Footnote to Youth
gloomily, wishing for some kind of
by José García Villa
Dodong, a farmer’s son, heads home
after a hard day’s work in the fields, working
up the courage to tell his father about his
plans to marry Teang, his sweetheart. After
eating dinner, he watches with pity as his
mother does the housework alone, while he
himself is too tired to help. Dodong then
searches for his father and finds him
continuously sucking on a diseased tooth.
Briefly, he considers once again urging his
father to visit the dentist but sympathizes
when he realizes that he, too, would avoid
the dentist if he were in the same situation.
After his mother goes out, Dodong tells his
father plainly that he plans to marry Teang.
This announcement is met with silence, and
Dodong presses the matter impatiently. His
father asks him if he must really marry and
reminds him of how young he still is.
However, Dodong feels that at seventeen, he
is already sufficiently mature. His father
capitulates but asks Dodong to tell his
mother the news. Dodong refuses to do it
himself, and even in this respect his father
helplessly lets him have his way.
The story jumps forward several
years, to the moment when Teang, now
Dodong’s wife, is giving birth. Dodong leaves
the house out of fear— fear of what the
house has become to him and fear of Teang,
whose agonized cries have begun to sound
like a sort of personal criticism of him. He
begins to realize that he is perhaps too
young to be a father. Shortly after, his
mother calls out to him to come back,
announcing that the ordeal is over. Looking
at her, Dodong is overcome with
embarrassment, as if he had taken
something that was not properly his. His
father comes out and informs him that the
child is a boy. They call out repeatedly to
Dodong, who stands still in the sun until he
has no choice but to come back. Avoiding his
parents’ eyes, Dodong walks ahead of them
punishment. With kind voices, Dodong’s
mother and father greet him, the latter
gripping Dodong’s hand gently. They lead
him into the room where Teang and the baby
are. Dodong observes Teang with pity and a
repeating sense of embarrassment. When he
hears his newborn son cry out, however,
Dodong feels a swell of happiness and asks
to hold him. His first child is named Blas.
Dodong has many more children over
the years, a fact which angers him, as he did
not want any more. However, it did not seem
like something he could stop. These events
take a heavier toll on Teang, who loses her
youthful figure. The work she has to do
around the house is endless, and she cries
sometimes, wishing that she had not
married. However, she keeps this to herself
so as not to upset Dodong. Nonetheless, she
wonders what would have happened if she
had married another suitor from her youth—
a man whom she knows remains childless to
this day, despite having also married.
Despite all of this, Teang knows that she
loves Dodong. Meanwhile, Dodong wonders
bitterly why so many of his dreams have
gone unfulfilled and why he feels forsaken
despite chasing after love. Turning inward,
he searches for the answer but finds none.
He thinks that perhaps the absence of an
answer is necessary for making youth
“dreamfully sweet.”
One night, the eighteen-year-old Blas
comes home, troubled and restless. He is
unable to sleep, and so Dodong asks him
what’s wrong. Blas calls out softly to his
father and announces his plan to marry a girl
named Tona. At this news, Dodong lies silent
and unmoving. When Blas asks his father to
think about it, Dodong rises from his mat
and tells Blas to follow him outside. In the
moonlight, Dodong asks Blas again if he is
sure of marrying and if he must. Blas replies
resentfully that he is sure and asks if Dodong
has objections. Even though Dodong replies
that he has none, deep down he wishes to
spare his son from the same fate that has
befallen him. He looks at his son helplessly,
with a mixture of regret, sadness, and pity.