Rizal’s oracle

From an elder generation of historians and scholars I would hear the occasional lament over the irreplaceable works of art, artifacts, books, and manuscripts lost and presumed destroyed during the Battle for Manila in 1945. Thus, it is always a welcome surprise to find some things that did not end up in the smoking ruins of the old Legislative Building that was home to the prewar National Library and Museum.

In 1895, during his last year of exile in Dapitan, Rizal wrote out a fortune-telling game which utilized a wooden top with numbers on its sides that led to the answers to questions asked of the oracle. He entrusted both top and manuscript to his favorite sister Narcisa (or “Sisa”), who passed it on to her son Antonio Rizal Lopez, who became the husband of Emiliana, daughter of Paciano Rizal. To cut a long story short, the manuscript was kept by the heirs of Paciano Rizal and was published in 2011.

My friend Xiao Chua gifted me with a copy recently and I eagerly went through the reproduction of the manuscript that Rizal had covered with a recycled envelope from a New York Gas Engine and Power Company, on which he had drawn a sketch of his family tree. You can ask the oracle 52 usual questions that people worry about, such as: What will my future be? I was quite amused by a group of questions about marriage: Will I marry whom I please? Will I be happily married? Will my wife be good-looking? Will she be blond or brunette?

More important than physical attributes were the financials: Will my wife have a good dowry? Will my wife be an heiress? Then, with regard to the groom, there was: Will my husband be good looking? And a very suggestive question: Which shall I choose, the big one or the small one? I asked the oracle this question and got this reply: “My advice, gentle maiden, is not to choose one or the other. The big one is much too big and the small, much too small.”

This game will definitely be the life of any party and produce hours and hours of fun. These were some of the questions I asked, and the answers provided by the oracle:

What will my future be? “Your life will be nothing more than a continuous struggle. Be happy for struggle improves a man.”

Will I enjoy good health? “Remember the famous words of an incorrigible drunkard. ‘So many times have they drunk to my health that in returning such generous wishes, with glass in hand, not a shred of my health remains.’”

Will my undertaking be successful? “No [but] your marriage will be happy.”

Will I live long? “Long and difficult. Much too difficult, says an heir.”

What do they say about me? “Many things wrong and a few things right. Do what you think is right and let them talk.”

Will they seek my company? “No, because you are too full of yourself.”

Is the way I dress pleasing? “The envious say that you dress beyond your means.”

Will I have many children? “One and with frail health.”

Will I be talked about? “Yes, but not in your favor.”

How will I make my last will and testament? “You will look generous giving others what you no longer need, with those leftovers you will want to conceal your faults, and wishing to do good you will do ill because you will be distributing your possessions indiscriminately.”

One day I will ask all 52 questions, not once, but twice, to get the answer I like best. But a study of the manuscript revealed questions on the cover overlooked by the publisher, editor, translator, and those who contributed introductory essays to the Oracle. These questions were important to Rizal on his last year of life: What death awaits me? Will my children be virtuous and happy after my death? Will my name be immortalized? Will the prisoner obtain his freedom? Will this year be better than the last? Will I inherit it? Will my reputation be tarnished? Will I find a treasure sometime? Will I travel by sea or land? Will I lose or win my lawsuit? Can I fulfill my promise? Which of the two will die first? Will the sick get healed? How do I vanquish my enemy? Who wants me dead? How do I treat my eyes in my old age?

We can read into these overlooked questions Rizal’s hopes, desires and doubts. Sibyla Cumana failed in one respect: It hinted at his death, but did not see the execution in Bagumbayan on Dec. 30, 1896.

Comments are welcome at [email protected]