Rizal's Own Story Of His Life - free ebook by José Rizal

RIZAL’S “HYMN TO LABOR”

Words by José Rizal (Arranged from Chas. Derbyshire’s translation; lines in different order.) Tune of “The Wearing of the Green” Words by José Rizal (Chas. Derbyshire’s translation) Music by Juan Hernandez...

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RIZAL’S “MARIA CLARA’S LULLABY”

THE AUTHOR AT 14 SIGNATURE ON THE MANUSCRIPT OF THE NOVEL “EL FILIBUSTERISMO” COPYRIGHT 1918 BY AUSTIN CRAIG Registered in the Philippine Islands Rizal’s Painting of his Sister Saturnina ( Afterwards Mrs. Manuel Hidalgo ) Printed in the United States of America (Philippine Islands) Press of E. C. McCullough &amp; Co., Manila, P. I. Dr. W. W. Marquardt suggested this book. Miss Josephine Craig advised and assisted in the selections. Hon. C. E. Yeater read and criticised the original manuscrip

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Assistant Insular Architect Juan Arellano, a colleague of the editor on the Dapitan Rizal national park committee, designed the sampaguita decorations. Mr. A. Garcia achieved creditable illustrations out of poorly preserved photographs whose historical accuracy has not been impaired by the slightest embellishment. And the entire establishment of Messrs. E.C. McCullough &amp; Company—printers, pressmen and bookbinders—labored zealously and enthusiastically to do credit to the imprint: “ Made

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CHAPTER I My Birth and Earliest Years in Kalamba

Mrs. Rizal-Mercado and her two daughters, Saturnina, the eldest, and Trinidad, then a baby In June of 1868, I went to Manila with my father. That was just after the birth of Trinidad, the third sister younger than myself. We went in a casco which turned out to be a clumsy boat. I shall not try to tell how happy I was at each new stop on the banks of the Pasig. Beside this same river, a few years later, I was to be very sad. We went to Cainta, Taytay, and Antipolo, and then to Manila. In Santa An

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CHAPTER II My Schooling in Biñan

I do not want to take up time with telling about the beatings I got, nor shall I attempt to say how it hurt when I received the first ruler blow on my hand. I used to win in the competitions, for no one happened to be better than I. I made the most of these successes. But in spite of the reputation I had of being a good boy, rare were the days in which my teacher did not call me up to receive five or six blows on the hand. When I went out with my companions, they jokingly called me nicknames. Bu

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CHAPTER III My Daily Life in Biñan

My manner of life was simple. I heard mass at four if there were a service so early, or studied my lessons at that hour and went to mass afterwards. Then I went out in the yard and looked for mabolos. Then came breakfast, which generally consisted of a plate of rice and two dried sardines. There was class work till ten o’clock and after lunch a study period. In the afternoon, there was school from two o’clock until five. Next, there would be play with my cousins for a while. Study and perhaps pa

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CHAPTER IV The Injustice Done My Mother

Rizal’s uncle inherited this home in Biñan from Rizal’s grandfather. Once the largest dwelling in Biñan, it is now a cinematograph and the home of two families. The Rizal monument stands in front of it . Guardia Civil soldier . At this time, an uncle of mine, Don José Alberto, returned from Europe. He found that during his absence, his wife had left his home and abandoned her children. The poor man anxiously sought his wife and, at my mother’s earnest request, he took her back. They went to live

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CHAPTER V A Student in Manila

Some of my schoolmates were interesting enough to warrant mentioning them by name. Florencio Gavino Oliva, a young man from my own province, had great talent but he did not work steadily. The same thing was true of Moisés Santiago, a mathematician and a penman. It was also true of Gonzalo Manzano, who then held the position of “Roman Emperor.” Rizal’s favorite teacher in the Ateneo. Father Sanchez visited Rizal in his exile in Dapitan, and helped him start a school for the Dapitan boys In Jesuit

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MY FIRST READING LESSON

On hearing the word “story” I at once opened my eyes wide. The word “story” promised something new and wonderful. I watched my mother while she turned the leaves of the book, as if she were looking for something. Then I settled down to listen. I was full of curiosity and wonder. I had never even dreamed that there were stories in the old book which I read without understanding. My mother began to read me the fable of the young moth and the old one. She translated it into Tagalog a little at a ti

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MY CHILDHOOD IMPRESSIONS

From the introduction which Doctor Rizal put to his Spanish version of an article on “The Transliteration of Tagalog”. His advocacy of the English style used in other Malay countries as more akin to the genius of Filipino dialects was considered extremely unpatriotic by most Spaniards. Pencil Sketch of a Manila School Girl . You perhaps attended a village Spanish school to learn your letters. Possibly, you have had to teach the letters in Spanish to others smaller than yourself. In either case,

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THE SPANISH SCHOOLS OF MY BOYHOOD

In the old times, blows fell like rain. Many pupils were whipped every day. Sometimes the schoolmaster broke the ferule and sometimes he broke the children’s hands. The first pages of their primers fell to pieces from long and hard use. The children cried. Even the monitors had to suffer at times. Yet those syllables which cost the children so many tears are of no use to them. Those syllables are necessary only in the learning of Spanish, which language in my time only three boys in a thousand e

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THE TURKEY THAT CAUSED THE KALAMBA LAND TROUBLE

Father paid this increase on the day set, without a single word of protest, being among the first to pay. But after a few months, there came another note. In it the manager gave notice that the rent would be doubled. This, he said, was because my father was growing rich from the rented land where he had installed machinery for making sugar. My father could not pay this price. Then he was summoned to appear in court; and finally the alcalde ordered him to leave the land. So he lost his houses and

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FROM JAPAN TO ENGLAND ACROSS AMERICA

I visited the larger cities of America, where I saw splendid buildings. The Americans have magnificent ideals. America is a homeland for the poor who are willing to work. I traveled across America, and saw the majestic cascade of Niagara. I was in New York, the great city, but there everything is new. I went to see some relics of Washington, that great man whom I fear has not his equal in this century. I embarked for Europe on the “City of Rome”, said to be the second largest steamer in the worl

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MY DEPORTATION TO DAPITAN

Don Enrique Villamor, the commander of the fort, gave me books from the library. Each day the corporal of the guard proved to be a sergeant. They cleaned the room every morning. For breakfast, I had coffee with milk, a roll, and coffee-cake. Lunch was at 12:30, and consisted of four courses. Dinner was at 8:30, and was similar to the lunch. Commander Villamor’s orderly waited on me. On Thursday, the 14th, about 5:30 or 6 p. m., the nephew notified me that at ten o’clock that night I should sail

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ADVICE TO A NEPHEW

The Proverbs and the Puzzles were published, with comments here omitted, in Truebner’s Oriental Magazine, London, June and July issues of 1889. Rizal’s own English. 1. Low words are stronger than loud words. 2. A petted child is generally naked (i. e. poor). 3. Parents’ punishment makes one fat. 4. New king, new fashion. 5. Man promises while in need. 6. He who believes in tales has no mind of his own. 7. The most difficult to rouse from sleep is the man who pretends to be asleep. 8. Too many wo

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FILIPINO PROVERBS

He carries me, I carry him.—The shoes. A deep well filled with steel blades.—The mouth. Mrs. José Rizal. Wood medallion by Rizal of his wife, made at Dapitan. Her maiden name was Josephine Bracken. She was Irish, but had been adopted by an American. Her foster father became blind and, in hope of recovering his sight, went to Dapitan. There Rizal became engaged to Josephine but could not marry her because a political retraction was required of him before the ceremony would be performed. They were

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FILIPINO PUZZLES

Condensed from the regulations of the Philippine League ( Liga Filipino ), a co-operative economic society which Rizal organized in Manila just before his deportation, in 1892. DON’T gamble. DON’T be a drunkard. DON’T break the laws. DON’T be cruel in any way. DON’T be a rabid partisan. DON’T be merely a faultfinding critic. DON’T put yourself in the way of humiliation. DON’T treat anyone with haughtiness or contempt. DON’T condemn anyone without first hearing his side. DON’T abandon the poor ma

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RIZAL’S DON’TS

DON’T forget those who, worthily, have come to want. DON’T fail those without means who show application and ability. DON’T associate with immoral persons or with persons of bad habits. DON’T overlook the value to our country of new machinery and industries. DON’T ever cease working for the prosperity and welfare of our native land. A pipe which Rizal made, of chalk, in Fort Santiago for his last Christmas gift to his father (Written expressly for the exercises celebrating the erection of the pu

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HYMN TO LABOR

Chorus : For his country in peace, For his country in war, Let the Filipino work, Let him live, let him die. Matrons : Go then joyous to your labor, While the wife awaits you here; With the children learning from her To hold truth and country dear. When night brings you weary homeward May peace and joy await you there; But if fate unkindly frown, She your stubborn task will share. Chorus : For his country in peace, For his country in war, Let the Filipino work, Let him live, let him die. Maidens

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MEMORY GEMS FROM RIZAL’S WRITINGS

I have worked for the good of my native land, I have consecrated my life to the welfare of others. We need criticism to keep us awake. It makes us see our weaknesses so that we may correct them. There are three ways in which one may accompany the course of progress: in front of, beside, or behind it. Where are the young men who will consecrate their best years, their ambitions and their enthusiasms to the welfare of their native land? Manila skyline. Rizal’s last view of the city as the steamer,

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MARIANG MAKILING

The man was charmed by the beauty of the young woman. He went in and ate everything she offered him. But he was not able to speak a single word. Before the hunter left, the young woman gave him some pieces of ginger. She told him to give them to his wife for her cooking. The hunter thanked her and put the roots inside the crown of his broad hat. On the way home his hat felt heavy. So he took out a number of the pieces and threw them away. He was surprised and sorry the next day when his wife dis

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A CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF JOSÉ RIZAL

1875, June 14. Age 14. —Became a boarder in the Ateneo . 1876, March 23. Age 15. —Received the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree, with highest honors, from Ateneo de Manila . June. —Entered Sto. Tomás University in Philosophy course. 1877, June. Age 16. —Matriculated in medical course. Won Liceo Artístico-Literario prize, in poetical competition for “Indians and Mestizos”, with poem “To Philippine Youth.” Nov. 29. —Awarded diploma of honorable mention and merit by Royal Economic Society of Friends

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REFERENCES A READING LIST

— My Last Thought and other Poems. Translations by Charles Derbyshire and A. P. Fergusson. — Mariang Makiling. A folk tale. (These titles are in the Noli Me Tangere Quarter-Centennial Series , edited by Austin Craig. Translations are by Charles Derbyshire.) Manila, 1912. Manuscript of Rizal’s Great Novel, now in the Philippine Library . El Filibusterismo is the second part, or sequel, of the novel Noli me tangere. Rizal’s first novel told the Filipinos of their faults; this book warned Spain of

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Diploma of Merit won by José Rizal

My Last Thought “Farewell, beloved Fatherland, thou sunny clime of ours, Pearl of the Orient Ocean, our lost Paradise! For thee my life I give, nor mourn its saddened hours; And were’t more bright, strewn less with thorns and more with flowers, For thee I still would give it, a welcome sacrifice.” The alcohol lamp in which Rizal hid the poem, called “My Last Thought,” which he wrote in the night after he learned that he was to die. The original poem, whose ink shows the effects of the alcohol, i

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PHILIPPINE NATIONAL HYMN

Words by L. H. Theobald Music arranged from the Toreador’s song in the opera “CARMEN”...

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Corrections

The following corrections have been applied to the text:...

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