a society of the highest and most refined type. The process of
beautifying and improving the city which is constantly going on bids
fair to give us at no distant day a city of which we may well be proud.
But let him who intends living well in Manila on a small income bid
farewell at once to so idylic a dream, for it costs much to live well there.
In the city of Manila one can get almost anything he wishes, but it must
be paid for at the price it commands. Especially in the case of eatables,
this price is by no means small, because to the first cost of articles must
in most cases be added the expense of distant shipment from American,
European, or Australian ports, and not infrequently the cost of long
refrigeration must also be taken into consideration. But, expensive
though it is, it is very pleasant to live there and those who have once
enjoyed it often wish again to quaff the cup of its delights.
In strong contrast to this pleasant life is the life of the quiet little hamlet
away in the distant islands. Indeed, the Filipino from the distant town,
who by some good fortune has been to Manila, or, by a coup de main,
has studied in one of the Manila colleges, is looked up to in a true
hero-worshiping attitude by all who either know him or hear of his
fame. Life in such a place is one long state of harmless inactivity. Not a
wave of trouble from the great outer world ever disturbs its peaceful
repose. One lounges forever in an air of indolent ease and extreme
aversion to anything approaching what might be called a respectable
effort.
One arises in the morning about the time the sun's first rays silver the
top leaves of the cocoanut trees and then stirs around until nine or ten
o'clock, when it is found expedient to avoid a further exposure to the
sun. From then until about five o'clock in the afternoon it is best to take
things as they come, even though one of those things be a Filipino
dinner. But then you may have your vehiclo attached to a young bull
with a ring in his nose and go for a drive. If it is the dry season you will
probably enjoy the drive unless you object to the frequent clouds of
dust swept along by the evening wind. If it is in the rainy season your
pleasure will depend to a considerable extent upon how wet you get;
but, whether the season be wet or dry, your pleasure will be regulated
largely by the state of harmony existing between the driver and the
bull.
In these quiet secluded nooks successive generations of Filipinos are
born, reared, grow old and die in an even chain of events broken only
by the occasional erection of a new grass house on the identical spot
where its predecessors have stood for ages. The son lives in the house
of his father, cultivates the same few square feet of soil planted in
edible roots, climbs the same cocoanut trees, follows the same winding
path down to the stream, pounds rice in the same mortar and with the
same stick that his ancestors have used from time unremembered, and,
in case of illness, curls up on a grass mat in a corner of the room until
he dies or by some good fortune recovers. Beyond this narrow horizon
he never looks. So narrow and contracted is the life that the languages
of two towns a few miles apart are so different that one would scarcely
recognize them as belonging to the same race of people.
Such are the two extremes of life in our new far Eastern provinces: the
one is active, progressive, and cosmopolitan; the other, inactive,
decadent, and narrow; but, whether one enjoys the first or endures the
second, there comes to him after leaving a longing to lounge again in
tropic airs and listen to the lullaby of the winds among the palms.
CHAPTER VII.
THE FILIPINO AT HOME.
As one enters a Filipino sitting-room for the first time, there is one
feature in the arrangement of the furniture that impresses itself upon
him at once, and it may be stated without fear of serious contradiction
that this same peculiar feature in its arrangement will continue to face
him, as he enters different homes, about as certainly as he crosses the
threshold.
The arrangement referred to is that of one large mirror, one settee, and
some ten or a dozen chairs that appear to have had a certain orderly
affection for one another. The mirror is hung upon one of the large
interior parts of the house about four feet above
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