CHAPTER III

My Daily Life in Biñan

Many of us lived in the same house. There were my aunt, two cousins,

and three half-cousins. My aunt was a very old lady, over seventy. She

used to sit on the floor and read the Bible in Tagalog. One cousin

was a maiden lady who liked very much to go to confession and to do

penances. The other cousin, her brother, was a widower.

One of the half-cousins was something of a tomboy. She was quick to

anger but frank and true-hearted. At times, we young folks played

in the street at night. Our elders did not permit us to play in the

house. The tomboy was two or three years older than I and taught me

games. She always treated me as if I were her brother.

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 painting took up the remainder of the afternoon. By

and by came supper, one or two plates of rice with a fish called

ayungin. In the evening we had prayers and then, if it was moonlight,

a cousin and I would play in the street with the others. Fortunately,

I was never ill while away from home. From time to time, I went to my

own village. How long the trip seemed going, and how short coming back!

Many things happened which it would be tiresome to read. Finally,

there came a letter from my sister Saturnina which announced that the

steamer Talim would stop for me on a certain day. I said good-bye

to my numerous friends and teacher. To my teacher, I expressed my

sadness in leaving and my gratitude for his instruction. Although

he had punished me frequently, he did so, I now think, out of the

kindness of his heart; and his heart was heavy when he did it.

I left Biñan on Saturday afternoon, the seventeenth of December,

1870. I was then nine years old. For the first time, I saw what a

steamer really was. It seemed to me most beautiful and in every way

admirable. But I heard my cousin, who was with me, make remarks to

the banquero that were not complimentary to her speed. I was the only

passenger from Biñan. Two sailors put my baggage into a cabin. Then I

went to inspect it. I thought I was going to be without a cabin-mate,

but a Frenchman, Arturo Camps, who was a friend of my father, looked

after me. The journey seemed very long, but finally we arrived

at Kalamba.

Oh! how glad I was to see the shore! At once I wanted to jump

into the first banca. A deckhand took me in his arms and put me

into the captain's boat. Then the Frenchman came and four sailors

rowed us ashore. It is impossible to describe my joy when I saw a

servant waiting for us with a carriage. I jumped in and soon found

myself again in our home, happy in the love of my family. Here end

my recollections of that period of mingled sadness and gladness,

in which, for the first time, I came to know anybody of foreign birth.