Historical: Was Rizal anything but a lack-wit in English?
Balita News
TUGUEGARAO,MAr. 11 (PNA) --Dr. Jose Rizal's versatility is
well-founded. He has been put on a pedestal not only as a writer, a
Hispanist, a sculptor, a painter, a nationalist, a literary artist, a
dramatist, a physician, an engineer, a scientist and a farmer but
also a great lover.
The number of languages that Rizal knew, it is said, was matched
only by the number of women in his life. Towering above his romantic
escapades, however, in which he was ever the gentlemen was his love
for his native land.
Rizal knew no less than 22 languages; and he mastered the Queen's
language or English to win for him his wife, Josephine Leopoldine
Bracken. Rizal extolled this woman as "Dulce Extranjera" in one of
his poems. As a final proof of his being a witty Lothario, his
marriage with the Irish beauty which lasted for 15 minutes was made
memorable with Rizal's last gift: a prayer book. The dedication which
Rizal wrote on this book - "La Imitacion de Cristo" - was in English,
thus:
"To my dear and unhappy wife Josephine
December 30th, 1896 Jose Rizal"
The joy and anguish that attended Rizal's checkered career found
expression in his poems, plays, and finally, in his two novels -
"Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo". Although he was proficient
in English, he preferred to write these two novels and a majority of
his works in Spanish, for the latter then, was a universal language.
Much, indeed, have been written about our national hero; but
nothing or very little has been said about Rizal's proficiency in the
English language. The Queen,s language was spoken by the great North
American nation which Rizal in his book, "The Philippines, a Century
Hence", a prophesied would eventually dominate our country. Today,
English has become the language of prestige, the medium of
international commerce and industry; and more prominently, the
vehicle in today's literary scene.
As such, are the English-speaking youth of today in our country
aware of the fact that Rizal also loved using Shakespeare's language?
Do they realize that Rizal's English was faulty or was found wanting
in grammar and correct usage? Yet, in spite of these limitations,
Rizal was never impatient in expressing himself in the English
lannguage.
It will be remembered that Dr. Jose Rizal stayed many months in
London, because he made researches in the British Museum while
copying and editing Dr. Antonio Morga's "Sucesos de las Islas
Filipinas". As an eye doctor, he resided and practised in Hong Kong
before his second return to the Philippines in 1892. For this reason,
he had more opportunities to learn the English language. While he was
a teacher to 20 pupils in Dapitan (including the home servants),
Rizal taught the English language combined with nature study and
industrial instructions.
Although Rizal was equipped with a knowledge of many languages, he
never lost heart to communicate with some foreign and Filipino
friends in the languages they spoke and understood. For example,
Ferdinand Blumetritt wrote to Rizal in German; Edilberto Evangelista,
Jose Alejandrino and some European friends, in French; Dr. Lorenzo
Marquez, in Portuguese and Dr. Reinhold Rost, Adelina Boustead and
Josephine Leopoldine Bracken, in English.
In his latter letters, Rizal proves that he really loved using
Shakespeare's language. Now, we may ask: Did Rizal attain the same
facility in English as he had in German, French and Latin?
Take note of this particular letter, which he wrote to his sister
Josefa in Dapitan on October 26, 1893:
"Dearest Sister: Yours at heand. I am very glad
to see you nearly master the English language.
I should be very glad if you all come here;
here is not so warm as there; our house here
is small but the ground is large and it is
situated between lovely mountains.
You will receive from the Chinese Pedro
Cuesta $20, 10 out of them for a lottery ticket,
and the 10 remaining for different things. The
$50 I was going to send there, you will not
receive them perhaps as I dispose of them.
Send my best regards to Don Pepe.
Let me call your attention to an English word
that you do not write properly. They are (ellos
son); there (alli), No hay confundir estas casas.
This is the only fault I found in your letter.
Tell father that I would like to see him; I hope
we shall see one another very soon. Kiss him
the hand for me.
Thanks for the paper, and for everything
you sent here".
Unexpectedly, on June 5, 1894, Rizal wrote a letter to Manuel T.
Hidalgo where he announced the beginning of what would have been an
important work; the preparation of an English-Tagalog Vocabulary.
Rizal, we are sure, could not have ventured to go into its
preparation if he were not certain of an adequate command of the
English language.
Swan Song
While Rizal was in exile in Dapitan, he lived with his wife,
Josephine Leopoldine Bracken and to her he wrote his swan song in
English. Aside from this dedication written in the copy of "Imitation
of Christ", Rizal gave his two sisters-Trinidad and Josefa-a souvenir
that day when he faced the firing squad. His sisters, together with
their mother, were the early visitors that day. Besides the copy of
"Ancora de Salvacion", he gave Trinidad an alcohol lamp, while
advising her in English that there was something inside it; so the
guards at watch could not understand him evidently, those were the
last English words Rizal uttered. The English words have really saved
for posterity Rizal's "Mi Ultimo Adios".
Unfortunately, no other copies or facsimiles of the other letters
written by Rizal are available. Other copies of his letters would
certainly give proof to Rizal's preference in English aside from
Spanish.
On one occasion, one day in December, 1905, William Jennings
Bryan, "The Great American Commoner", said in his Rizal Day address .
. . "Rizal, though dead is a living rebuke to the scholar who
selfishly enjoys the privilege of an ample education and does not
impart the benefits of it to his fellows".
Rizal's example is worth much to the Filipino youth of today who
have considered English their second language. Although our speaking
and writing abound in every conceivable form, let the English
language mirror the diverse texture of our society next to our home
language, whether or not you are a half-wit or a lack-wit with
Shakespeare's tongue. (PNA) JV/PSL/JCN/MBA
PNA 03111034