RIZAL:

Life, Works and Writings

by Harren James S. Bautista
Licensed Customs Broker ∣ Master in Public Administration

CHAPTER 2 CHILDHOOD DAYS IN CALAMBA

Lemery Colleges- COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

 CHILDHOOD DAYS IN CALAMBA
• Jose Rizal, like many Filipino boys, had many
beautiful memories of childhood.
• His was a happy home, filled with parental affection,
impregnated with family joys, and sanctified with
prayers.
• In the midst of such peaceful, refined, God-loving
family, he spent the early years of his childhood.
• The beauties of Calamba impressed him as a
growing child and deeply influenced his mind and
character. The happiest period of his life was truly
his childhood days in his natal town.
 Calamba, "Cradle of a Genius."
• The town of Calamba is situated on a verdant plain
by the rippling Laguna de Вау.
• Mt. Makiling, and beyond this mountain lies the
coffee-pro ducing Batangas. North of the town
spreads the Laguna de Bay, "a lake of poems and
songs", with many sailboats gliding by the
somnolent Talim island and numerous birds flying in
the azure skies.
• Beyond the lake, to the far distance in the north is
Antipolo, the famous mountain shrine of the
miraculous Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.
 Calamba, "Cradle of a Genius."
• Calamba, with its fertile fields of rice and
sugarcane, its evermore green meadows of
innumerable fruit trees and bananas, its
singing birds abounding in lake, river, and
fields, its starry nights "filled with the poetry of
sadness," its lovely sunrises over lake and
mountains, and its charming panoramic views,
is a fit place to nurture a growing child.
• So it came to pass that it became the "cradle
of a genius.
 Calamba, "Cradle of a Genius."
• Rizal loved Calamba with all his heart and soul. In
1876, when he was 15 years old and was a student
in the Ateneo, he remembered his beloved town.
Accordingly, he wrote a poem Un Recuerdo A Mi
Pueblo (In Memorý of My Town).
 Earliest Childhood Memories
• The first memory of Rizal, in his infancy, was
his happy days in the family garden when he
was three years old.
• Because he was a frail, sickly, and undersized
child, he was given the tenderest care by his
parents.
• His father built a little nipa cottage in the
garden for him to play in the daytime.
 Earliest Childhood Memories
• A kind old woman was employed as an aya (maid)
to look after his comfort. At times, he was left
alone to muse on the beauties of nature or to play
by himself.
• In his boyhood memoirs, he narrated how he, at
the age of three, watched from his garden cottage,
the culiauan, the maya, the maria-capra, the
martin, the pipit, and other birds, listening "with
wonder and joy" to their twilight songs.
 Earliest Childhood Memories
• Another childhood memory was the daily Angelus
prayer. By nightfall, Rizal related, his mother gathered
all the children at the house to pray the Angelus.
• With nostalgic feeling, he also remembered the
happy moonlit nights at the azotea after the
nightly rosary.
• The aya related to the Rizal children (including
Jose) many stories about the fairies; tales of
buried treasure and trees blooming with
diamonds, and other fabulous stories.
 Earliest Childhood Memories
• The imaginary tales told by the aya
aroused in Rizal an enduring interest in
legends and folklore.
• Sometimes, when he did not like to take
his supper, the aya would threaten him
that the asuang, the nuno, the tigbalang,
or a terrible bearded and turbaned
Bombay would come to take him away if
he would not eat his supper.
 Earliest Childhood Memories
•  Another memory of his infancy was the
nocturnal walk in the town, especially when
there was took him for a walk in the moonlight
by the river, where the trees cast grotesque
shadows on the bank.
• Recounting this childhood experience, Rizal
wrote: "Thus my heart fed on sombre and
melancholy thoughts so that even while still a
child, I already wandered on wings of fantasy
in the high regions of the unknown,"
 First Sorrow
• The Rizal children were bound together by
ties of love and companionship.
• They were well-bred, for their parents
taught them to love one another, to
behave properly in the presence of elders,
to be truthful and religious, and to help
one another.
• They affectionately called their father
Tatay, and their mother Nanay.
 First Sorrow
• Jose was jokingly called Uté by his brother and
sisters. The people in Calamba knew him as
Pepe or Pepito.
• Jose was closest to his older brother Paciano.
• Between the two brothers sprang a strong bond
of friendship, stronger than mere blood
brotherhood. Paciano loved his younger brother
and was proud of his genius.
• On the other hand, Jose respected Paciano,
regarding him almost his second father.
 First Sorrow
• Of his sisters, Jose loved most the little Concha
(Concepcion).
• He was one year older than Concha. He played with her,
and from her he learned the sweetness of brotherly love.
• Unfortunately, Concha died of sickness in 1865 when she
was only three years old. Jose, who was very fond of her,
cried bitterly to lose her. "When I was four years old," he
said, "I lost my little sister Concha, and then for the first
time I wept tears of love and grief...".
• The death of little Concha brought him his first sorrow.
 Devoted Son of Church.
• Young Rizal was a religious boy.
• A scion of Catholic clan, born and bred in a whole
some atmosphere of Catholicism, and possessed of
an inborn pious spirit, he grew up as a good
Catholic.
• At the age of three, he began to take part in the
family prayers.
• His mother, who was a devout Catholic, taught him
the Catholic prayer. When he was five years old, he
was able to read haltingly the Spanish family Bible.
 Devoted Son of Church.
• He loved to go to church, to pray, to take part in
novenas, and to join the religious processions.
• He was so seriously devout that he was
laughingly called Manong Jose by Hermanos
and Hermanas Terceras."
• Evidence of his fervent Catholic spirit is seen in
the poems which he wrote during his boyhood,
such as Al Niño Jesus (1876), La Alianza Intima
Entre La Religión y La Buena Educación
(1876), and A La Virgen Maria,
 Devoted Son of Church.
• When he was studying in Biñan, Laguna (1870-71),
he often heard Mass in the parish church at 4:00 A.M.
• He started his life as a student in the Ateneo in June,
1872 with a prayer, continued it with daily prayers,
and ended it with a prayer.
• One of the men he esteemed and respected in
Calamba during his boyhood was the scholarly Father
Leoncio Lopez, the town priest.
• He used to visit this learned Filipino priest and
listened to his stimulating opinions on current events
and sound philosophy of life.
 Pilgrimage to Antipolo
• On June 6, 1868, Jose and his father left
Calamba to go on pilgrimage to Antipolo,
in order to fulfill his mother's vow which
was made when Jose was born.
• Dona Teodora could not accompany them
because she had just given birth to
Trinidad.
 Pilgrimage to Antipolo
• It was the first trip of Jose across Laguna de
Bay and his first pilgrimage to Antipolo.
• He and his father rode in a casco (barge).
• He was thrilled, as a typical boy should, by
his first lake voyage.
• He did not sleep the whole night as the casco
sailed towards the Pasig River because he
was awed by "the magnificence of the watery
expanse and the silence of the night."
 Pilgrimage to Antipolo
• Writing many years later of this experience, he
said: "With that pleasure I saw the sun rise! It
was the first time I had seen the bright rays
strike, with dazzling effect, the rough surface of
the vast lake."
• After praying at the shrine of the Virgin of
Antipolo, Jose and his father went to Manila. It
was the first time Jose visited Manila. They
went to Santa Ana and visited Saturnina, who
was then a student in La Concordia College.
 First Education from Mother.
• Jose's first teacher was his mother.
• A woman of good character and fine education,
Doña Teodora was a splendid teacher.
• At the age of three, Jose learned the alphabet
and the prayers from her.
• "My mother," said Rizal, "taught me how to read
and to say haltingly the humble prayers which I
raised fervently to God."
• She was patient and loving, but strict as a tutor.
 First Education from Mother.
• Seeing that her boy had a talent for poetry, she
encouraged him to write poems.
• She gave him all her love and all that she learned in
college.
• But when he misbehaved, she spanked him with her
slipper.
• At one time Jose, at the age of five, refused to wear a
sinamay camisa because it was coarse and was
scratchy to the skin.
• She spanked him for disobedience. After the whipping,
Jose wore the coarse camisa without protest.
 First Education from Mother.
• At another time while the parents were having
their regular siesta, Jose and Josefa played in the
garden.
• Jose ignited a fuse attached to a bottle of powder.
• Soon a loud explosion rent the quiet afternoon,
followed by a scream of pain.
• Doña Teodora who was suddenly awakened by
the commotion in the garden, saw the crying
Josefa with a burnt face.
• She gave Jose another spanking.
 First Education from Mother.
• Notwithstanding the whippings
administered by Doña Teodora, Jose
loved his mother and was appreciative of
many things he learned from her.
• Years later, in retrospection of his
childhood memories, he wrote: "Surely, a
man owes everything to his mother, next
to God."
 Rizal’s Three Uncles
• There were three uncles, brothers of his
mother, who played a great part in the
early education of Rizal. They were
Gregorio, Jose, and Manuel Alberto
Alonso (after 1849 the family name was
changed to Realonda).
 Rizal’s Three Uncles
• Uncle Gregorio was a lover of books.
• He instilled into the mind of his precocious
nephew (Jose) a great love for books.
• He taught him to work hard, to think for
himself, and to observe life keenly.
• Uncle Jose, who had been educated at
Calcutta, India, was the youngest brother of
Doña Teodora. He encouraged his nephew
to paint, sketch, and sculpture.
 Rizal’s Three Uncles
• Uncle Manuel was a looked after the
physical training of his sickly and weak
nephew.
• He encouraged young Rizal to learn
swimming, fencing, wrestling, and other
sports, so that in later years Rizal's frail
body acquired agility, endurance, and
strength.
 Artistic Talents.
• Since early childhood Rizal revealed his God-
given talents for the arts.
• He drew sketches and pictures on his books and
on the books of his sisters, for which reason he
was scolded by his mother.
• He carved figures of animals and persons out of
wood.
• Even before he learned how to read, he could
already sketch pictures of birds, flowers, fruits,
rivers, mountains, animals and persons
 Artistic Talents.
• It is said that one day, when Jose was a
mere boy in Calamba, a religious banner
which was always used during the fiesta
was spoiled; to replace it, he painted in
oil colors a new banner that delighted the
town folks because it was better than the
original one.
 Artistic Talents.
• Jose had the soul of a genuine artist.
Rather an introvert child, with a skinny
physique and sad dark eyes, he found
great joy looking at the blooming flowers,
the ripening fruits, the dancing waves of
the lake, and the milky clouds in the sky;
and listening to the songs of the birds,
the chirping of the circadas and the
murmuringof the breezes.
 Artistic Talents.
• He loved to ride on a spirited pony (which his
father bought for him) or take long walks in the
meadows and lakeshore with his big black dog
named Usman.
• In his room, he kept many statuettes which he
made out of clay and wax.
• At one time, his sisters teased him:
– "Uté, what are you doing with so many statuettes?"
– He replied: "Don't you know that people will erect monuments
and statues in my honor in the future?"
– These are indeed prophetic words from the lips of a little boy.
 Artistic Talents.
• Aside from painting, sketching, sculpture,
and woodcarving, Jose had a gift for
magic.
• His nimble fingers and supple wrist could
perform many tricks which dazzled the
eyes of the onlookers.
• He entertained the Calamba folks and his
friends in school with his clever sleights-
of- hand and magic lanterns.
 Prodigy of the Pen
• Not only was little Jose skilled in brush,
chisel, and pen-knife, but also in pen.
• He was born poet.
• His mother encouraged him to write
poetry.
• At an early age when children usually
begin to learn their A,B,C, he was already
writing poems.
 Prodigy of the Pen
• Not only was little Jose skilled in brush, chisel,
and pen-knife, but also in pen.
• He was born poet.
• His mother encouraged him to write poetry.
• At an early age when children usually begin to
learn their A,B,C, he was already writing poems.
• The first known poem that he wrote was a poem
entitled Sa Aking Mga Kabata (To My Fellow
Children). He wrote it in an appeal to our people to
love our national language.
 Prodigy of the Pen
• Rizal must have written other poems than the
one mentioned above during his early boyhood
in Calamba.
• Unfortunately, such other poems have been
lost to posterity. They might had been scribbled
on notebooks or loose sheets of paper.
• Rizal, himself related that he wrote poems
when he was a little boy and his mother, who
knew versification, corrected them for him.
 Prodigy of the Pen
• Before he was eight years old, he wrote a Tagalog
drama.
• This drama was staged in Calamba in connection
with the town fiesta.
• It so happened that the gobernadorcillo (municipal
mayor) of Paete, a town in Laguna famous for
delicious lanzones, witnessed the play and was
favorably impressed.
• He bought the manuscript from little Jose for two
pesos, and had it staged during the fiesta celebration
in Paete.
 Prodigy of the Pen
• Two pesos at that time was quite a big sum for
a boy of less than eight years old.
• Such amount then was equivalent to one-half
month's earning of a common laborer.
• Jose, of course, did not need the money
because his well to-do parents could easily
give him much more than that. But it was the
first money he earned in his life by of his pen.
Evidently, he was inspired to develop his
literary talent.
 Influences on Hero's Boyhood
• On the night Jose Rizal was, other
children were born in Calamba and
hundreds of other children were also born
all over the Philippines. But why is it that
out of all these children, only one boy
JOSE RIZAL rose to fame and
greatness?
 1. Hereditary Influence:
• According to biological science, there are inherent
traits or qualities which a person inherits from his
ancestors and parents.
• From his Malayan ancestors, Rizal, evidently,
inherited his passionate love for freedom and his
serenity of life's outlook.
• From his Chinese ancestors he derived his serious
nature, frugality, patience, and love for children.
 1. Hereditary Influence:
• From his Spanish ancestors, he got his elegance of
bearing, sensitivity to insult, and gallantry to
ladies.
• From his father, he inherited a profound sense of
self-respect, the love for work, and the habit of
independent thinking.
• And from his mother, he inherited his religious
nature, the spirit of self-sacrifice, and the passion
for arts and literature.
 2. Environmental Influence:
• According to psychologists, environment, as well as heredity,
affects the nature of a person.
• Environmental influence includes places, associates, and
events.
• The scenic beauties of Calamba and the beautiful garden of the
Rizal family stimulated the inborn artistic and literary talents of
Jose Rizal.
• The religious atmosphere at his home fortified his religious
nature.
• His brother, Paciano, instilled in his mind the value of brotherly
love. From his sisters, he learned to be courteous and kind to
women.
 2. Environmental Influence:
• The fairy tales told by his aya during his early childhood
awakened his interest in folklore and legends.
• His Uncle Gregorio taught him to love books.
• His Uncle Jose inspired him to develop his artistic ability. From
his Uncle Manuel, he learned the importance of good health
and sports.
• And from Father Leoncio Lopez, parish priest of Calamba, he
acquired the value of intellectual honesty and the love for
scholarship.
• The sorrows in his family, such as the death of Concha in 1865
and the imprisonment of his mother in 1872-74, contributed to
his melancholy temperament.
 2. Environmental Influence:
• But such sorrows helped to strengthen his character
enabling him to resist blows of adversity in later
years.
• The Spanish abuses and cruelties which he witnessed
in his boyhood, such as the brutal acts of the
lieutenant of the Guardia Civil and the alcalde, the
unjust tortures inflicted on innocent Filipinos, and the
execution of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora,
awakened his spirit of patriotism and inspired him to
dedicate his life to redeem his oppressed people.
 3. Aid of Divine Providence:
• Greater than heredity and environment in the fate
of man is the aid of Divine Providence.
• A person may have everything in life- brains,
wealth, and power but, without the aid of Divine
Providence, he cannot attain greatness in the
annals of the nation..
• Rizal was providentially destined to be the pride
and glory of our people.
 3. Aid of Divine Providence:
• God had endowed him with the versatile talents of
a rare genius, the unsurpassed spirit of
nationalism, and the valiant heart to sacrifice
himself for a noble cause.
• He gave us this particular genius and hero during
the darkest period of our history in order that our
suffering people might be emancipated from
Spanish tyranny.