Really, Speaking Greek

Notes on Aristotle’s Poetics

While some critics primarily consider Poetics a counterattack to Plato’s banishing of poets from [in] theRepublic, Aristotle’s treatise on art, poetry, epic, and tragedy clearly marks out the history of literary criticism. Rather than concluding that poets should be banished from the perfect society, as does Plato, Aristotle attempts to describe the social function and the ethical utility of art.

Poetics places emphasis on the formative nature of art—while predecessor Plato esteems idealism and abstractions as the highest forms of truth to gain wisdom, Aristotle stresses the importance or primacy of the particular imitations of nature.

According to Aristotle, criticism should not be simply the application of unexamined aesthetic principles in its context within the work—but should pay attention to the overall function of feature of a work of art. Therefore, Poetics lays bare the anatomy of art, as in a scientist—carefully accounting for the features of each species cited in the text—most forms by the way are the ones that existed during those times.

Exploring the forms of art during Aristotle’s time, Poetics particularly discusses the practical details of the forms of imitation, which he termed mimesis.  The treatment of the forms or modes of representation is meticulous as Aristotle presents as many definitions as the terms themselves. For instance, Aristotle goes into detail, when he cites the types of tragic plots. He also names specific terms to explicate that unity of plot is indispensably necessary. In Book 17, Aristotle gives poets some pointers on how to construct a tragedy—or how tragedy is constructed by playwrights who were awarded in Dionysian festivals.

Especially drawing on Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Aristotle cites the six salient parts of tragedy in order of importance—plot, character, thought, diction, music or melody and spectacle.  Zooming in on the good plots, Poetics prefers the plausibility and logically connected order centered on one unified action, simultaneously frowning on multiple, divergent plots which it also deems unnecessary. Poetics suggests that the best kind of resolution to these plots is one that shows a reversal (peripeteia) of position for the main character—and a character’s recognition (anagnorisis) of his or her fate. For best effect, so to speak, characters should come from high positions in order to render remarkable tragic circumstances, and their fates must be linked to their own error, and not some accident or wickedness (hamartia).

According to Norton’s Anthology of Theory and Criticism, Aristotle’s seminal work on art renders us a number of implications for the modern critics.  First, its systematic categorization of genus and species and its comparison of tragedy and epic are said to now underlie all genre theory—“undergirding modern considerations of the historical movement from epic to the novel. Second, its systematic description of plot and its component parts basically ground contemporary narrative theory, especially the technical field of narratology. 

Third, its scientific examination of poetry—championed by the American New Critics—rather just validates it as a legitimate branch of study.  Next, it affirms that poetry is a source of universal knowledge of human behavior, i.e. unlike history that produces knowledge of specific situations, poetry describes actions of characters who might be any human beings.  Lastly, to which most critics agree, good poetry renders us catharsis, primarily read as purgation of unwieldy emotion. 

Through time, catharsis, roughly a sense of moral purification that arises in an individual from being exposed to tragedy has come to mean ethical or intellectual clarification.

***

Aristotle’s Poetics clearly marks out the beginnings of literary theory and criticism. 

In this age-old treatise, Aristotle provides both a history of the development of poetry and drama, and a critical framework for evaluating tragic drama. It is considered the first systematic essay in literary theory because it is full of insight and shows a high degree of flexibility in the application of its general rules.

More inclined to forming categories and organizing them into coherent systems than his teacher Plato (who highly esteemed a cerebral Theory of Forms), Aristotle conversely treated the discussion of poetry as a natural scientist, carefully accounting for the features of each “species” of text.

In the twenty six books perhaps gathered as notes by his pupils, three points stand out as probably the most important. First is the interpretation of poetry as mimesis. In Chapters 1–3, all poetry, Aristotle argues, is imitation or mimesis. Poetry springs from a basic human delight in mimicry. Humans learn through imitating and take pleasure in looking at imitations of the perceived world. The mimetic dimension of the poetic arts is always representational. As artistic representation, mimesis in poetry is the act of telling stories that are set in the real world. The events in the story need not have taken place, but the telling of the story will help the listener or viewer to imagine the events taking place in the real world.

Furthermore, representations of human beings in poetry can be sorted into three categories—depictions of humans as better than they really are, depictions of humans as they are in reality, and depictions of humans as worse than they really are. It then distinguishes three types of poetry—tragedy, comedy and epic poetry, perhaps just like an anatomist labels parts of the human body.

In particular, Aristotle focuses his discussion on tragedy, which uses dramatic, rather than narrative, form, and deals with agents who are better than us, ourselves. Aristotle writes the famous opening line in Book 6, which sums up the centerpiece of his work—

Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.

Aristotle lists six components of tragedy—plot or mythos,character, thought, diction, melody, and spectacle. While diction and melody are the style of the text or lyrics, and the music to which some of them are set; spectacle refers to staging, lighting, sets, costumes, etc. Thought refers to the indications, given primarily through words but also through other means, of what the characters are thinking.

Of the six parts, Aristotle insisted on the primacy and unity of plot.  While plot as representation of human action can either besimple or complex, Aristotle stresses that complex plots are required for successful tragedies. Here, the plot must be unified, clearly displaying a beginning, a middle, and an end, and must be of sufficient length to fully represent the course of actions but not very long that the audience loses attention and interest.

Unfolding through an internal logic and causality, a complex plot should consist of a hero going from happiness to misery. The hero should be portrayed consistently and in a good light (and the poet should also remain true to what we know of the character).For Aristotle, then, action—represented as the plot—must be consistent with character—and more importantly reveal character.

Furthermore, a number of terms can illuminate how complex plot works successfully for tragedy. Hamartia, translated directly as “error,” is often a “tragic flaw” on the part of the hero that causes his very downfall—this error need not be an overarching moral failing, rather only a matter of not knowing something or forgetting something. Employed along with it is anagnorisis or“recognition,” a part in tragedy—often at the climax—where the hero, or some other character, passes from ignorance to knowledge. This could be a recognition of a long lost friend or family member or a sudden recognition of some fact about oneself, as the case of Oedipus in Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex. Therefore, the concept of mythos is about how the elements of a tragedy come together to form a coherent and unified whole—in such a way that the overall message or impression that we come away with is what is conveyed to us by the mythos of a piece.

Equally prominent in the Aristotelian treatise is the notion of catharsis. For him, such tragic plot must serve to arouse the emotions of pity and fear and effect a catharsis of these emotions. While some critics forever debate the meaning of the term,Aristotle’s reference to the purging of the emotions of pity and fear aroused in the viewer always links it to the positive social function of tragedy—in general, the ethical utility of art.

Thus, it is a truth universally acknowledged that Aristotle’sPoetics established the beginning of literary theory and criticism, in that it started the discussion of poetic art as representation of reality, a contention held true even today.

Its “species-concerned” treatment of the components of poetic art also initiated the recent and ongoing discourses on the classification of literary forms and types or genres, or genre theory, a structuralist approach to literary, film and cultural theories.

Its concept of the three unities—those of action, place and time—was even taken to its most austere limits during the Renaissance and the succeeding European periods.

Above all, it ushered in for the succeeding eras the importance of the value of art itself, which is one of moral instruction, a concept taken always seriously in the discussion of literature.

Speaking Greek

Random Clarifications on Plato’s Republic

All art and poetry—representing what is already an inferior representation of the true original—only leads further away from the truth—and further into a world of illusion and deception.

The above statement is said to sum up Plato’s sentiment in the Republic, an age-old treatise on philosophy which does not recognize the importance of poets and artists in an ideal, well-regulated community promoting respect for law, reason, authority, self-discipline and piety.

Between his student Aristotle and himself, the great Plato is notorious for being the idealist, while the son of the medical doctor is the pragmatic theorist.

Infamous for attacking mimesis, Plato rather explores the nature of knowledge and its proper objects.

Plato thus proclaims that the world we perceive depends on a prior realm of separately existing forms organized beneath the form of Good. According to him, the realm of forms is accessible not through the senses [as is the world of appearances] but only through rigorous philosophic discussion and thought based on mathematical reasoning.

For Plato’s Socrates, measuring, counting and weighing all bring us closer to the realm of forms, and not poetry’s pale representations of nature.

In an effort to censor Homer, Plato’s Socrates often cites Homer’sIliad and Odyssey, calling for the censorship of many passages in these works [because they] represent sacrilegious, sentimental, unlawful and irrational behavior.

Through Republic and his other works, Plato insinuates that literature must teach goodness and grace. Such relentless application of this standard to all literature, however, marks one of the most noteworthy beginnings of the ancient quarrel between philosophy and poetry.

thinkingweek2010.blogspot.com

Heaven Is a Place on Plate

Dining Out and Other Cafeteria Eathics

Any sensible urban worker who is given no choice but fetch food from sources made accessible in a civilized jungle called a city or a university must acquire some neighborly ethics if he is to properly feed himself and achieve something through the day. Eating in cafeterias or similar types of food sources requires that he learn a number of things on how to feed on properly and hopefully be nourished.

Dito Po ang Pila

Kun habo mong dai ka matunawan, magsunod ka sa linya kan mga nagkaerenot nang nag-oororder. Dawa halabaon na an pila, dawa huri ka na sa appointment, dai ka nanggad magsingit sa iba, o samantalahon na magpa-cute sa kabisto mong crew just to get ahead. Mayong maoogma sa bentahuso kundi si Taning sana. Magsala, sa kagagama-gama mong maenot kang makakua nin kakanon, mataon lugod saimo an tutong na torta, tipo kan sinapna, o tunok kan lapu-lapu.

Patience is virtue—gustong sabihon, saro ‘ning timeless na kostumbre o pag-uugali na nakakapamarhay sa siisay man na tawo. Dawa idtong barbarong ninuno ta mga perang oras naghalat bago nagluwas an usa sa ampas saka niya nasilô ‘ni. Ngonyan na mga panahon, sa kadlagan na inaapod tang siyudad o unibersidad, dai ka na masiod nin manok bago makanamit nin tinola. Mahalat ka na sanang ilapiga an paa o mailatag an pecho sa saimong plato kaya dai na kaipuhan magpalakpalak o magputakputak ta ngani sana makapanogok.

Just follow the crowd, toe the line, keep your cool, then ask for what you want, and dine.

Bawal An Dagdag

Kun bisto mo an crew, pwede ka gayod magpadagdag. But unless you badly need that extra spare rib or cabbage leaves [which are probably pesticides-grown anyway], do not ask for extra amount of anything from the one that dispenses your food. So you insist, okay, ask if you can order half.

But you hard worker certainly do not deserve half serving of anything, unless you give your company or your country half of what it deserves from you. Scrimp and scrape you do. Perhaps save in other things like marked-down CDs or cheaper thrills or retail cellphone loads or bargained 3 for P100 FHMs—but for your food, spare this idea of saving.

 

Better yet, order dishes in full, so the idea of dagdag is out of question. The more you are inclined to haggling, the more it will appear to the crew that you are hungry—and this does not help because the crew will never be concerned with your hunger. They are just there assigned to portion and dispense properly for the business. And nowadays, the crew does not dispense the reasonable amount of food you are charged. But it is okay that the food given to you appears “unreasonable.” Just think you will be dispensed more amounts next time.

The cafeteria business, just like fast-food giants, places importance on one marketing aspect called food portioning. Because the prices of raw materials and ingredients required for preparing food will never be saved from inflation, profits from this business are sensibly drawn from the quantity of food the business prepares and the quantity of food it can save to feed its own staff. Well, you know. But the advantage here is that the cafeteria food can be assured of the presence of freshness and the absence of trans-fats.

Dahil kadaklan na beses bawal an dagdag, mag-andam ka na sanang mag-order nin duwa tolong panira, bako sanang saro. Kun habo mo nanggad mabitin.

Logically, when you do, you are not just paying for the food, but essentially the service, services? rendered to you—which includes, among others, a clean washed plate [hopefully free of the smell of dishwashing liquid], a properly bussed table, despite its being in a mess hall; ventilation or air-conditioning, whether or not you personally require it; and of course the food itself that has probably undergone some quality control in the kitchen.

No need to argue

Talking about quality control, consider the next ethical principle in cafeteria dining. By all means, despite all tensions and stress pressed on by hunger, never ever argue with the service crew. Certainly in no instance should you get disappointed or intimidated by anyone who gives you your food even though you find it unpleasant or disagreeable.

While not all of them are likely to be trained to suit your dining ethics, it is important to treat them as if they treat their food like it’s their own. Even if they don’t. Even if you found some foreign matter in your soup, or the dish you were served tasted like Tide or Ariel, deem it important to “suspend disbelief.” In a more familiar term, always give them the benefit of the doubt.

Do not raise your voice to complain. Simply reach out to them to query in cool and composure. Clarify that the service rendered is not generally acceptable. Ranting and raving about “some soap in the soup” or plastic straws in the pinakbet will not help.  Just suppose you are given imagination to transcend reality. Or remember one Holocaust survivor named Viktor Frankl famously used his imagination to transcend the tragedy he was forced to witness. In his story it can be deduced that perhaps imagination is more powerful than knowledge. But here in your story, ignorance is indeed bliss. Not having known that there’s a fly on your soup makes a whole lot of difference from having known it.

Although, sabi nga nila, Kung malayo sa bituka, okay lang yan. Therefore, check your system, whether your food indeed passes through your stomach. If it doesn’t, you are one lucky organism—feeding on using your other organs.

 

But seriously, consider this. Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is not about dining until the marlin is cooked by old Santiago [which he does not]—but it’s certainly about survival. There is a part there which says “a man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

 

The crew may poison you but it should not destroy your willingness to seek medication from the nearby doctor in case you get to swallow some plastic served with your pochero.

 

Ask For Receipt

Kun dai man kaipuhan na bayaran kan opisina mo an kinakakan mo dawa na ngani on official business ka, dai mo na gayod kaipuhan maghagad nin recibo. Dakula an karatula kan BIR na nakapaskil sa cashier na an sabi ASK FOR RECEIPT, alagad dai ka maglaom na tata’wan ka nin recibo pag bayad mo. Mag-andam ka na sanang sabihan kan cashier na hinahalat pa ninda an stub kan recibo hale sa BIR. Dai ka na magngalas dawa maaaraman mo ara-atyan na an kakanan na iyan since 1962 pa nagsisirbi sa mga employees alagad mayo pa nanggad recibo. If at all, you were taught in high school to be considerate. Think of good manners and right conduct. It is never good to intimidate people.

So unless it’s a matter of life and death, do not ask for a receipt. Mas orog na gayod kun cooperative an kinakakanan mo—such business involves benefiting a big number of underprivileged families and their sensibilities. Garo man sana naghulog ka na ka’yan nin pirang sensilyo sa lata kan Bantay Bata 163. Sabihan ka pa kaiyan, “an darakulang business ngani mga tax evaders, alagad mas concerned sindang magsingil sa mga small businesses na arog mi.”

Ano na sana an pulos kan nanu’dan mo sa social responsibility o sa moral philosophy? Think of social justice. It won’t hurt to give to small people. Dai ka ngani nag-aangal sa VAT kan bago mong Wrangler jeans. What right have you to question the purpose of this representative of the lesser evil? Sige lang, because the food you are about to eat is not evil. No food is evil. Unless it comes from one.

Hala ka.

Eating Utensils

A cafeteria is a public place, so don’t expect that the utensils you are using are germs-free. One pair of spoon and fork must have fed all types of mouths or more than you can count. Kaya Bawal an masiri pagkakan sa cafeteria. Wisikon mo na sana an kutsara sagkod tinidor na nakapalbag kairiba kan mga sanggatos na iba pa. Magpasalamat kang dakul kun an la’ganan kan mga utensils nabuhusan nin nagkakalakagang tubig, tapos napaso ka pa kan kapotan mo. Mainit-init pa pagkakan mo. Okun habo mong magkahelang ka, magkakan ka sa cafeteria nin aga pa, mantang an mga kakanon nag-aaralusuos pa. By the time, swerte ka ta pati an mga utensils tibaad maray an pagkakahurugas. Bagong karigos pa sana si naghugas.

Alagad dai ka maghadit dawa dai disinfected an kutsara sagkod tinidor mo. Kun may pag-alaman man na mag-abot, an magiging helang mo tibaad helang man kan iba, kaya mas makakaantos kamo—nin huli ta igwa siempre sindang maiimbentong bulong para sa helang kan kadaklan saindo. In principle, in order to sell, pharmaceuticals as business in themselves have ISO-certified R&D arms that know the needs of the common good. Here, think collective. Hindi ka nag-iisa.

Alagad. Sabi kan mga gurang, maraot man an grabeng pagkatubis o masirî (squeamish). Garo idtong nabasa mo sa Reader’s Digest kaidto na don’t be too clean; it impoverishes the blood. By being too squeamish and obsessive-compulsive (OC) about not catching dirt or germs, you do not develop immunities to germs. You don’t make your antibodies work. You reduce your own resistance to the world, which is one of dirt. But washing hands properly is enough. Proper is just enough. Over is more than enough.

Don’t Just Grab A Bite, Eat Your Food.

Any meal is the most important meal of the day—kaya dai paglingawing kakanon an inorder mong kakanon. Yeah, you cram to go somewhere: an appointment, a fieldwork, a meeting—yes, nourish your career, nourish your soul [araatyan masimba ka, makihilingan sa amiga, mayaba-yaba] alagad ngonyan nourish your body first—make your cells tissues organs systems work. Girisa an mahibog, daula an matagas, sapaa an malumhok, halona an saradit. Maaskad an adobo, malagtok an maluto o minsan parareho an namit kan tolo mong panira—kumakan ka sana. Mayo ngani kaiyan an iba. Sa pagkahapay ngani nagagadan an iba. At least ika igwa.

Eat, drink, with or without Mary—in other words, eat for the sake of eating, regardless of whether you like it or not. Pagkatapos mong magdighay, rumdumang marhay. Food alone can’t save you. It fills but it hardly nourishes. 

First finish or get done with your salivation; perhaps only after then can you start & think of your salvation.

After Making Love, You Hear Footsteps*

dawa garo mayo man; huna nindo lang

pirming igwang nagdadangadang. Ika

handal tibaad an saimong kasaruan,

sabi mong haloy nang nawara, basang

na sanang magbutwa; siya man masundan

daa kan ilusyon na an sugid haloy niya

nang itinalbong, alagad ngonyan saiya

tibaad nag-iidong-idong.

Sa laog ka'ning kwarto garo igwang

nakahiriling saindo. Sa saindong pinapaiplian

garo man sana dai kamo nalilipudan. Pagmati nindo

pirmi kamong linalamag kan kun anong duwang kalag.

Dai man daw basang na sana sinda nindong binarayaan

ta nganing sa kada saro kamo magpasiram-siram?

Sa saindang kasuyaan, dae ninda aram

kun sain maduman. Yaraon sinda bisan diin

kamo magduman. Sa saindang kasusupgan,

dai ninda kamo tinatantanan. Mga kalag sindang

dai nagkamirisahan. Ara-aldaw ninda kamong

sisingilon kan saindang kamurawayan.

*Dispensa ki Galway Kinnell

King of Pain

I saw Pepeng Kaliwete starring Fernando Poe, Jr. when I was a first-grader.  In those days, Mother was fond of movies that on weekends, she would bring her children to downtown Naga and there we watched all kinds of movies—in Emily, Bichara, Alex or Vic—the movie theaters owned by the Bicharas in Naga City.

Nothing reminds me of the movie except cringing at the sight of Pepe’s hands being twisted by a moving wooden motor—by the goons of the kontrabida led by the proverbial villain Paquito Diaz. Who can ever forget the ngilo just watching that scene? Since then, I have looked forward to watching FPJ’s movies.

Enough said.

Some thirty years later, I feel fine because it is now official. This year, President Benigno Aquino III conferred a posthumous National Artist award to the late Fernando Poe, Jr., King of Philippine Movies.  Aquino’s Proclamation No. 435 only confirmed an earlier declaration of Poe as National Artist in 2006, two years after Poe’s death. But at the time controversy took over.

I recall the award was refused by FPJ’s family from then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whom they thought, rigged the 2004 elections in which FPJ ran for president. This year, the family has accepted the recognition from the current president.

I suppose the national recognition of this prolific artist is appropriate. For one, a National Artist is one who has helped “build a Filipino sense of nationhood through the content and form of their works.”  Through some 50 years of his career in the movie industry, FPJ had been a household word for his honest portrayals of the plight of the Filipino, particularly the underprivileged and the marginalized.

An average Filipino like me knows an FPJ movie or the role he portrayed simply because he portrayed the life of the ordinary people, who compose the lot of the population. Whether in film biographies—from Pepeng Kaliwete to Eseng ng Tondo or other movies he produced, directed and acted in, it's he who sacrifices for the other person.

Up to his sixties, FPJ’s roles had been consistently that—particularly favoring the underprivileged or defending the marginalized, but all the while lionizing the good. If at all, FPJ’s movies melodramas helped define the generation to which I belong. But because his roles have been mimicked and parodied by other fellow actors, it only goes to show they touched a chord in the Filipino everyman.  

In some 250 movies where he probably punched all the thugs and gave back the stolen candy bars to their rightful owners, his character was not only our muscle but also our soul, a Robin Hood of sorts in our part of the world who delivered justice for the poor because it was denied them by the privileged and the greedy. His manner of delivering justice the Christian way did not only save us from boredom or tedium, but also “redeemed” us.  And for this, FPJ can hardly be replicated.

We confer on him the award because we seek to immortalize a paragon of the good—whose pains and struggles inspire us to always seek what is just. We choose to do this because we humans need a(nother) Christ-like figure whom we can emulate.  We take to placing one FPJ as such only because we need to remind ourselves that in everything we do, or despite our perennial struggles, we can always choose to do the good.

King of Pain

I saw Pepeng Kaliwete starring Fernando Poe, Jr. when I was a first-grader.  In those days, Mother was fond of movies that on weekends, she would bring her children to downtown Naga and there we watched all kinds of movies—in Emily, Bichara, Alex or Vic—the movie theaters owned by the Bicharas in Naga City.

Nothing reminds me of the movie except cringing at the sight of Pepe’s hands being twisted by a moving wooden motor—by the goons of the kontrabida led by the proverbial villain Paquito Diaz. Who can ever forget the ngilo just watching that scene? Since then, I have looked forward to watching FPJ’s movies.

Enough said.

Some thirty years later, I feel fine because it is now official. This year, President Benigno Aquino III conferred a posthumous National Artist award to the late Fernando Poe, Jr., King of Philippine Movies.  Aquino’s Proclamation No. 435 only confirmed an earlier declaration of Poe as National Artist in 2006, two years after Poe’s death. But at the time controversy took over.

I recall the award was refused by FPJ’s family from then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whom they thought, rigged the 2004 elections in which FPJ ran for president. This year, the family has accepted the recognition from the current president.

I suppose the national recognition of this prolific artist is appropriate. For one, a National Artist is one who has helped “build a Filipino sense of nationhood through the content and form of their works.”  Through some 50 years of his career in the movie industry, FPJ had been a household word for his honest portrayals of the plight of the Filipino, particularly the underprivileged and the marginalized.

An average Filipino like me knows an FPJ movie or the role he portrayed simply because he portrayed the life of the ordinary people, who compose the lot of the population. Whether in film biographies—from Pepeng Kaliwete to Eseng ng Tondo or other movies he produced, directed and acted in, it's he who sacrifices for the other person.

Up to his sixties, FPJ’s roles had been consistently that—particularly favoring the underprivileged or defending the marginalized, but all the while lionizing the good. If at all, FPJ’s movies melodramas helped define the generation to which I belong. But because his roles have been mimicked and parodied by other fellow actors, it only goes to show they touched a chord in the Filipino everyman.  

In some 250 movies where he probably punched all the thugs and gave back the stolen candy bars to their rightful owners, his character was not only our muscle but also our soul, a Robin Hood of sorts in our part of the world who delivered justice for the poor because it was denied them by the privileged and the greedy. His manner of delivering justice the Christian way did not only save us from boredom or tedium, but also “redeemed” us.  And for this, FPJ can hardly be replicated.

We confer on him the award because we seek to immortalize a paragon of the good—whose pains and struggles can inspire us to always seek what is just. We choose to do this because we humans need a(nother) Christ-like figure whom we can emulate.  We take to placing one FPJ as such only because we need to remind ourselves that in everything we do, or despite our perennial struggles, we can always choose to do the good.

After Making Love, You Hear Footsteps*

dawa garo mayo man; huna nindo lang

pirming igwang nagdadangadang. Ika

handal tibaad an saimong kasaruan,

sabi mong haloy nang nawara, basang

na sanang magbutwa; siya man masundan

daa kan ilusyon na an sugid haloy niya

nang itinalbong, alagad ngonyan saiya

tibaad nag-iidong-idong.

Sa laog kain saindong kwarto garo igwang

nakahiriling saindo. Sa saindong pinapaiplian

garo man sana dai kamo nalilipudan. Pagmati nindo

pirmi kamong linalamag kan kun anong duwang kalag.

Dai man daw basang na sana sinda nindong binarayaan

ta nganing sa kada saro kamo magpasiram-siram?

Sa saindang kasuyaan, dae ninda aram

kun sain maduman. Yaraon sinda bisan diin

kamo magduman. Sa saindang kasusupgan,

dai ninda kamo tinatantanan. Mga kalag sindang

dai nagkamirisahan. Ara-aldaw ninda kamong

sisingilon kan saindang kamurawayan.

*Dispensa ki Galway Kinnell

Past Blessed the Child

It was great to be a child in those days.

On lazy afternoons, my brother Mente, my sister Nene and I made horses out of Mother’s pillows and played the Zimatar or Diego Bandido episodes which we heard over DZGE, the local radio station.

We played in the rooms upstairs, riding our pillow horses, facing our enemies and pursuing our adventures, until our Manoy Ano scolded and told us to bring the beddings—blankets, sheets and all—back to order or else Mother would call it a day when she returned. But we would play to our hearts’ content; after all, we thought Mother would be pleased because we were only playing inside the house. That way she would not really be bothered.

Some other days, in my grandparents house which we call Libod (literally, backyard), my cousins and I would play taraguan (hide and seek) and be thrilled by not easily finding all the playmates. After a while, one would give up not “seeking” the last one hidden; and find out he already left because his mother asked him to run an errand. And so we’d stop and think of other games which would thrill us.

We would then gather and tell stories we would just invent. Once, I wove a story about the pictures from a book I read until my cousins pestered me to finish it perhaps because it did not make sense perhaps because I only jumbled them.

At the time, we made our toys out of materials just available to us. We made our own toys and games and we enjoyed them. Perhaps they were cruder but we and our imaginations, not our toys, not other things, were responsible for our own enjoyment.

Our parents—aunts and uncles—did not mind especially if we were all playing in Libod. Here, left to our own devices, we devised our own games, things and stuff and in the long run, made memories which we can only consider ours. In the open yard of our grandparents’ compound, my parents ancestral house—we were free to play. The space, the time, the freedom given to us by our ginikanan (parents) allowed our imagination to create things that pleased us. And when we played our games, we did not only kill our boredom; we also made some things worth remembering.

In those days, a child’s play was also his passion, if not his “profession.” If my nephews Yman and Yzaak play their Ragnarok or Pokemon cards today, I also collected my own set of tex cards and lastiko (goma or rubber bands). In those days, to have your own box of tex cards or a string of lastiko was like to have invested well in stock market. In our time and place, these were the child’s prized possessions.

The game of tex and lastiko went side by side. For each player’s turn, we flicked three cards—my own and those of two other opponents and added up the numbers of the cards facing up. He whose cards faced up with the highest sum won. For the bets, we piled tens or twenties or even hundreds of rubber bands of grouped colors. The winner took all these wagers.

We would do this routine until someone among us knew he’s collecting the cards of all the rest. Anyone who refused to continue playing after he’d won big was called saklit. Having gained such reputation, he would be avoided by others. In my case if I began to win big, I just felt lucky if my playmates parents summoned them to run an errand or already asked them to go home. That formally excused me from gaining the “ill repute.”

In our sixth grade, my classmate Michael Arimado from Triangulo was the “official” King of Tex and lastiko, having won over every other classmate from Baybay, Iraya and even Tigman. He was undisputed. Like a small-time Mafia, Michael would hang his long string of lastiko on his neck, while he swung his sinampalok (tamarind-shape bolo) during our hawan (weeding) sessions in Mr. Olarve’s Industrial Arts class.

At recess, he would invite Edgar Bayola or Sulpicio Purcia to challenge him at the back of the Marcos Type Building. Talk of the early days of UFC. In these Days of Pre-Physical matches, Michael would win big and reclaimed his “title” now and again.

It came to me that I could be like Michael. So gradually I went to start “collecting” my own set, by playing other classmates and betting my own sets of cards and lastiko. When I became fond of tex, it wouldn’t be long till I had won my own box and some 500 pieces of lastikong sinaralapid (braided rubber bands of various colors) which I now hung like the two snakes of Zuma’s, the Aztec-inspired character I read on Aliwan Komiks.

Like my classmate Michael, I had become a self-declared King of Tex in my own right, through my own tex, sweat and cheers. But this glory would be short-lived; I would soon declare “bankruptcy” of this investment after Mother discovered my necklace-length collection of lastiko. She must have thought I was already distracted in my studies so she asked Manoy Awel to burn this “investment” one evening when he was cooking our kinusidong abo for supper. No questions asked. Barely having arrived from an errand, I tried to save them from the stove but it was too late. That night I cried the hardest and the loudest.

In those days it was great to be a child.

Man and dog

Sa The Grey na binidahan ni Liam Neeson ngonyan na 2012, an walong survivor sa nagbagsak na eroplano haling Alaska— kabali an karakter niyang si John Ottway—nagkagaradan man giraray pagkatapos.

Guardia kan sarong oil drill team sa Alaska si John Ottway. An apod niya sa trabahong ini—“job at the end of the world,” kun sain an kairiba niya mga “fugitives, ex-cons, assholes, men unfit for mankind.” Kadaklan kan mga yaraon duman mga pusakal, hinarabuan kawasa sa danyos ninda sa sociedad.

Patapos na an kontrata ni Ottway, pinapauli na siya. Alagad kan solo-solo siya sarong banggi, nagsurat siya sa agom niya, dangan nagprobar siyang maghugot. Kan babadilon niya na an sadiri nin shotgun sa kadikloman kan niyebe, nag-alulong an mga lobo (wolves). Nakulbaan siya kaini. Dai siya nadagos maghugot.

Pauruli na sinda kan kairiba sa drill team; tapos nag-crash an eroplano. Sa gabos na sakay, walo sana sainda an nagkaburuhay. Sa wreckage, an ibang nagkaburuhay naghaharadit nagngungurulngol ta nagkagaradan sa impact an mga pag-iriba ninda. Si Ottway nakaapon sa harayo. Pero pagkagimata niya, hinaranap niya si iba. Nakabalik siya sa binagsakan.

Dinulok niya si Lewenden, sarong kaibahan na nagtuturawis an dugo sa tulak. Naghaharadit na an ibang mga amigo ninda. Nagngunguruyngoy. Hinapot ni Lewenden si Ottway kun ano an nangyayari. Sabi ni Ottway saiya na magagadan na siya. Pinabagol ni Ottway an luong kan lalaki. Kinaulay niya ni kag pighapot kun siisay an saiyang namomotan. Kinaulay niya pa astang dai nagdugay, nautsan na ni.

Dai naghaloy, pinangenotan ni Ottway an grupo. Hinambal niya sa ilang maggibo sinda nin kalayo, nganing dai sinda magkaragadan sa lipot. Magharanap pagkakan dangan magharali sa crash site.

Pagharanap ninda nin mga nagkataradang kakanon sa wreckage sagkod mga bagay na magagamit, nahiling ni Ottway na ginuguyod kan lobo an sarong pasaherong babae, nag-uungol pa ni kan sagpangon kan layas na ayam. Sinaklolohan kuta ni Ottway alagad gadan na an biktima. Dinulak niya an ayam kaya kinaragat siya kaini. Nagkadarangog kan iba kaya nasaklolohan si Ottway. Kinarne kan lobo an tuhod niya pagkatapos.

Sabi ni Ottway na tibaad kuta nin mga wolves an lugar kun saen nag-crash an saindang eroplano. Piggagadan kan mga hayop na ini an mga tawong nararabay sa saindang balwarte. Hambal pa ni John Ottway sa iba, dai man kinakakan kan mga sapat na ini an mga tawo. Kinakaragat man lang ninda, sagkod ginagadan, sabi niya. Sa layas na kadlagan, tibaad mayo sindang ibang madalaganan.

Minaray logod nindang magharali, magparalarakaw maghanap nin rescue ta harayoon an saindang natubragan. Bago sinda naghali sa crash site ta nganing madulagan an mga wolves na nag-atake sainda, nanganam si Hendrick, sarong doctor. Iyo ni an sabi niya, “I feel like we should say something. I feel like with all these bodies all people have died, it doesn’t seem right for us to walk away. “God bless these men. Some of them are friends we could be lying here with them.” Nagtingag siya dangan naghambal, “Thank you for sparing us; and helping us. O, and keep that up, if you can.” Alagad, sa katapusan kan istorya, mayong naginibo an pangadie kan sarong survivor na doctor. Gabos sinda sa dalan nagkagaradan.

Sobra sa kabanga kan pelikula, nagparararalakaw nagparadurulag nagparatarandayag an mga survivor parayo sa mga lobo; alagad bago man ini natapos, saro saro sindang nagkaurubos. Kan saiya nang toka pagbantay pagka enot na banggi, inatake kan lobo si Hernandez pag-ihi kaini. Siya an enot na nagadan sa grupo. Kaya sabi ni Ottway magharali na sinda duman. Pagparalarakaw kan grupo parayo sa crash site, nawalat man si Flannery sa tahaw kan yelo kawasa dai nakayahan an lipot sagkod an halawig na lakaw. Nawalat-walat siya dangan inatake kan mga lobo.

Pag-camping na ninda sa taas kan kabukidan, nahangog sa halangkaw na altitude an negrong si Burke. Sa saindang pigtuytuyan, magdamlag nagparaduros nin makusogon. Pagkaaga, nakua si Burke kan pag-iribang saro nang yeladong bangkay. Si Talget napilay kan makasabit ni sa kahoy pagrulukso ninda pabalyo sa halangkawon na salog. Kan buminagsak na siya sa daga, hiniribunan tulos siya kan mga ayam dangan ginuruyod. Si Diaz napagal na sana man magparalakaw kaya nagpawalat na sa may gilid kan suba.

Sa kadudulag sa naghahapag na mga lobo, naglumpat si Hendrick sa suba tapos nagpaatong sa sulog, nakairarom siya sa dakulang gapo saka duman nalamos. Si Ottway iyo an nakahampang kan alpha male, an pinakahade kan mga wolves sa mismo kaining kuta. Dai na pinahiling an saindang pagdinulak, kan inatake ni Ottway nin kutsilyo an ido. Sa huring ritrato kan pelikula, nakahandusay si Ottway, sagkod an maisog na hadi kan mga ido.

Sa pagdulag kan mga survivor, ginuyod ninda an pamimilosopiya kan kagsurat kan istorya. Linangkaba kan pelikula an konseptong naturalismo na pinadaba kan Pranses na manugsulat na si Emile Zola, sarong pagtubod na an tawo oripon kan saiyang sadiring natura. Mayo nin magigibo an inaapod kan ibang free will, o fighting spirit. Para ki Zola, sagkod sa mga nagsurunod saiya, mayong ibang minapaitok sa buhay kan tawo kundi an saiyang Kalibutan, an gabos-gabos na mga bagay-bagay sa saiyang kinaban. Garo man sana sinabi kaini na mayo nin kapas an kalag na magpapangyari para an tawo maparahay o mabanhaw an saiyang kaugalingon sa katibaadan.

Linangkaba man kan pelikula an vulgarized na konsepto kan survival of the fittest. Sa naturalistang kinaban, an hadi kan kadlagan iyo an layas na ayam. Garo daing kapas an tawong lampas an an isog kan mga hinayupak na mga ayam. Dawa gurano kaisog kan tawong hampangon an saiyang kaiwal niyang ini sa kadlagan, magagadan siya ta magagadan.

Sa climax kan sugilanon, nagprobar si Ottway na tampadan an bagsik kag an isog kan mga lobo. Nagtrayumpo man kuta siya alagad, kawasa an tawo sagkod hayop parehong nagadan, lininaw sa pelikula na nungka madudulagan kan tawo an ungis kan kadlagan, an layas na kabihasnan, kun sain tibaad an hayop, bakong an tawo—an hadi kan kagabsan.

Sinurublian sa Hiligaynon

nakulbaan, nakilaghanan

kag, sagkod

sa ilang, saindang

naghambal, nagsabi

naglumpat, luminukso

manugsulat, parasurat

mabanhaw, masalbar

kaugalingon, sadiri

sugilanon, istorya

The Grey

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Mystery & Suspense

Sa "The Grey" na binidahan ni Liam Neeson ngonyan na 2012, an walong survivor sa nagbagsak na eroplano haling Alaska— kabali an karakter niyang si John Ottway—nagkagaradan man giraray pagkatapos.

Guardia kan sarong oil drill team sa Alaska si John Ottway. An apod niya sa trabahong ini—“job at the end of the world,” kun sain an kairiba niya mga “fugitives, ex-cons, assholes, men unfit for mankind.” Kadaklan na mga yaraon duman mga pusakal, tibaad mga hinarabuan kan sociedad ta nagdulot sinda nin danyos bako sana sa propriedad kundi pati moralidad.

Patapos na an kontrata ni Ottway, pinapauli na siya. Alagad kan solo-solo siya sarong banggi, nagsurat siya sa agom niya, dangan nagprobar siyang maghugot. Kan babadilon niya na an sadiri nin shotgun sa kadikloman kan niyebe, nag-alulong an mga lobo (wolves). Nakulbaan siya kaini. Dai siya nadagos maghugot.

Pauruli na sinda kan kairiba sa drill team; tapos nag-crash an eroplano. Sa gabos na sakay, walo sana sainda an nagkaburuhay. Sa wreckage, an ibang nagkaburuhay naghaharadit nagngungurulngol ta nagkagaradan sa impact an mga pag-iriba ninda. Si Ottway nakaapon sa harayo. Pero pagkagimata niya, hinaranap niya si iba. Nakabalik siya sa binagsakan.

Dinulok niya si Lewenden, sarong kaibahan na nagtuturawis an dugo sa tulak. Naghaharadit na an ibang mga amigo ninda. Nagngunguruyngoy. Hinapot ni Lewenden si Ottway kun ano an nangyayari. Sabi ni Ottway saiya na magagadan na siya. Pinabagol ni Ottway an luong kan lalaki. Kinaulay niya ni kag pighapot kun siisay an saiyang namomotan. Kinaulay niya pa astang dai nagdugay, nautsan na ni.

Dai naghaloy, pinangenotan ni Ottway an grupo. Hinambal niya sa ilang maggibo sinda nin kalayo, nganing dai sinda magkaragadan sa lipot. Magharanap pagkakan dangan magharali sa crash site.

Pagharanap ninda nin mga nagkataradang kakanon sa wreckage sagkod mga bagay na magagamit, nahiling ni Ottway na ginuguyod kan lobo an sarong pasaherong babae, nag-uungol pa ni kan sagpangon kan layas na ayam. Sinaklolohan kuta ni Ottway alagad gadan na an biktima. Dinulak niya an ayam kaya kinaragat siya kaini. Nagkadarangog kan iba kaya nasaklolohan si Ottway. Kinarne kan lobo an tuhod niya pagkatapos.

Sabi ni Ottway na tibaad kuta nin mga wolves an lugar kun saen nag-crash an saindang eroplano. Piggagadan kan mga hayop na ini an mga tawong nararabay sa saindang balwarte. Hambal pa ni John Ottway sa iba, dai man kinakakan kan mga sapat na ini an mga tawo. Kinakaragat man lang ninda, sagkod ginagadan, sabi niya. Sa layas na kadlagan, tibaad mayo sindang ibang madalaganan.

Minaray logod nindang magharali, magparalarakaw maghanap nin rescue ta harayoon an saindang natubragan. Bago sinda naghali sa crash site ta nganing madulagan an mga wolves na nag-atake sainda, nanganam si Hendrick, sarong doctor. Iyo ni an sabi niya, “I feel like we should say something. I feel like with all these bodies all people have died, it doesn’t seem right for us to walk away. “God bless these men. Some of them are friends we could be lying here with them.” Nagtingag siya dangan naghambal, “Thank you for sparing us; and helping us. O, and keep that up, if you can.” Alagad, sa katapusan kan istorya, mayong naginibo an pangadie kan sarong survivor na doctor. Gabos sinda sa dalan nagkagaradan.

Sobra sa kabanga kan pelikula, nagparararalakaw nagparadurulag nagparatarandayag an mga survivor parayo sa mga lobo; alagad bago man ini natapos, saro saro sindang nagkaurubos. Kan saiya nang toka pagbantay pagka enot na banggi, inatake kan lobo si Hernandez pag-ihi kaini. Siya an enot na nagadan sa grupo. Kaya sabi ni Ottway magharali na sinda duman. Pagparalarakaw kan grupo parayo sa crash site, nawalat man si Flannery sa tahaw kan yelo kawasa dai nakayahan an lipot sagkod an halawig na lakaw. Nawalat-walat siya dangan inatake kan mga lobo.

Pag-camping na ninda sa taas kan kabukidan, nahangog sa halangkaw na altitude an negrong si Burke. Sa saindang pigtuytuyan, magdamlag nagparaduros nin makusogon. Pagkaaga, nakua si Burke kan pag-iribang saro nang yeladong bangkay. Si Talget napilay kan makasabit ni sa kahoy pagrulukso ninda pabalyo sa halangkawon na salog. Kan buminagsak na siya sa daga, hiniribunan tulos siya kan mga ayam dangan ginuruyod. Si Diaz napagal na sana man magparalakaw kaya nagpawalat na sa may gilid kan suba.

Sa kadudulag sa naghahapag na mga lobo, naglumpat si Hendrick sa suba tapos nagpaatong sa sulog, nakairarom siya sa dakulang gapo saka duman nalamos. Si Ottway iyo an nakahampang kan alpha male, an pinakahade kan mga wolves sa mismo kaining kuta. Dai na pinahiling an saindang pagdinulak, kan inatake ni Ottway nin kutsilyo an ido. Sa huring ritrato kan pelikula, nakahandusay si Ottway, sagkod an maisog na hadi kan mga ido.

Sa pagdulag kan mga survivor, ginuyod ninda an pamimilosopiya kan kagsurat kan istorya. Linangkaba kan pelikula an konseptong naturalismo na pinadaba kan Pranses na manugsulat na si Emile Zola, sarong pagtubod na an tawo oripon kan saiyang sadiring natura. Mayo nin magigibo an inaapod kan ibang free will, o fighting spirit. Para ki Zola, sagkod sa mga nagsurunod saiya, mayong ibang minapaitok sa buhay kan tawo kundi an saiyang Kalibutan, an gabos-gabos na mga bagay-bagay sa saiyang kinaban. Garo man sana sinabi kaini na mayo nin kapas an kalag na magpapangyari para an tawo maparahay o mabanhaw an saiyang kaugalingon sa katibaadan.

Linangkaba man kan pelikula an vulgarized na konsepto kan survival of the fittest. Sa naturalistang kinaban, an hadi kan kadlagan iyo an layas na ayam. Garo daing kapas an tawong lampas an an isog kan mga hinayupak na mga ayam. Dawa gurano kaisog kan tawong hampangon an saiyang kaiwal niyang ini sa kadlagan, magagadan siya ta magagadan.

Sa climax kan sugilanon, nagprobar si Ottway na tampadan an bagsik kag an isog kan mga lobo. Nagtrayumpo man kuta siya alagad, kawasa an tawo sagkod hayop parehong nagadan, lininaw sa pelikula na nungka madudulagan kan tawo an ungis kan kadlagan, an layas na kabihasnan, kun sain tibaad an hayop, bakong an tawo—an hadi kan kagabsan.


Sinurublian sa Hiligaynon
nakulbaan, nakilaghanan
kag, sagkod
sa ilang, saindang
naghambal, nagsabi
naglumpat, luminukso
manugsulat, parasurat
mabanhaw, masalbar
kaugalingon, sadiri
sugilanon, istorya

Ehersísyo

Buot silingon an pisikal na pag-ehersisyo, nalangkaba na man na marhay kan iba. Siring kan ibang tawo, an mga inaapod na atleta o mga parakawat, nagkakagaradan man—bako man talagang mas haralawig an buhay ninda. Pwede nganing mas amay sindang magadan kawasa kan ehersisyo. Dangan kalabanan, bako man sindang orog na mabaskog ukon mas maogma kaysa sa iba. Matuod nga mas marhay gayod an pamatyag ninda—mas marhay an pagturog sagkod normal an timbang ninda.

Alagad mas orog na may kwenta an maayo nga pamatyag sang kalag. Marhay-rahay na mag-unat kita kan kalamias ta, alagad orog na igwang saysay an mag-unat kita kan satong panumduman, o paayuhon an salud kan satong kalag. Orog na igwang balor an magin baskog an satong kalag sa atubang nin Dios asin tawo.

Pansegunda sana digdi an gabos na ehersisyo kan lawas. Igwang merito sa baskog na lawas, alagad mas igwang biyaya sa mabaskog nga kalag. Kadakul sa makukusog na tawo mga berdugo; darakula mga kalamias ninda alagad an ugali daingdata.

Sa pag-ataman kan lawas, bastante na gayod na sa araaldaw, nakakapamus-on ka; kag nagpapalas ka kan kuko mo kun an mga ini haralaba na.

 

Sinurublian sa Hiligaynon

buot silingon, gustong sabihon

kalabanan, kadaklan na beses

ukon, o

matuod, tama

nga, na

maayo, marhay

pamatyag, pagmati

sang, kan

paayuhon, pakarhayon

baskog, marahay an salud

baskog, makusog

nakakapamus-on, nakakaudo

Susog sa “Exercise” na yaon sa Worldly Virtues: A Catalogue of Reflections ni Johannes A. Gaertner. New York: Viking Penguin, 1990, 100.