Wenceslao Retana’s “El Indio Batangueño,” a Translation [Part VI]

This is the sixth installment of the AI-assisted translation of Wenceslao Emilio Retana’s book “El Indio Batangueño¹.” The book contains a sketch of Batangas and, most importantly, its inhabitants as seen through the eyes of the author.

Retana was a 19^th century Spanish civil servant, colonial administrator, biographer, political commentator, publisher, and bibliographer. His work on Batangas will sound condescending by present day standards, but should nonetheless provide valuable insight into life in the province in the 19^th century.

The Batangueños are remarkable artists of imitation: give them a sample of English script, for example, and they copy it with considerable success. Among the clerks or office copyists, there are often one or more who are excellent penmen. In general, almost all of them have very beautiful handwriting, which they produce with notable speed.

They also possess considerable aptitude for other arts. We will say nothing of music, for in an earlier chapter it has already been noted that they have no small talent for it, in addition to an enthusiastic fondness.

The silversmiths produce extremely delicate work, made all the more beautiful the greater the care of the person commissioning it; for the indio, when left to his own taste in the decorative arts, tends to have an extravagant style — a confused mixture of the baroque and plateresque with the oriental.

The indio demonstrates many other aptitudes: almost all of them, to a greater or lesser degree, know how to cut hair; they ride with astonishing confidence; it is rare to find one who does not know how to drive from the coach box; many understand cooking; and they are not lacking in the mechanical arts either, for there are those who are blacksmiths, woodcarvers, carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, hatmakers, ropemakers, stonecutters, and so on. In fewer words: the indio is a being privileged to do everything, though perhaps for lack of good teachers he almost never reaches the highest mastery of whatever art or trade he practices.

Regarding the much‑debated question of whether the indio is lazy, not diligent, and not fond of work, we are pleased to record that the Batangueños, together with the people of Ilocos, are considered the most hardworking in the Philippines.

What we cannot accept in any way is the claim that the Ilocanos are more hardworking than those who live in the countryside, as some author suggests. The most arduous occupation available to those who live in the town centers is that of the traveling traders; and these not only are far fewer in number than those dedicated to agriculture, but there is no possible comparison between the two kinds of work. The peasant, with his back and chest bare, works with greater or lesser effort, but almost daily; and he therefore endures the burning heat of the sun, the discomforts of the celiisca, the harshness of the rains, and the harmful vapors rising from the mud of the rice fields.

He is not very fond of work; and this is due to his physiological constitution, the rigors of the climate, and his general disposition: he is not greedy, he has no ambitions, he does not think of the future, and he usually assigns little value to money, for he lives a miserable life, eats little and poorly, and earns only what barely covers his most pressing needs.

There is no shortage of principales who, being naturally well‑provided, exhaust themselves trying to increase their fortune. They work hard; they frequently visit their estates; but they obtain little profit because they are routine in their methods, systematically reject improvements, and it is rare to find one who, with true and enthusiastic faith, follows step by step the advances of agricultural science. And these men generally return to their old procedures because they constantly struggle with countless difficulties, such as lack of labor or lack of capital, which sooner or later hinder their praiseworthy intentions.

In general, it may be said without fear of error that in the province of Batangas, the words “progress” and “chrematistics” are true neologisms among the natives of the country.

The Batangueña woman, in terms of activity and desire to earn a living, surpasses all description; she is an tireless trader, naturally industrious, hardworking by nature, and of such endurance that she performs certain extremely arduous tasks of the field in place of the man. As a pastime, she weaves to make clothing for her husband and children; she leaves the loom and pounds rice or mongo; she leaves that task and stands upon a heap of rice stalks and, with bare feet, threshes it in a short time. She is the one who cuts the palay plant; she is the one who goes to town in search of what is necessary for food and the other needs of the household; she is the one who cooks; she is the one who washes; she is, in short, the one who does everything, and she has a virtue that is rare among men: the ability to save. The india saves whatever she can and works with zeal to increase her reserve fund.

There is no town like Taal: in the whole Philippines, there is no other, according to men well acquainted with the country. In Taal there are no vagabonds; they reject them. When they lack work, they emigrate without regard for distance: wherever a peseta can be earned, there the Taaleño goes.

They hate the Chinese to death: within the radius of Taal there is not one; and yet, in Taal there is everything, including grocery stores and sari‑sari shops much better stocked than those usually kept by the sons of the Celestial Empire.

The Taaleños are essentially political; by natural instinct they live an active life, and trade is the occupation to which they most gladly devote themselves. Whoever has gone to Taal at night will have seen countless trains of pack horses carrying bundles of cloth, spirits, oil, and other articles of commerce. But they work, and they have worth: they are determined, proud, brave, and very little given to vice.