hinabhab - ate like an animal; without using hands
mininsan -
nakalulong - wrapped up; covered
kinayag - invited by
siwang - gap; space in between branches, for example
susog - reviewing a certain truth
alpombra - carpet; rug
lusaw - melted; liquefied
tipak (na esmeralda) - cut (emerald)
karakarakang - immediately; suddenly
sapot - web
panganorin - the air; heavens; sky
di kawasa’y - unintentionally
hindi tumitinag - not moving; still; stationary
maputod - to end / to get cut (?)
namilaylay - to appear slowly (i.e. the hint of a smile)
natigatig - bothered
pakli - rapid answer
angaw - a million; a very large number
manapa’y
nauntol
tinuran
pagkagahis
magsanggalang
nagtitiim ang mga ngipin - grinding one’s teeth in anger
kaimbihan
pagkati
dapyo
lipus
hunyango
makaitlo
matutop
natitinag
paaninaw
kapagkaraka
kinakasihan
suhay
paraparang
tungko
bumuklod
kinumpasan
siruhano - surgeon
orasyon
asero
sapantaha
saling
tumurol
umusal
umikit
bulwak
tumikhim

(NOTE: Hello to Vonjobi! The rate of site updates depends, in part, on the level of interest or the demand for Mga Ibong Mandaragit summaries online. It also depends, largely, on the unwatched DVDs the site maintainer sees near the computer. )

Student: “Hindi ko maintindihan ang Tagalog.”
Teacher: “Eh kasi, tamad ka. Gumamit ka ng diksiyonaryo.”
Student: “Hindi ako tamad. Bising-bisi lang sa dibidi-dibidi.”

For some reason, Mando doesn’t want to sleep yet, so he and Tata Matyas engage in conversation:

1. Why didn’t Tata Matyas get Simoun’s jewels when he was younger?

2. How can the few riches of Simoun be used against a large enemy such as the Japanese army?

3. How can Tata Matyas be certain that the reign of the Japanese in the Philippines will soon come to an end?

4. Is it normal/natural for people to betray one another?

5. Who among the Philippines should we emulate or idolize?

Mando reads some passages from El Filibusterismo to Tata Matyas until late in the evening. The following morning, the three guerillas bid Tata Matyas goodbye.

sumisidhi - intensifying [tumitindi]
nagtitiim - steaming [pinapasingawan]
iniinda - suffering or bearing (or sucking it up) [tinitiis]
tagsalat - famine or time of lack [panahon ng kakulangan]
kubkob - surrounded [napapaligiran]
hapo - short of breath
nag-iibayo - intensifying
burol - hill
ilang - meadow or prairie
palanas - plains or stony riverbank
nag-aalimpuyo - heated air or swirling water [siguro parang puyo ng buhok?]
bahagya - a bit; a little [kaunti]
makagulapay - fatigued or extremely tired
nakakanlong - hidden; took cover [nakatago sa likod ng isang bagay]
mabubulas - strong [matipuno]
nagsasanib - joining together or combining [nagsasama]
laho - darkness or eclipse [kadiliman]
sapul - from an earlier point in time [mula nuong...]
pagkasubyang - wounded by splinters [pagkasalubsob]
baging - vine
sigid - thin vine
limatik - leech [linta]
kagyat - immediately [agad]
sumungaw - to peer out of, or lean out of a window [parang dumungaw?]
sipatin - to look at closely [titigan]

Is this useful for you?

There are still around 14 copies in the NBS Robinsons Galleria branch.

Now if only the printed version were clearer. Take, for example, the second sentence on page 1:

Bawa’t araw ay sumisidhi ang pakikibaka ng mga gerilyang Pilipino, nagtitiim ang hindi pagtulong sa kaaway ng mga taong-bayan, at [can't read this word] ang tagsalat sa pagkain at madlang bagay-bagay.

(Does anyone know what the word before “ang tagsalat” is? Click on the image for the larger version. A friend quipped: It’s all Greek to me! It’s hard enough to understand, and I wish the publishers would come out with a clearer copy. But anyway…)

Hernandez paints a picture of bloodied but unbowed Philippines.

The promise of President Roosevelt and General MacArthur remains unfulfilled, and the Filipinos suffer greatly under the Japanese, yet the country remains defiant.

Now on to the action…

It is late September. Afternoon. Almost evening.

Three figures approach a hut at the foot of the Sierra Madre mountains, after traveling some 15 kilometers. They started their journey before noon that day. They are dead tired.

(You should read how Amado Hernandez describes the fading light of that scene. Galing!)

They meet Tata Matyas, who emerges from the hut.

Tata Matyas recognizes the voice of Mando Plaridel. It’s been four months since Mando visited that place.

Mando introduces his fellow guerillas: Karyo and Martin.

Mando tells Tata Matyas that the Japanese attacked Sampitan, the remaining stronghold of the Filipino guerillas in southwest Tayabas.

(I’m guessing this is in Quezon province. You can view Sampitan Point, Quezon in the Google map. Here’s a photo of Sampitan beach in Mauban, Quezon.)

Tata Matyas and Mando remember their earlier talks about Noli Me Tangere, El Fili, and how the characters in the novels refer to actual people.

Or how certain things in Jose Rizal’s novel actually happened.

Tata Matyas keeps telling Mando how he wished he were as young as the 24 year-old Mando. Mando notices the repeated references to his age, so he asks Tata Matyas what he would do if he were indeed still young.

Tata Matyas says he will dive into the ocean and retrieve the treasure of Simoun which Padre Florentino threw into the waters in the novel El Filibusterismo. Apparently, Tata Matyas’ father knew something about a Filipino priest. And it turns out that some events in El Fili really did happen.

(No wonder some folks refer to Mga Ibong Mandaragit as some kind of sequel of El Fili. Others see it as fanfic.)

Anyway, let’s see what happens in the coming chapters.

For example, it’s hard to tell (unless your Filipino vocabulary is quite good) whether a world contains an “l”, “h”, “n”, or “t.”

But anyway, we will persevere and patiently leaf through the Tagalog or Filipino dictionary. With this exercise, not only will we expand our Filipino vocab, we’ll also learn something about ourselves. Sali na!

The novel Mga Ibong Mandaragit costs P250, and you can get it from National Book Store. They have a sister company called Bestsellers (?), but you can pay for that in cash only because the item is “not yet in their system.”

If you prefer to pay via credit card, then please get it in the regular branches of NBS.

Anyway, I’m too excited to get this web project going, so instead of bugging my sister and waiting for her to get the book back to me, I’ve decided to just get a copy of Amado V. Hernandez’ novel at National Book Store.

I’ve been reading about how a couple of intelligent, fluent-in-Tagalog people have had a hard time understanding the novel, so please wish me luck in this endeavor.