Bill by Zona Gayle

“Bill” (also known by the title “Bill’s Little Girl”) is a short story written in 1927 by Zona Gayle, an American author who was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It tells of the story of the love for a father named Bill for his daughter Minna—a love as such that he was willing to let her go.

A father and his daughter. (Photo courtesy of The Blurry Line; URL: furrynuff.blogspot.com)

Bill

by Zona Gayle

Bill was thirty when his wife died, and little Minna was four. Bill’s carpenter shop was in the yard of his house, so he thought that he could keep his home for Minna and himself. All day while he worked at his bench, she played in the yard, and when he was obliged to be absent for a few hours, the woman next door looked after her. Bill could cook a little, coffee and bacon and fried potatoes and flapjacks, and he found bananas and sardines and crackers useful. When the woman next door said it was not the diet for four-year-olds, he asked her to teach him to cook oatmeal and vegetables, and though he was always burned the dishes in which he cooked these things, he cooked them every day. He swept, all but corners, and he dusted, dabbing at every object; and he complained that after he had cleaned the windows he could not see as well as he could before. He washed and patched Minna’s little garments and mended her doll. He found a kitten for her so that she wouldn’t be lonely. At night he heard her say her prayer, kneeling in the middle of the floor with her hands folded, and speaking like lightning. If she forgot the prayer, he either woke her up, or else he made her say it the first thing in the morning. He himself used to pray: “Lord, make me do right by her if you see me doing wrong.” On Sundays, he took her to church and listening with his head on one side, trying to understand, and giving Minna peppermints when she rustled. He stopped work for a day and took her to the Sunday-school picnic. “Her mother would of,” he explained. When Minna was old enough to go to kindergarten, Bill used to take her morning or afternoon, and he would call for her. Once he dressed himself in his best clothes and went to visit the school. “I think her mother would of,” he told the teacher, diffidently. But he could make little of the colored paper and the designs and the games, and he did not go again. “There’s something I can’t be any help to her with,” he thought.

Minna was six when Bill fell ill. On a May afternoon, he went to a doctor. When he came home, he sat in his shop for a long time and did nothing. The sun was beaming through the window in bright squares. He was not going to get well. It might be that he had six months…. He could hear Minna singing to her doll.

When she came to kiss him that night, he made an excuse, for he must never kiss her now. He held her arm’s length, looked in her eyes, said: Minna’s a big girl now. She doesn’t want Papa to kiss her.” But her lip curled and she turned away sorrowful, so the next day Bill went to another doctor to make sure. The other doctor made him sure.

He tried to think what to do. He had a sister in Nebraska, but she was a tired woman. His wife had a brother in the city, but he was a man of many words. And little Minna…there were things known to her which he himself did not know—matters of fairies and the words of songs. He wished that he could hear of somebody who would understand her. And he had only six months….

Then the woman next door told him bluntly that he ought not to have the child there, and him coughing as he was; and he knew that his decision was already upon him.

One whole night he thought. Then he advertised in a city paper:

A man with a few months more to live would like nice people to adopt his little girl, six, blue eyes, curls. References required.

They came in limousine, as he had hoped that they would come. Their clothes were as he had hoped. They had with them a little girl who cried: “Is this my little sister?” On which the woman in the smart frock said sharply:

“Now then, you do as mama tells you and keep out of this or we’ll leave you here and take this darling little girl with us.”

So Bill looked at this woman and said steadily that he had now other plans for his little girl. He watched the great blue car roll away. “For the land sake!” said the woman next door when she heard. “You done her out of fortune. You hadn’t the right—a man in your health.” And then the other cars came, and he let them go, this woman told her husband that Bill ought to be reported to the authorities.

The man and woman who walked into Bill’s shop one morning were still mourning their own little girl. The woman was not sad—only sorrowful, and the man, who was tender of her, was a carpenter. In blooming of his hope and his dread, Bill said to them: “You’re the ones.” When they asked: “How long before we can have her?” Bill said: “One day more.”

That day he spent in the shop. It was summer and Minna was playing in the yard. He could hear the words of her songs. He cooked their supper and while she ate, he watched. When he had tucked her in her bed, he stood in the dark hearing her breathing. “I’m a little girl tonight—kiss me,” she had said, but he shook his head. “A big girl, a big girl,” he told her.

When they came for the next morning, he had her ready, washed and mended, and he had mended her doll. “Minna’s never been for a visit!” he told her buoyantly. And when she ran toward him, “A big girl, a big girl,” he reminded her.

He stood and watched the man and woman walking down the street with Minna between them. They had brought her a little blue parasol in case the parting should be hard. This parasol Minna held bobbing above her head, and she was so absorbed in looking up at the blue silk that she did not remember to turn and wave her hand.

The Iliad by Homer

Achilles fights Hector in champion combat. Painting by Mark Churms of MarkChurms.Com.

The Iliad by Homer (the blind poet), which is probably the greatest epic in the world, tells the story of thew Trojan War. The Iliad is part one of a trilogy: it's sequel is The Odyssey, which tells of the journey of the Greek hero Odysseus back to Ithaca; and part three is The Aeneid (written in Latin by Virgil), which tells of the journey of the Trojan hero Aeneas to Italy.

The Iliad itself covers the seduction of Helen by Paris to the death and cremation of Hector, prince of Troy. The cause of the war--the judgment of Paris--is told in The Trojan Women by Euripedes and the fall of Troy (including the story of the Trojan horse) is told in The Aeneid.

Prologue: The Judgment of Paris

Eris gatecrashing into the wedding of King Peleus and Thetis. (Art courtesy of
www.kunst-fuer-alle.de)

Zeus, the king of the gods and the god of the sky, and his brother, Poseidon, the god of the sea, both wanted Thetis, a sea nymph. But Prometheus--the Titan who created man and Pandora, the first woman--prophesied that the son of Thetis would be greater than his father. Naturally, neither god wants a child to be greater than them. So they had Thetis marry a mortal king, Peleus, so that her son would be a mere mortal.

Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. So she threw a golden apple incribed, To the Fairest. All the goddess want the apple but the choice was eventually narrowed down to three: Hera, the queen of the gods; Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom; and Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.

From left to right: Hera, queen of the gods; Aphrodite, with Cupid; Paris; and Pallas Athena, wearing the helmet of Zeus.

Zeus wisely did not judge among the three goddesses. Instead, he delegated the task to Paris,  a young prince who was then shepherding his father's sheep.He is the son of King Priam of Troy, who banished him because of a prophecy that one day he would be the cause of the destruction of Troy. Each goddess enticed Paris to choose her. Hera promised him power by making him the Lord of Europe and Asia. Athena offered him wisdom. And Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris chose Aphrodite and gave her the golden apple. So he left Mount Ida, abandoning the nymph who he was living with named Oenone, who loved him very much.

This is the reason for the Trojan War.

The Abduction of Helen

The most beautiful woman in the world was Helen, daughter of Leda and Zeus and sister of the Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux. Her beauty was so renown that she had plenty of suitors, coming from powerful families. King Tyndareus, her mother's husband, was afraid to choose among the suitors because it might anger all the others. So he made all the suitors swear that they would support whoever was chosen to be Helen's husband--something that the all the suitors naturally and selfishly wanted. Tyndareus then chose Menelaus to be Helen's husband and made him the king of Sparta.

Aphrodite, who was given the golden apple, led Paris to Sparta where he was received well by Menelaus and Helen. However, when Menelaus went to the island of Crete, Paris abducted Helen and took her to Troy.

The Abduction of Helen; painting by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli.

When Menelaus returned and found that his wife was gone, he called upon the greatest chieftains of Greece to help him rescue his wife. Among the chieftains were: Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis (his mother dipped her into the River Styx to make him invulnerable--except by his heel, where his mother held him); Patroclus, Achilles' cousin [and lover]; Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus and supreme commander of the Greek forces; Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and others like Diomedes and Ajax. Achilles was warned by his mother Thetis that if he went to Troy, he would die there.

The Greek armada. Helen was "the face that launched a thousand ships". (From the movie "Troy".)

At Aulis, the ships could not proceed because of the strong winds and tides. A seer named Calchas said that Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was angry because a sacred hare was killed by one of the Greeks. Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia so that the Greek armada can proceed to Troy.

When the Greek army arrived at Troy, the first person to jump off the ships, Protesilaus, was killed by a Trojan spear. He was greatly honored by the Greek soldiers and by the gods. Hermes allowed him to visit his wife, Laodama. But when he had to return to the underworld, she followed him by killing herself.

The Trojan War

The thousand ships of the Greek army brought with it thousands of mighty warriors. But the city of Troy itself was very strong too. It was ruled by King Priam and Queen Hecuba. Their son was the champion of Troy: Prince Hector, whose wife was Andromache and their son was named Astyanax. For nine years both sides fought without decisive victory.

The gods were also at war because of the Greeks and the Trojans. Poseidon sided with the Greeks because they were seafarers. Hera and Athena also sided with the Greeks. On the side of the Trojans were Aphrodite and her husband Ares, the god of war. Also siding with the Trojans were Apollo, his sister Artemis. Zeus secretly favored the Trojans but could not support them openly because of the wrath of Hera. So have secretly hatched a plan to have Achilles killed to weaken the Greek army.

During a heated battle between the Greek and Trojan armies, King Menelaus of Greece and Prince Paris of Troy faced each other in champion combat. Menelaus wounded Paris but before he was able to kill him, Paris was carried away by Aphrodite back to Troy.

Agamemnon and Achilles had a quarrel between themselves. Before arriving at Troy, the Greeks carried off Chryseis, daughter of a priest of Apollo and was given to Agamemnon as a prize. Phoebus Apollo, the sun god, attacked the Greeks with a rain of arrows of fire. Achilles called a meeting of the chieftains where Calchas the seer revealed that Chryseis must be returned to her father. So they did.

The squires of Agamemnon take away Briseis.

In retaliation, Agamemnon sent two of his squires to get Briseis, a maiden who was kept by Achilles as his prize. This greatly depressed Achilles. He refused to go out and fight with the army. As a result, the Greeks suffered great loses from the Trojans.

Achilles (left) fighting Hector (right). Detail from a Greek vase.

What woke up Achilles was the death of his friend/lover Patroclus, who was killed by Hector. Patroclus was wearing Achilles' armor so the Trojan prince thought it was Achilles. Thetis brought a new armor for her son, made by the god Hephaestus himself. Achilles faced Hector in champion combat and succeeds in killing Hector.

Achilles dragging the dead body of Hector on his chariot around Troy.

Not  contented with killing Hector, Achilles stripped him of his armor, hitched his dead body on his chariot, and dragged the body of Hector around Troy.

The abuse of Hector's body caused displeasure to the gods (except for Hera, Athena, and Poseidon). Zeus ordered Iris, the messenger of the gods, to go to King Priam to tell him to ask Achilles for the body of his son. Priam loaded a chariot with treasures and was led by Hermes into the Greek camp and into the tent of Achilles himself.

King Priam begging Achilles for the body of his son, Hector. (Detail from a Greek vase.)

Achilles was touched by the plea of the old man and ordered his servants to wash the body of Hector and to return it to his father. Priam took his son home and cremated him on a great pyre. The Trojans mourned for Hector for nine days.

Thus ends the Iliad.

The Fall of Troy

Achilles fought his last battle against Prince Memnon of Ethiopia, son of the goddess of the dawn, who came with a huge army to aid the Trojans. Achilles was able to kill Memnon and drive the Trojan army back up until the walls of Troy. Paris shot an arrow at Achilles and Apollo guided the arrow so that it struck Achilles at the only place where he was vulnerable--his heel. 

Paris (lefts) at Achilles (right) while Apollo (center) guides the arrow to Achilles' heel.

The Greek hero Ajax took away his body and cremated it while Odysseus held back the Trojans. Ajax and Odysseus quarrelled over the armor of Achilles. The Greek chieftains  had a voted and awarded Achilles' armor to Odysseus. Depressed, Ajax went mad and killed his cattle, thinking they were Greek commanders who voted against him. Realizing his error, Ajax committed suicide by falling on his sword.

Odysseus took a Trojan prophet, Helenus prisoner. Helenus revealed that Troy can only be defeated if the Greek possessed the bow and arrow of Hercules. Before his death, Hercules gave his bow and arrow to a Greek hero named Philoctetes. But on the way to Troy, the Greeks abandoned Philoctetes on the island of Lemnos because he was bitten by a serpent and would not get healed. Odysseus, together with the Greek hero Diomedes (in other versions, with Neoptolemus, the young son of Achilles) and rescued Philoctetes. A wise Greek physician healed him and Philoctetes was able to join the fight. During a battle, he was able to strike Paris with an arrow. Paris was taken back to Mount Ida. Because he abandoned her, the nymph Oenone refused to give a magic herb to heal him. Oenone watched Paris die; afterwards she committed suicide.

The Trojans possessed a sacred image of Pallas Athena called the Palladium. The Greeks knew that as long as the Trojans had it, Troy would not be taken. Diomedes was able to steal the precious Palladium.

Now possessing the Palladium, Odysseus devised a plan to defeat the Trojans. He had his men built a huge wooden horse and had the Greek fleet retreat. They left behind a single Greek named Sinon who told of the story of the Greek army's retreat and that the horse was an offering to Poseidon for a safe voyage. The Trojans thought that the Greeks have retreated and took the wooden horse into the city. They thought it was a sign that Athena restored her favor on them after the loss of the sacred Palladium. However, the priest Laocoön and King Priam's daughter Cassandra urged the Trojans to destroy the horse: "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." But no one believed them. (According to the Odyssey, Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo. But when she refused his love, Apollo cursed her so that no one would believe her.)

The Greek Trojan Horse. (From the movie "Troy".)

The Trojans feasted and celebrated that the war was over. That night, Odysseus and twenty of his men crept out of the wooden horse. They opened the gates of the city for the waiting Greeks, who sailed back secretly in the night. The Trojans fought desperately: many of those killed were not even able to put their armor or get a chance to make a blow. Some of the Trojans hurled burning timber and tiles on the Greeks. Some even removed their armor and wore the armor of the dead Greeks and attacked the Greeks by surprise. But it was too late--too may Trojans have already been killed. 

Menelaus found his wife Helen and brought her back to Troy. Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, kills King Priam. Neoptolemus also kills Astyanax, son of Hector, by throwing him down the wall. By death of Astyanax, the victory of the Greeks over Troy is complete. (According to one version, the city of Troy was left burning for seven years.) 

Neoptolemus kills King Priam. (Detail from a Greek vase)

Many of the women were either killed or abused or both. The Trojan women were left languishing in the once-great city, watching as the Greeks sailed away.

On their journey home, Odysseus and his men were blown off-course. Thus  begins his ten-year journey home to his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus in Ithaca. This story is told in the Odyssey. On the other hand, one of the Trojan heroes, Aeneas, son of Aphrodite, escapes from Troy and undergoes a similar journey to Italy, where he eventually founds the city of Rome, which is told in the Aenid.

R E F E R E N C E S

Hamilton, E. (1942). Mythology: Timeless tales of gods and goddesses. NY: Grand Central Publishing.

Lahanas, M. HellenicaWorld.Com (URL: http://www.hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Literature/en/Iliad.html.

Wikipedia.

Notes in Contrastive Analysis: Words and Word-Formation Processes

The following excerpts of a lecture of words and word-formation processes. Language input are from respondents who speak Tagalog, Korean, and English.

MORPHOLOGY is a branch of Linguistics that deals with the study of the formation of words and word formation processes.


1. Etymology is the study of the origin and history of a word; e.g., Etymology = (Greek, etymon 'original form' + logia 'study of')

Tagalog derived the names of subjects from English (see Borrowing below) like Sikolohiya (Psychology) and Bayolohiya (Biology); whose etymologies can be traced as in English. In Korean, however, the names of subjects are compounds of Korean words that are calques from English (see Borrowing below).

2. Coinage is the invention of totally new words; e.g., Kleenex, Teflon, Tylenol, Xerox, etc.

3. Borrowing is the process of getting loan words from other languages. For example, in Tagalog and Korean, chocolate and hotel are both loan words from English. Carabao ('water buffalo') and boondocks ('a place far away from civilization'; not 'mountain') are Tagalog words in English; and kimchi and taekwondo ('the way of the legs and fist') are Korean words in English.

Another form of borrowing are loan phrases or calques, which are phrases translated word-for-word from the donor language to the borrowing language.

An example are the Korean words for boyfriend and girlfriend. According to our Korean informants, these words are "new"; they are not used by older generations of Koreans.

Another example of loan translations are names of subjects in Korean: 

The names of subjects in Korean (above) are calques of the etymologies of the English words: Simlihak ('mind' + 'study' = Psychology) and Sengmulhak ('life' + 'study' = Biology). Both are also examples of Compounding in Korean. Below, the Tagalog Bahay-bata ('house' + 'child' = Womb) is an example of Compounding in Tagalog.

4. Compounding is the process of combining two or more whole morphemes together to form a new word. This is a very common process in English. An example in Tagalog is bahay kubo or 'nipa hut' (but literally, 'cube house') and bahay-bata ('house' + 'child' = womb)

Examples of Compounding in Korean.

5. Blending is the process of forming a new term by using only parts of morphemes (see Clipping) below. Examples in English include motel (motorist + hotel) and brunch (breakfast + lunch).


6. Clipping is the process of reducing a word into it's brief (abbreviated) form; e.g., doctor --> doc and veterinarian --> vet.

7. Acronymy is the formation of words using the initial letters (e.g., Department of Science and Technology -- > DOST) or syllables (e.g., Department of Education --> DepEd) of a group of words. An example in Tagalog is the KKK, or Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan ('Highest and Most Respected Society of Children of the Nation').

Examples of Acronymy in Philippine English, Tagalog, and Korean. According to our Korean informant, Koreans only use English for acronyms and that English acronyms can be "spelled" in the Korean syllabary.

8. Inflection is the process of giving the different "forms" of a word (allomorphs). This does not change the part of speech or the meaning of a word. For example, English noun plurals: pencil --> pencils and verb tenses: to walk --> walked (past) and walks (present singular) and walk (present plural). (The form will walk is NOT an inflection; but the use of the modal will). Note that the English plural and the tenses of the verb are formed using suffixes.

Korean noun plurals (above) and possessives (below). In Korean, "dl" is the plural morpheme (that can be used with any class of noun) and "ui" is the possessive morpheme.

Tenses of the verb in Tagalog (above) and Korean (below). Tagalog uses prefixes (and reduplication in present and future) while Korean uses suffixes like English. "Geot" becomes "Geol" in the past and future because the latter is easier to say with the suffixes "ut da" and "ul geot i da". (The "geot" in the future suffix "ul geot i da" is a different "word" from geotda, 'to walk'.

Two unique affixes in Tagalog are infixes (gitlapi) within a word and circumfixes (kabilaan) on both the front and after the word (and cannot be treated as separate affixes like the English international).

9. Derivation is the process of forming words by changing the part of speech of a word. In English we have the noun ease, the verb to ease (and it's inflections eased, eases, and ease), the adjective easy and the adverb easily.

Philippine Revolutionary Literature

For our selections of literature from the National Capital Region (Metropolitan Manila), we will have a survey of literature written during the Philippine Revolution against Spain. Literature was very much part of the fight for reforms and eventually independence as are weapons. The  Propaganda Movement in Spain, composed of the likes of Graciano López Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar, and José Rizal published the newspaper La Solidaridad to press for reforms in the Spanish legislature. When Dr. Rizal returned home, he founded the La Liga Filipina, as the Manila chapter of the Propaganda Movement. Andrés Bonifacio was originally a Liga member, founded the Katipunan to fight for independence through armed revolt. Even so, literature was still part of the fight of the Katipunan for independence.

A mural of Andres Bonifacio painted by National Artist Carlos "Botong" Francisco.

"LOVE OF COUNTRY"

by Andres Bonifacio

The poem “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Bayan” (‘Love of One’s Country’) is a poem written by one of the founders of the Katipunan, Andrés Bonifacio, and was published on the only issue of the newspaper Kalayaan (‘Freedom’) in March 1896. While generally viewed as a practical man, contrary to popular notion, he was not illiterate. Although he did not finish formal education, he was self-educated. Her read books on the French Revolution (which was his inspiration to establish the Katipunan), and novels like Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, and José Rizal's Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo. He also could speak a little English, which he learned while working at J. M. Fleming & Co.

 

Below is the Tagalog text from Jose P. Santos’ Si Andres Bonifacio at ang Himagsikan (‘Andres Bonifacio and the Revolution’) published in Manila in 1935. The English translation was written by Teodoro Agoncillo in his The Writings and Trial of Andres Bonifacio (1963).

TAGALOG	ENGLISH
1. Aling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya sa pagka-dalisay at pagka-dakila gaya ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa? Alin pag-ibig pa? Wala na nga, wala.	What love can be purer and greater than love of country? What love? No other love, none.
2. Ulit-ulitin mang basahin ng isip at isa-isahing talastasing pilit ang salita’t buhay na limbag at titik ng isang katauhan ito’y namamasid.	Even when the mind repeatedly reads and try to understand the history that is written and printed by humanity, this (love of country) can be seen.
3. Banal na pag-ibig pag ikaw ang nukal sa tapat na puso ng sino’t alinman, imbit taong gubat, maralita’t mangmang nagiging dakila at iginagalang.	Holy love! when born of a pure heart, the humble and the backwoodsman, the poor, the unlettered become great and respected.
4. Pagpuring lubos ang nagiging hangad sa bayan ng taong may dangal na ingat, umawit, tumula, kumatha’t sumulat, kalakhan din nila’y isinisiwalat.	Love of country is always the desire of a man with honor; In songs, in poetry, in his writings the greatness of the country is always the theme.
5. Walang mahalagang hindi inihandog ng pusong mahal sa Bayang nagkupkop, dugo, yaman, dunong, tiisa’t pagod, buhay ma’y abuting magkalagot-lagot.	Nothing dear to a person with a pure heart is denied to the country that gave him birth: blood, wealth, knowledge, sacrifices, E'en if life itself ends.
6. Bakit? Ano itong sakdal nang laki na hinahandugan ng buong pag kasi na sa lalong mahal kapangyayari at ginugugulan ng buhay na iwi.	Why? what is this that is so big to which is dedicated with utmost devotion, all that is dear and to which life is sacrificed.
7. Ay! Ito’y ang Inang Bayang tinubuan, siya’y ina’t tangi na kinamulatan ng kawili-wiling liwanag ng araw na nagbibigay init sa lunong katawan.	Ah, this is the Mother country of one's birth, she is the mother on whom the soft rays of the sun shine, which gives strength to the weak body.
8. Sa kanya’y utang ang unang pagtanggol ng simoy ng hanging nagbigay lunas, sa inis na puso na sisinghap-singhap, sa balong malalim ng siphayo’t hirap.	To her one owes the first kiss of the wind that is the balm of the oppressed heart drowning in the deep well of misfortune and suffering.
9. Kalakip din nito’y pag-ibig sa Bayan ang lahat ng lalong sa gunita’y mahal mula sa masaya’t gasong kasanggulan. hanggang sa katawan ay mapasa-libingan.	Entwined with this is love of country, everything that is dear to the memory, from the happy and careless childhood to the hour of death.
10. Ang na nga kapanahon ng aliw, ang inaasahang araw na darating ng pagka-timawa ng mga alipin, liban pa ba sa bayan tatanghalin?	The bygone days of joy, the future that is hoped will free the slaves, where can this be found but in one's native land?
11. At ang balang kahoy at ang balang sanga na parang niya’t gubat na kaaya-aya sukat ang makita’t sasa-ala-ala ang ina’t ang giliw lampas sa saya.	Every tree and branch of her fields and forest joyful to behold, 'tis enough to see them to remember the mother, the loved one, and the happiness now gone.
12. Tubig niyang malinaw sa anak’y bulog bukal sa batisang nagkalat sa bundok malambot na huni ng matuling agos na nakaa-aliw sa pusong may lungkot.	Her clear waters -- they come from the mountain springs, the soft whisper of the rushing wavelets enlivens the sorrowing heart.
13. Sa kaba ng abang mawalay sa Bayan! gunita ma’y laging sakbibi ng lumbay walang ala-ala’t inaasam-asam kundi ang makita’ng lupang tinubuan.	How unfortunate to be separated from the country! Even memory is in sorrow's embrace, nothing is desired but to see the country of one's birth.
14. Pati na’ng magdusa’t sampung kamatayan waring masarap kung dahil sa Bayan at lalong maghirap, O! himalang bagay, lalong pag-irog pa ang sa kanya’y alay.	Misfortune and death seem lighter When we suffer them for our country And the more that for it we suffer, The more our love grows – oh, marvel! *
15. Kung ang bayang ito’y nasa panganib at siya ay dapat na ipagtangkilik ang anak, asawa, magulang, kapatid isang tawag niya’y tatalikdang pilit.	If this country is in danger and she needs defending, Forsaken are the children, the wife, the parents, the brothers and sisters at the country's beck and call.
16. Datapwa kung bayan ng ka-Tagalogan ay nilalapastangan at niyuyurakan katwiran, puri niya’t kamahalan ng sama ng lilong ibang bayan.	And if our land, Filipinas, ** is offended and her honor, reason, and dignity outraged, by a traitorous foreign country;
17. Di gaano kaya ang paghinagpis ng pusong Tagalog sa puring nalait at aling kaluoban na lalong tahimik ang di pupukawin sa paghihimagsik?	What unhappiness and grief will invade the heart of the Filipino? ** And will not even the most peaceful Rise to avenge her honor?
18. Saan magbubuhat ang paghihinay sa paghihiganti’t gumugol ng buhay kung wala ring ibang kasasadlakan kundi ang lugami sa ka-alipinan?	Where will the strength to take revenge and to throw away life come, if none can be relied upon for help, but those suffering from slavery?
19. Kung ang pagka-baon niya’t pagka-busabos sa lusak ng daya’t tunay na pag-ayop supil ng pang-hampas tanikalang gapos at luha na lamang ang pinaa-agos	If his suffering and slavery are in the mire of deceit and oppression, one holds the whip, the chains that bind, and only tears are allowed to roll down.
20. Sa kanyang anyo’y sino ang tutunghay na di-aakayin sa gawang magdamdam pusong naglilipak sa pagka-sukaban na hindi gumagalang dugo at buhay.	Who is there to whom her condition Will not fill the soul with sorrow? Will the heart most hardened by treachery Not be moved to give her its life blood?
21. Mangyari kayang ito’y masulyap ng mga Tagalog at hindi lumingap sa naghihingalong Inang nasa yapak ng kasuklam-suklam na Castilang hamak.	Will not, perchance, her sorrow Drive the Filipinos ** to come to the rescue of the mother in agony, trampled underfoot by the mean Spaniards?
22. Nasaan ang dangal ng mga Tagalog, nasaan ang dugong dapat na ibuhos? bayan ay inaapi, bakit di kumikilos? at natitilihang ito’y mapanuod.	Where is the honor of the Filipino? where is the blood that should be shed? The country is being oppressed, why not make a move, you are shocked witnessing this.
23. Hayo na nga kayo, kayong ngang buhay sa pag-asang lubos na kaginhawahan at walang tinamo kundi kapaitan, kaya nga’t ibigin ang naaabang bayan.	Go, you who have lived in the full hope of comfort, and who reaped nothing but bitterness, Go and love the oppressed country.
24. Kayong antayan na sa kapapasakit ng dakilang hangad sa batis ng dibdib muling pabalungit tunay na pag-ibig kusang ibulalas sa bayang piniit.	You who, from the stream of your breast, have lost the holy desire to sacrifice, Once more let true love flow, express that love for the imprisoned country.
25. Kayong nalagasan ng bunga’t bulaklak kahoy niyaring buhay na nilant sukat ng bala-balakit makapal na hirap muling manariwa’t sa baya’y lumiyag.	You from whom the fruit and flowers of your life have been plucked by intrigues and incomparable sufferings, once more freshen up and love thy country.
26. Kayong mga pusong kusang [inihapay] ng dagat at bagsik ng ganid na asal, ngayon magbangon’t baya’y itanghal agawin sa kuko ng mga sukaban.	You, [whose hearts are brought low] of cheating and oppression of the mean in actions, now rise up and save the country, snatch it from the claws of the tyrant.
27. Kayong mga dukhang walang tanging [palad] kundi ang mabuhay sa dalita’t hirap, ampunin ang bayan kung nasa ay lunas sapagkat ang ginhawa niya ay sa lahat.	You who are poor [whose only lot] except to live in poverty and suffering, protect the country if your desire is to end your sufferings, for her progress is for all.
28. Ipaghandog-handog ang buong pag-ibig hanggang sa mga dugo’y ubusang itigis kung sa pagtatanggol, buhay ay [iubos] ito’y kapalaran at tunay na langit.	Dedicate with all your love -- as long there is blood -- shed every drop of it, If for the defense of the country life is [spent] this is fate and true glory.

Notes:

Words in [square brackets] are illegible from Jose P. Santos but interpolated from a manuscript from the General Military Archives in Madrid.

* Bonifacio calls the country “Katagalugan” and the people “Tagalog”, but here rendered as “Filipinas” and “Filipino(s)” respectively.

** The fourteenth stanza has been left out of the Agoncillo translation perhaps due to a printing error. The translation supplied here is from the Philippine Review (January-February 1918).

For a study on the Tagalog texts of this poem and its English translations, check out the article in Google Drive here.

 

THE PRIMER OF THE KATIPUNAN

by Emilio Jacinto 

The Kartilya ng Katipunan (‘Primer of the Katipunan’), originally written by Andres Bonifacio and revised by Emilio Jacinto, the “Brains of the Katipunan”, was a guidebook for new members of the Katipunan. It was written in the form of the Ten Commandments.

TAGALOG	ENGLISH
1.    Ang buhay na hindi ginugugol sa isang malaki at banal na kadahilanan ay kahoy na walang lilim, kundi damong makamandag.	1.   A life that is not spent in the service of a great and noble cause is like a tree without a shade, or like a poisonous weed.
2.    Ang gawang magaling na nagbuhat sa paghahambog o pagpipita sa sarili, at hindi talagang nasang gumawa ng kagalingan, ay di kabaitan.	2.   The good work that is done out of self-interest and not for its own sake has no merit.
3.    Ang tunay na kabanalan ay ang pagkakawang-gawa, ang pag-ibig sa kapwa at ang isukat ang bawat kilos, gawa't pangungusap sa talagang Katuwiran.	3.   True piety consists in doing good to others, in loving one’s neighbor and in making right reason the rule for every action, work and word.
4.    Maitim man o maputi ang kulay ng balat, lahat ng tao'y magkakapantay; mangyayaring ang isa'y hihigtan sa dunong, sa yaman, sa ganda...; ngunit di mahihigtan sa pagkatao.	4.   All men are equal whether the color of their skin be white or black. One man may surpass another in wisdom, wealth or beauty, but not in that which makes him a man.
5.    Ang may mataas na kalooban, inuuna ang puri kaysa pagpipita sa sarili; ang may hamak na kalooban, inuuna ang pagpipita sa sarili kaysa sa puri.	5.   The magnanimous man puts honor before self-interest; the mean-spirited man, self-interest before honor.
6.    Sa taong may hiya, salita'y panunumba.	6.   The word of a man of sensibility is as good as an oath.
7.    Huwag mong sayangin ang panahon; ang yamang nawala'y mangyayaring magbalik; ngunit panahong nagdaan ay di na muli pang magdadaan.	7.   Do not squander time, for wealth lost may be recovered, but time that has passed you by will not come your way again.
8.    Ipagtanggol mo ang inaapi; kabakahin ang umaapi.	8. Champion the oppressed and defy the oppressor.
9.    Ang mga taong matalino'y ang may pag-iingat sa bawat sasabihin; matutong ipaglihim ang dapat ipaglihim.	9.   An intelligent person is one who is careful with one’s words, and knows how to keep a secret.
10. Sa daang matinik ng buhay, lalaki ang siyang patnugot ng asawa at mga anak; kung ang umaakay ay tungo sa sama, ang pagtutunguhan ng inaakay ay kasamaan din.	10. In this hazardous life, it is the father who is the leader of the family; if the one leading is headed towards evil, then those following such leader are led into evil as well.
11. Ang babae ay huwag mong tingnang isang bagay na libangan lamang, kundi isang katuwang at karamay sa mga kahirapan nitong buhay; gamitin mo nang buong pagpipitagan ang kanyang kahinaan, at alalahanin ang inang pinagbuharan at nag-iwi sa iyong kasanggulan.	11. Women should not be looked upon as a mere objects for amusement; but should be treated with respect and be recognized as a partner in this hazardous life; in being with her, remember your mother who gave birth to you in this life.
12. Ang di mo ibig gawin sa asawa mo, anak at kapatid, ay huwag mong gagawin sa asawa, anak at kapatid ng iba.	12. That which you do not want to be done to your wife, children, or siblings, do not do unto the wife, children, or siblings of others.