The Revolution According to

Raymundo Mata
(EXCERPT)
BY: Gina Apostol

Prepared by:
Ynlane Mary Nhicols D. Pasano
Blessy Mae O. Daluro
Introduction:
Let's come to the
story

Be ready for your

IMAGINATION
It was a bolt- a thunder bolt. A rain of bricks, a
lightning zap. A pummeling of mountains, a
heaving, violent storm at sea-a whiplash. A
typhoon, an earthquake. The end of the
world. And I was done. It struck me dumb. It
changed my life and the world was new when
I was done. And when I raised myself from
bed two days later, I thought: it's only a novel.
If I ever met him, what would my life be? I lay
back in bed. but what a novel! And I cursed
him, the writer-what was his name-for doing
what I had'nt done,for putting my world into
words before I even had the sense to know
what world was.
That was his triumph- he'd laid out a trail, and
all we had to do was follow in his wake. Even
then, I already felt the bitter envy, the acid
retch of the latecomer artist, the one who will
always be under the influence, by more
chronology always slightly suspect, a
borrower never lended be. After him, all
Filipinos are terdy ingrates. What is the
definition of art? Art is reprouch to those who
received it. That was his curse upon all of us.
I was weak, as if drugged. I realized: I hadn't
eaten in two days. Then I got out of bed and
boiled barako for me.
Later it was all the rage in the coffee shops, in
the bazaars of binondo. People did not even
hide it- crowds of men,and not just
students,not just boys,some women even,
with their violent fans-gesticulating in public,
throwing up their hands,putting up fists in
debate. Put your knuckles where your mouth
is. We were loud, obstreperous, heedless.
We were literary critics. We were
cantankerous: rude and raving. And no
matter on which on side you were. with the
crown or with the infidels, Spain or spolarium,
all of us,each of one,seemed revitalized by
spleen, hatched from the wombs of long,
venomous silence. And yes suddenly a world
open up to me, after the novel, to which
before i had been blind.
Still I rushed into other debates, for instance
with Benigno and Agapito, who had now
moved into my rooms. Remembering Father
Gaspar's cryptic injunction- "throw it away to
someone else" so that in this manner the
book traveled rapidly in those dark days of its
first printing, now so nostalgically glorious,
through then I had no clue that these were
historic acts, the act of reading,or that the
book would become such collector's item, or
other wise I would have wrapped it in
parchment and sealed it for the highest
bidder, what the hell, I only knew holding the
book could very likely constitute a glorious
crime-in short, I lent it to Benigno.
Unfamilliar words:
• Zap- used to express a sound made by or as if by a gun.
• Pummeling- to repeatedly hit or punch(someone or something).
• Heaving- to lift or pull(something) with effort.
• Whiplash- an injury to the neck that is caused by a sudden backward
movement of the head.
• Triumph- a great or important victory.
• Envy- the feeling of wanting to have what someone else has.
• Retch- tovomit ir feel as if you are about to vomit
• Lend- to give to be used for a period of time and then returned.
• Ingrate- a person who does not show proper appreciation or thanks for
something
• Gesticulatig- to move your arms and hands especially when speaking in an
angry or emotional way.
• Fists- the hand with its finger bent down into the palm.
• Obstreperous- difficult to control and often noisy
• Cantankerous- often angry and annoyed.
• Raving- irrational,incoherent,wild or extravagant utterance or declamation
• Revitalize- to make(someone kor something) active, healthy, or energetic
again.
• Nostalgically- pleasure and sadness that is caused by remembering
something from the past and wishing that you could experience it again.