Scribd
Upload
3K views3 pages

El Filibusterismo Chapter 3 Summary

The chapter begins with Padre Florentino arriving on deck of a steamship. The priests and other characters aboard begin telling legends. The first is about a haunted rock that bandits used for ambushes. The second tells of a woman who waited for her lover to return, and was given a cave to live in by the archbishop. Simoun questions this story. The third legend describes a miracle involving a crocodile turning to stone after attacking a Chinese man who prayed to Saint Nicholas. The group discusses the lake they are entering, and ask the skipper about a man named Ibarra who was killed there years ago after swimming great distances to escape pursuers.

Uploaded by

Editha Marie Flores
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
3K views3 pages

El Filibusterismo Chapter 3 Summary

The chapter begins with Padre Florentino arriving on deck of a steamship. The priests and other characters aboard begin telling legends. The first is about a haunted rock that bandits used for ambushes. The second tells of a woman who waited for her lover to return, and was given a cave to live in by the archbishop. Simoun questions this story. The third legend describes a miracle involving a crocodile turning to stone after attacking a Chinese man who prayed to Saint Nicholas. The group discusses the lake they are entering, and ask the skipper about a man named Ibarra who was killed there years ago after swimming great distances to escape pursuers.

Uploaded by

Editha Marie Flores
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

El Filibusterismo – Chapter 3 Summary

El Filibusterismo (El Fili) – Chapter 3

Chapter Title: Legends

Setting: December morning, Steamship Tabo (Pasig), on deck

Characters:

 Padre Florentino
 Padre Sibyla
 Padre Camorra
 Padre Salvi
 Simoun
 Ben Zayb
 Don Custodio
 Skipper

Chapter Summary:

The chapter opens with the following lines:

Ich weiss nich was soll es bedeuten

Dass ich so traurig bin!


(I want to cry,

I do not know why!)

Padre Florentino arrives on deck. Padre Sibyla is angry because his tenants keep
complaining. Padre Camorra tells him not to be mad even when Indios try to haggle for
lower rates. Padre Camorra asks: “Why should a baptism cost less than a chicken?”
Simoun arrives and Don Custodio asks where he was, saying he missed the view.
Simoun says he has seen everything, and is only interested in a view that reminds him of
legends.

They take turns telling legends.

1. Malapad-na-bato (told by Skipper)

Malapad-na-bato is a rock that is known as a dwelling place of spirits The rock was
turned into a hangout of bandits who used it to ambush passing boats (bancas). Now
there is a capsized boat there that is easy for other boats to hit.

2. Cave of Dona Geronimo (told by Padre Sibyla)

A student promised to marry a girl (Dona Geronimo) from his village. She waited but
he never came back. The student became Archbishop of Manila so she disguised herself
as a man and asked him to fulfill his promise. The archbishop had a cave built and let
her live there until her death. Dona Jeronimo was so fat she had to enter sideways, but
she always threw silver plates into the river after banquets. A net would catch the
plates after washing.

Simoun tells Padre Salvi that maybe the archbishop should have put Dona Geronimo in
a cloister in Santa Clara because that would be more gallant. Simoun asks Padre Salvi
what he would’ve done. Padre Salvi tells a legend

3. Miracle of San Nicolas (told by Padre Salvi)

The river was full of crocodiles. One day, a Chinaman who refused to be converted into
a Christian was passing the church. A devil appeared as a crocodile and planned to eat
him. The Chinese prayed to San Nicolas and the crocodile turned into stone. Now the
rock pieces of the crocodile are scattered.

Padre Salvi said he has seen the head of the stone crocodile. Ben Zayb says he will write
an article that praises the Chinaman for choosing to prayto the ‘least known saint’
instead of praying to Confucius or Buddha, which shows that Catholicism is better and
that the yellow race (Chinese) is “illogical”. Simoun asks if the devil was trapped in the
stone and if petrified animals are also victims to a saint.

The boat enters the lake with green shores and blue mountains. They see Mt. Makiling
and Talim island (Susong-dalaga or Maiden’s breast).

Ben Zayb asks the skipper which part of the lake that Ibarra (he is not sure if Ibarra is
the name or if it was Guevara or Navarra) was killed in. Everyone looks at the skipper
while Simoun looks away. The skipper says that 13 years ago, Ibarra jumped from a
banca near the break and swam 2 miles. The pursuers saw red on the shore that was
probably blood.

Ben Zayb asks about the body and Padre Sibyla says it joined that of Ibarra’s father (a
“subversive” or filibustero). Ben Zayb notices that Simoun is quiet and asks if he is
seasick. The skipper says the lake is larger than all lakes in Spain put together and even
old mariners have gotten seasick there.

You might also like