng kanyang makakaya. Ngunit,
ayaw niyang ipagtapat sa akin ang karamdaman ni Ama.
12
Ipinaayos ngayon ni Ama ang kanyang hapag. Nililinis ko ang kanyang makinilya. Idinikit ko
ang kagugupit na kuwentong kalalathala pa lamang. Pinagsama-sama ko ang mga papel sa
kanyang mga kahon. Ang pang-ilalim na kahon ng kanyang hapag ay nagbigay sa akin ng
hindi gagaanong pagtataka: may isang kahitang pelus na rosas at isang salansan ng mga
liham. Maliliit at mga bilugang titik bughaw na tinta sa pangalan ni Ama sa kanyang
tanggapan ang mga nasa sobre.
13
Ang larawan sa kahitang pelus ay hindi yaong hawas na mukha, may ilong na kawangki ng
tuka ng isang loro, maninipis na labi. Sa likod niyon ay nasusulat sa maliliit at bilugang mga
titik sa bughaw na tinta: Sapagkat ako’y hindi makalimot... Ang larawan ay walang lagda
ngunit nadama ko ang biglang pagkapoot sa kanyang at sa mga sandaling yaon ay natutuhan
ko ang maghinanakit kay Ama.
14
Bakit sa panahong ito lamang tayo pinaglapit ng pangyayari? Higit marahil ang aking
katiwasayan kung hindi ka dumating sa aking buhay, bagamat hindi ko rin marahil matitiis na
hindi maipagpalit ang aking kasiyahan sa isang pusong nagmamahal. Totoong ang
kalagayan ng tao sa buhay ang malimit maging sagwil sa kanyang kaligayahan...
15
Naiwan na natin ang gulang ng kapusukan; hindi na tayo maaaring dayain ng ating
nadarama. Ngunit, nakapagitan sa atin ngayon ang isang malawak na katotohanang
pumupigil sa kaligayahan ang hindi natin maisakatuparan ay buhayin na lamang natin sa
alaala. Panatilihin na lamang natin sa diwa ang katamisan ng isang pangarap; sana’y huwag
tayong magising sa katotohanan...
16
Nakita ko siya kagabi sa panaginip; sinusumbatan niya ako. Ngunit, hindi ko balak ang
magwasak ng isang tahanan. Hindi ko maatim na mangnakaw ng kanyang kaligayahan; hindi

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Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

ko mapababayaang lumuha siya dahil sa akin. Ang sino mang bahagi ng iyong buhay ay
mahal sa akin; ang mahal sa akin ay hindi ko maaaring paluhain...
17
Ang pag-ibig na ito’y isang dulang ako ang gumaganap ng pangunahing tauhan; sapagkat
ako ang nagsimula ay ako ang magbibigay-wakas. Ipalagay mo nang ako’y nasimulang
tugtuging nararapat tapusin. Gawin mo akong isang pangarap na naglalaho pagkagising.
Tulungan mo akong pumawi sa kalungkutang itong halos pumatay sa akin..
18
Ngunit, bakit napakahirap ang lumimot?
19
Nadama ko ang kamay ni Ina sa aking kanang balikat: noon ko lamang namalayan na may
pumasok sa aklatan. Nakita niya ang larawang nasa kahitang pelus na rosas. Natunghan
niya ang mga liham na nagkalat sa hapag ni Ama. Si Ina ay dumating at lumisang walang
binitiwang kataga. Ngunit, sa kanyang paglisan ay muling binati ng kanyang palad ang aking
balikat at nadarama ko pa ang salat ng kanyang mag daliri; ang init ng mga iyo, ang bigat ng
kanilang pagkakadantay...
20
kaluluwa... kang namagitan sa amin ni Ina ay hindi pa napapawi. Iniiwasan ko ngayon ang
pagsasalubong ng aming mga titig; hindi ko matagalan ang kalungkutang nababasa ko sa
mga paninging yaon.
21
Hiningi ni Ama ang kanyang panulat at aklat-talaan. Nguni, nang mapaniwala ko siyang
masama sa kanyang ang bumangon ay kanyang sinasabi: Ngayon ay ang aking anak ang
susulat nang ukol sa atin...At sa anya’y isang dalubhasang kamay ang uukit niyon sa itim na
marmol. Ngunit, hindi ko maisatitik ang pagtutol na halos ay pumugto sa aking paghinga.
Nasa kalamigan ng lupa ang kaluwalhatian ko! Kailanman ay hindi ko aangkining likha ng
aking mga daliri ang ilang salitang ito.
22
Huwag kang palilinlang sa simbuyo ng iyong kalooban; ang uang tibok ng puso ay hindi pag-
ibig sa tuwina...Halos kasinggulang mo ako nang pagtaliin ang mga puso namin ng iyong
Ina...Mura pang lubha ang labingwalang taon...Huwag ikaw ang magbigay sa iyong sarili ng
mga kalungkutang magpapahirap sa iyo habang-buhay... Muli kong nadama ang tibay ng
buhol na nag-uugnay ng damdamin ni Ama sa akin.
23
Kinatatakutan ko na ang malimit na pagkawala ng diwa ni Ama. Si Ina ay patuloy sa kanyang
hindi pagkibo sa akin, patuloy sa kanyang hindi pag-idlip, patuloy sa kanyang pahluha kung
walang makakita sa kanya...
24

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Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

Ang kanang kamay ni Ina ay idinantay sa noo ni Ama at ang pagtatanan ng isang nais
tumakas na damdamin sa kanyang dibdib ay tinimpi ng pagdadaop ng kanyang ngipin sa
labi. Naupo siya sa gilid ng higaan ni Ama at ang kaliwang kamay nito ay kinulong niya sa
kanyang mga palad. Magaling na ako, mahal ko...magaling na ako...sa muli mong pagparito
ay sabihin mo sa akin kung saan tayo maaaring tumungo...ang moog na itong
kinabibilangguan ko’y aking wawasakin...sa ano mang paraan...sa ano mang paraan...
Ang malabubog na tubig na bumabakod sa mga pangingin ni Ina ay nabasag at ilang butil
niyo ang pumatak sa bisig ni Ama. Mabibigat na talukap ang pinilt na iminulat ni Ama at sa
pagtatagpo ng mga titig nila ay gumuhit sa nanunuyo niyang labi ang isang ngiting punung-
puno ng pagbasa. Muling nalapat ang mga durungawang yaon ng isang kaluluwa at hindi
niya namasid ang mga matang binabalungan ng luha: ang mga salamin ng pagdaramdam
na hindi mabigkas.
25
Nasa mga palad pa rin ni Ina ang kaliwang kamay ni Ama:Sabihin mo, mahal ko, na
maaangkin ko na ang kaligayahan ko... Kinagat ni Ina nang mariin ang kanyang labi at nang
siya’y mangusap ay hindi ko naaming kay Ina ang tinig na yaon:Maaangkin mo na, mahal ko!
Ang init ng mga labi ni Ina ang kasabay ng kapayapaang nanahanan sa mga labi ni Ama at
nasa mga mata man niya ang ilaw ng pagkabigo sa pagdurugtong sa isang buhay na wala
nang luhang dumadaloy sa mga iyon: natitiyak niya ang kasiyahang nadama ng kalilisang
kaluluwa...

SIMBOLISMO
• Liham – ang may akda ay gumamit ng liham upang di lantarang ipakita o sabihin ang
mga unang kaganapan sa kwento na kung babasahin ay makikita o malalaman ng isang may
malawak na pag-iisip na mambabasa.
• Pelus na Rosas – o ang pag-ibig na dula ng tauhan sa kwento.
• Larawan – sa pamamagitan ng larawan ang mga nakaraan sa kwento ay maaaring
malaman sa tulong na rin ng liham na kalakip nito.
• Ama, ina, anak – sumisimbolo sa pamilya.
• Uhaw ang tigang na lupa – sumisimbolo sa kakulangan ng pagmamahal sa isang
anak dahil sa suliranin ng pamilya.

BUOD
Ang kwentong ito ay tungkol sa dalagitang nagkaroon ng mga magulang na kailanman ay
hindi kakikitaan ng paglalambing sa isa’t isa. Tila ba walang namamagitang pagibig ang
pagsasama. Hanggang isang araw, natuklasan nito na may mahal palang iba ang ama at
matagal na nitong nililihm sa pamilya. Ito ay nang Mabasa ng dalagita ang talaarawan ng
ama at Makita ang isang larawan ng isang babae.

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

Ngunit ang ina ay patuloy na nag-aalaga sa kanyang ama ng naratay ito sa kabila ng
katotohanang pagtataksil. At bago ito malagutan ng hininga ay hiniling nito ang pagsangayon
ng kaniyang kalaguyo sa bagong pagsasama. Sumagot ang kabiyak at nagkunwang
kalaguyo at pinagbigyan kahit napakasakit pakinggan ang gayong pagtataksil ng kaniyang
Ama.

HOW MY BROTHER LEON HOME A WIFE BY MANUEL E. ARGUILLA

She stepped down from the carretela of Ca Celin with a quick, delicate grace. She was lovely.
She was tall. She
looked 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

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 RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Cities of Mandaluyong and Pasig

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,
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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."

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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

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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
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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?"

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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.
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"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.

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"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.

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"---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.
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"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 mildesttempered, 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."

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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---"
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"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.

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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.

SUMMARRY:
To summarize the story, Baldo was able to meet his brother’s wife Maria, As Baldo
saw his older brother's wife, he described her as lovely, tall, and beautiful. Upon their journey
to leon’s home, leon is wondering why baldo drove them to the waig instead of the camino
real, baldo answered that he drove the waig because their father told him to do so. The waig
route will serve as test to Maria if she can live in the province which differs a lot from the city
where she lived in, but then it seems like maria likes leons province, she described this as
beautiful, fresh air, clean, and free of dust. During their journey, maria, was worried if leons
father and family would like her. When they arrived home, father talked to baldo asking what
happened during their travel, the father asked Baldo if Maria was afraid in their place, Baldo
answered that Maria was not afraid and instead she enjoyed the journey.
There are several plot in the story, which are; Leon and Baldo waited for the arrival of Maria
at the barrio. Maria was afraid that she won't be accepted by Leon's father because she may
not able to adapt their way of living in the province. Leon's entire family talked to Maria; His
Father's voice became livelier than before when he talked to her (which means he accepted
her wholeheartedly).
I was hooked by the story because of how the author describe each characters specially
Maria, and how the author was able to emphasize her, and the organization of every situation
is good. In How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife, the story begins with mixture of
descriptions as the main character, the brother, meets his brother and new wife. I like the
story because it taught me about respect and acceptance of one's life. In order to have a
long-lasting relationship you must show respect to each other and the family. And if you really
love a person you should accept who he/she is, and what he/she is and also don’t judge other
people first without even knowing him/her in person.
The writing style of the author was good because he used figurative languages which made
the story more interesting and beautiful. The message of the story was easy to understand
because it was clear

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Sanggunian:
http://kadipanvalsci.blogspot.com/2010/12/uhaw-ang-tigang-na-lupa-ni-liwayway.html
https://teacherkarizza.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/how-my-brother-leon-brought-home-a-
wife.pdf
https://literaryanalysisphillit.weebly.com/how-my-brother-leon-brought-home-a-wife.html

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