Noli Me Tángere

Schoolmaster's Difficulties

El vulgo es necio y pues lo paga, es justo
Hablarle en necio para darle el gusto. [62]

LOPE DE VEGA.

The mountain-encircled lake slept peacefully with that hypocrisy of
the elements which gave no hint of how its waters had the night before
responded to the fury of the storm. As the first reflections of light
awoke on its surface the phosphorescent spirits, there were outlined
in the distance, almost on the horizon, the gray silhouettes of the
little bankas of the fishermen who were taking in their nets and
of the larger craft spreading their sails. Two men dressed in deep
mourning stood gazing at the water from a little elevation: one was
Ibarra and the other a youth of humble aspect and melancholy features.

"This is the place," the latter was saying. "From here your father's
body was thrown into the water. Here's where the grave-digger brought
Lieutenant Guevara and me."

Ibarra warmly grasped the hand of the young man, who went on: "You
have no occasion to thank me. I owed many favors to your father, and
the only thing that I could do for him was to accompany his body to
the grave. I came here without knowing any one, without recommendation,
and having neither name nor fortune, just as at present. My predecessor
had abandoned the school to engage in the tobacco trade. Your father
protected me, secured me a house, and furnished whatever was necessary
for running the school. He used to visit the classes and distribute
pictures among the poor but studious children, as well as provide
them with books and paper. But this, like all good things, lasted
only a little while."

Ibarra took off his hat and seemed to be praying for a time. Then he
turned to his companion: "Did you say that my father helped the poor
children? And now?"

"Now they get along as well as possible and write when they can,"
answered the youth.

"What is the reason?"

"The reason lies in their torn camisas and their downcast eyes."

"How many pupils have you now?" asked Ibarra with interest, after
a pause.

"More than two hundred on the roll but only about twenty-five in
actual attendance."

"How does that happen?"

The schoolmaster smiled sadly as he answered, "To tell you the reasons
would make a long and tiresome story."

"Don't attribute my question to idle curiosity," replied Ibarra
gravely, while he stared at the distant horizon. "I've thought
better of it and believe that to carry out my father's ideas will be
more fitting than to weep for him, and far better than to revenge
him. Sacred nature has become his grave, and his enemies were the
people and a priest. The former I pardon on account of their ignorance
and the latter because I wish that Religion, which elevated society,
should be respected. I wish to be inspired with the spirit of him
who gave me life and therefore desire to know about the obstacles
encountered here in educational work."

"The country will bless your memory, sir," said the schoolmaster,
"if you carry out the beautiful plans of your dead father! You wish
to know the obstacles which the progress of education meets? Well
then, under present circumstances, without substantial aid education
will never amount to much; in the very first place because, even
when we have the pupils, lack of suitable means, and other things
that attract them more, kill off their interest. It is said that in
Germany a peasant's son studies for eight years in the town school,
but who here would spend half that time when such poor results are to
be obtained? They read, write, and memorize selections, and sometimes
whole books, in Spanish, without understanding a single word. [63]
What benefit does our country child get from the school?"

"And why have you, who see the evil, not thought of remedying it?"

The schoolmaster shook his head sadly. "A poor teacher struggles not
only against prejudices but also against certain influences. First,
it would be necessary to have a suitable place and not to do as I
must at present--hold the classes under the convento by the side of
the padre's carriage. There the children, who like to read aloud,
very naturally disturb the padre, and he often comes down, nervous,
especially when he has his attacks, yells at them, and even insults
me at times. You know that no one can either teach or learn under
such circumstances, for the child will not respect his teacher when
he sees him abused without standing up for his rights. In order to
be heeded and to maintain his authority the teacher needs prestige,
reputation, moral strength, and some freedom of action.

"Now let me recount to you even sadder details. I have wished to
introduce reforms and have been laughed at. In order to remedy the evil
of which I just spoke to you, I tried to teach Spanish to the children
because, in addition to the fact that the government so orders, I
thought also that it would be of advantage for everybody. I used the
simplest method of words and phrases without paying any attention to
long rules, expecting to teach them grammar when they should understand
the language. At the end of a few weeks some of the brightest were
almost able to understand me and could use a few phrases."

The schoolmaster paused and seemed to hesitate, then, as if making
a resolution, he went on: "I must not be ashamed of the story of
my wrongs, for any one in my place would have acted the same as I
did. As I said, it was a good beginning, but a few days afterwards
Padre Damaso, who was the curate then, sent for me by the senior
sacristan. Knowing his disposition and fearing to make him wait,
I went upstairs at once, saluted him, and wished him good-morning
in Spanish. His only greeting had been to put out his hand for me to
kiss, but at this he drew it back and without answering me began to
laugh loud and mockingly. I was very much embarrassed, as the senior
sacristan was present. At the moment I didn't know just what to say,
for the curate continued his laughter and I stood staring at him. Then
I began to get impatient and saw that I was about to do something
indiscreet, since to be a good Christian and to preserve one's
dignity are not incompatible. I was going to put a question to him
when suddenly, passing from ridicule to insult, he said sarcastically,
'So it's buenos dins, eh? Buenos dias! How nice that you know how
to talk Spanish!' Then again he broke out into laughter."

Ibarra was unable to repress a smile.

"You smile," continued the schoolmaster, following Ibarra's example,
"but I must confess that at the time I had very little desire to
laugh. I was still standing--I felt the blood rush to my head and
lightning seemed to flash through my brain. The curate I saw far,
far away. I advanced to reply to him without knowing just what I was
going to say, but the senior sacristan put himself between us. Padre
Damaso arose and said to me in Tagalog: 'Don't try to shine in borrowed
finery. Be content to talk your own dialect and don't spoil Spanish,
which isn't meant for you. Do you know the teacher Ciruela? [64]
Well, Ciruela was a teacher who didn't know how to read, and he had
a school.' I wanted to detain him, but he went into his bedroom and
slammed the door.

"What was I to do with only my meager salary, to collect which I
have to get the curate's approval and make a trip to the capital of
the province, what could I do against him, the foremost religious
and political power in the town, backed up by his Order, feared by
the government, rich, powerful, sought after and listened to, always
believed and heeded by everybody? Although he insulted me, I had to
remain silent, for if I replied he would have had me removed from my
position, by which I should lose all hope in my chosen profession. Nor
would the cause of education gain anything, but the opposite, for
everybody would take the curate's side, they would curse me and
call me presumptuous, proud, vain, a bad Christian, uncultured,
and if not those things, then anti-Spanish and a filibuster. Of a
schoolmaster neither learning nor zeal is expected; resignation,
humility, and inaction only are asked. May God pardon me if I have
gone against my conscience and my judgement, but I was born in this
country, I have to live, I have a mother, so I have abandoned myself
to my fate like a corpse tossed about by the waves."

"Did this difficulty discourage you for all time? Have you lived
so since?"

"Would that it had been a warning to me! If only my troubles had been
limited to that! It is true that from that time I began to dislike
my profession and thought of seeking some other occupation, as my
predecessor had done, because any work that is done in disgust and
shame is a kind of martyrdom and because every day the school recalled
the insult to my mind, causing me hours of great bitterness. But what
was I to do? I could not undeceive my mother, I had to say to her that
her three years of sacrifice to give me this profession now constituted
my happiness. It is necessary to make her believe that this profession
is most honorable, the work delightful, the way strewn with flowers,
that the performance of my duties brings me only friendship, that the
people respect me and show me every consideration. By doing otherwise,
without ceasing to be unhappy myself, I should have caused more
sorrow, which besides being useless would also be a sin. I stayed on,
therefore, and tried not to feel discouraged. I tried to struggle on."

Here he paused for a while, then resumed: "From the day on which I
was so grossly insulted I began to examine myself and I found that I
was in fact very ignorant. I applied myself day and night to the study
of Spanish and whatever concerned my profession. The old Sage lent me
some books, and I read and pondered over everything that I could get
hold of. With the new ideas that I have been acquiring in one place
and another my point of view has changed and I have seen many things
under a different aspect from what they had appeared to me before. I
saw error where before I had seen only truth, and truth in many
things where I had formerly seen only error. Corporal punishment, for
example, which from time immemorial has been the distinctive feature
in the schools and which has heretofore been considered as the only
efficacious means of making pupils learn--so we have been accustomed
to believe--soon appeared to me to be a great hindrance rather than
in any way an aid to the child's progress. I became convinced that
it was impossible to use one's mind properly when blows, or similar
punishment, were in prospect. Fear and terror disturb the most serene,
and a child's imagination, besides being very lively, is also very
impressionable. As it is on the brain that ideas are impressed,
it is necessary that there be both inner and outer calm, that there
be serenity of spirit, physical and moral repose, and willingness,
so I thought that before everything else I should cultivate in the
children confidence, assurance, and some personal pride. Moreover,
I comprehended that the daily sight of floggings destroyed kindness
in their hearts and deadened all sense of dignity, which is such a
powerful lever in the world. At the same time it caused them to lose
their sense of shame, which is a difficult thing to restore. I have
also observed that when one pupil is flogged, he gets comfort from
the fact that the others are treated in the same way, and that he
smiles with satisfaction upon hearing the wails of the others. As for
the person who does the flogging, while at first he may do it with
repugnance, he soon becomes hardened to it and even takes delight in
his gloomy task. The past filled me with horror, so I wanted to save
the present by modifying the old system. I endeavored to make study
a thing of love and joy, I wished to make the primer not a black book
bathed in the tears of childhood but a friend who was going to reveal
wonderful secrets, and of the schoolroom not a place of sorrows but a
scene of intellectual refreshment. So, little by little, I abolished
corporal punishment, taking the instruments of it entirely away from
the school and replacing them with emulation and personal pride. If
one was careless about his lesson, I charged it to lack of desire
and never to lack of capacity. I made them think that they were more
capable than they really were, which urged them on to study just as
any confidence leads to notable achievements. At first it seemed that
the change of method was impracticable; many ceased their studies,
but I persisted and observed that little by little their minds were
being elevated and that more children came, that they came with more
regularity, and that he who was praised in the presence of the others
studied with double diligence on the next day.

"It soon became known throughout the town that I did not whip
the children. The curate sent for me, and fearing another scene I
greeted him curtly in Tagalog. On this occasion he was very serious
with me. He said that I was exposing the children to destruction,
that I was wasting time, that I was not fulfilling my duties, that
the father who spared the rod was spoiling the child--according
to the Holy Ghost--that learning enters with blood, and so on. He
quoted to me sayings of barbarous times just as if it were enough
that a thing had been said by the ancients to make it indisputable;
according to which we ought to believe that there really existed
those monsters which in past ages were imaged and sculptured in the
palaces and temples. Finally, he charged me to be more careful and to
return to the old system, otherwise he would make unfavorable report
about me to the alcalde of the province. Nor was this the end of my
troubles. A few days afterward some of the parents of the children
presented themselves under the convento and I had to call to my aid
all my patience and resignation. They began by reminding me of former
times when teachers had character and taught as their grandfathers
had. 'Those indeed were the times of the wise men,' they declared,
'they whipped, and straightened the bent tree. They were not boys but
old men of experience, gray-haired and severe. Don Catalino, king of
them all and founder of this very school, used to administer no less
than twenty-five blows and as a result his pupils became wise men
and priests. Ah, the old people were worth more than we ourselves,
yes, sir, more than we ourselves!' Some did not content themselves
with such indirect rudeness, but told me plainly that if I continued
my system their children would learn nothing and that they would be
obliged to take them from the school It was useless to argue with them,
for as a young man they thought me incapable of sound judgment. What
would I not have given for some gray hairs! They cited the authority
of the curate, of this one and that one, and even called attention
to themselves, saying that if it had not been for the whippings
they had received from their teachers they would never have learned
anything. Only a few persons showed any sympathy to sweeten for me
the bitterness of such a disillusioning.

"In view of all this I had to give up my system, which, after so much
toil, was just beginning to produce results. In desperation I carried
the whips bank to the school the next day and began the barbarous
practice again. Serenity disappeared and sadness reigned in the faces
of the children, who had just begun to care for me, and who were my
only kindred and friends. Although I tried to spare the whippings and
to administer them with all the moderation possible, yet the children
felt the change keenly, they became discouraged and wept bitterly. It
touched my heart, and even though in my own mind I was vexed with the
stupid parents, still I was unable to take any spite out on those
innocent victims of their parents' prejudices. Their tears burned
me, my heart seemed bursting from my breast, and that day I left
the school before closing-time to go home and weep alone. Perhaps
my sensitiveness may seem strange to you, but if you had been in my
place you would understand it. Old Don Anastasio said to me, 'So the
parents want floggings? Why not inflict them on themselves?' As a
result of it all I became sick." Ibarra was listening thoughtfully.

"Scarcely had I recovered when I returned to the school to find the
number of my pupils reduced to a fifth. The better ones had run away
upon the return to the old system, and of those who remained--mostly
those who came to school to escape work at home--not one showed any
joy, not one congratulated me on my recovery. It would have been the
same to them whether I got well or not, or they might have preferred
that I continue sick since my substitute, although he whipped them
more, rarely went to the school. My other pupils, those whose parents
had obliged them to attend school, had gone to other places. Their
parents blamed me for having spoiled them and heaped reproaches on
me for it. One, however, the son of a country woman who visited me
during my illness, had not returned on account of having been made
a sacristan, and the senior sacristan says that the sacristans must
not attend school: they would be dismissed."

"Were you resigned in looking after your new pupils?" asked Ibarra.

"What else could I do?" was the queried reply. "Nevertheless, during my
illness many things had happened, among them a change of curates, so
I took new hope and made another attempt to the end that the children
should not lose all their time and should, in so far as possible, get
some benefit from the floggings, that such things might at least have
some good result for them. I pondered over the matter, as I wished that
even if they could not love me, by getting something useful from me,
they might remember me with less bitterness. You know that in nearly
all the schools the books are in Spanish, with the exception of the
catechism in Tagalog, which varies according to the religious order to
which the curate belongs. These books are generally novenas, canticles,
and the Catechism of Padre Astete, [65] from which they learn about
as much piety as they would from the books of heretics. Seeing the
impossibility of teaching the pupils in Spanish or of translating so
many books, I tried to substitute short passages from useful works
in Tagalog, such as the Treatise on Manners by Hortensio y Feliza,
some manuals of Agriculture, and so forth. Sometimes I would myself
translate simple works, such as Padre Barranera's History of the
Philippines, which I then dictated to the children, with at times a
few observations of my own, so that they might make note-books. As
I had no maps for teaching geography, I copied one of the province
that I saw at the capital and with this and the tiles of the floor
I gave them some idea of the country. This time it was the women
who got excited. The men contented themselves with smiling, as they
saw in it only one of my vagaries. The new curate sent for me, and
while he did not reprimand me, yet he said that I should first take
care of religion, that before learning such things the children must
pass an examination to show that they had memorized the mysteries,
the canticles, and the catechism of Christian Doctrine.

"So then, I am now working to the end that the children become changed
into parrots and know by heart so many things of which they do not
understand a single word. Many of them now know the mysteries and
the canticles, but I fear that my efforts will come to grief with
the Catechism of Padre Astete, since the greater part of the pupils
do not distinguish between the questions and the answers, nor do they
understand what either may mean. Thus we shall die, thus those unborn
will do, while in Europe they will talk of progress."

"Let's not be so pessimistic," said Ibarra. "The teniente-mayor has
sent me an invitation to attend a meeting in the town hall. Who knows
but that there you may find an answer to your questions?"

The schoolmaster shook his head in doubt as he answered: "You'll see
how the plan of which they talked to me meets the same fate as mine
has. But yet, let us see!"