THE HAPPIEST BOY IN THE WORLD

By: NVM Gonzales

Julio , who had come from Tablas to settle in Barok, was writing a letter, of all people, Ka

Ponso, his landlord, one warm June night. It was about his son, Jose, who wanted to go to school

in Mansalay that year. Jose was in fifth grade when Julio and his family had left Tablas the year

before and migrated to Mindoro; because the father had some difficulty in getting some land

of his own to farm, the boy had to stop schooling for a year. A sit was, Julio thought himself

lucky enough to have Ka Ponso take him on as tenant. Later, when Julio's wife Fidela gave birth

to a baby, Ka Ponso, who happened to be visiting his property then, offered to become its

godfather. After that they began to call each other compadre. "Dear Compadre," Julio started to

write in Tagalog, bending earnestly over a piece of paper which he had torn out of Jose's school

notebook. It was many months ago, when, just as now, he had sat down with a writing implement

in his hand. That was when he had gone to the municipio in Mansalay to file a homestead

application, and he had used a pen, and to his great surprise, filled in the blank forms neatly.

Nothing came of the application, although Ka Ponso had assured him he had looked into the

matter and talked with the officials concerned. Now, with a pencil instead of a pen to write with,

Julio was sure that he could make his letter legible enough for Ka Ponso."It's about my boy,

Jose." he wrote on. "I want him to study this June in Mansalay. He's in the sixth grade now, and

since he's quite a poor hand at looking after your carabaos, I thought it would be best that he go

to school in the town."...The kerosene lamp's yellow flame flickered ceaselessly. The drank smell

of food, fish broth, particularly, that had been spilled from many a bowl and had dried on the

form, now seemed to rise from the very texture of the wood itself. The stark truth about their

poverty...""This boy, Jose, compadre," he went on, "is quite an industrious lad. If you can only let
him stay in your big house, compadre, you can make him do anything you wish--any work.

He can cook rice, and I'm sure he'll wash the dishes."..."I hope you will not think of this as a

great bother," Julio continued, trying his best to phrase his thoughts. He had a vague fear that Ka

Ponso might not favorably regard his letter. But he wrote on, slowly and steadily, stopping only

to read what he had put down. "We shall repay you for whatever you can do for us, compadre.

It's true we already owe you for many things, but your compadre and I will do all we can indeed

to repay you."...Suddenly he began wondering hoe Jose would move about in Ka Ponso's

household, being unaccustomed to so many things there. The boy might even stumble over a

chair and break some dishes...He feared for the boy....Julio felt he had nothing more to say, and

that he had written the longest letter in his life... He sat back again and smiled to himself. About

six o'clock the following morning, a boy of twelve was riding a carabao along the river-bed road

to town. He was very puny load on carabao's broad back. Walking close behind the carabao, the

father did not cross the stream but only stood there by the bank. "Mind to look after the letter,"

he called out from where he was. "Do you have it there, in your shirt pocket?" The boy fumbled

for it. When he had found it, he said, "No, Tatay, I won't lose it."...Then Julio started to walk

back to his house, thinking of the world that awaited him in his clearing that day......Jose grew

suddenly curious about the letter he carried in his shirt pocket. He stopped his carabao under a

shady tree by the roadside. A bird sang in a bush nearby. Jose could hear it even as he read the

letter, jumping from word to word, for him the dialect was quite difficult. But as the meaning

of each sentence became clear to him, he experienced a curious exultation. It was as though he

were the happiest boy in the world and that the bird was singing for him. He heard the rumbling

of the stream faraway. There he and his father had parted. The world seemed full of bird song

and music from the stream.

 THE NIBELUNGENLIED

“Siegfried and Kriemhild,” opens by introducing the court of Burgundy. Kriemhild, the

sister of King Gunther, has a dream that is interpreted as a prophecy regarding the death of her

future husband. Kriemhild vows to remain unmarried, but she soon meets Siegfried, crown

prince of the principality of Xanten. He arrives to woo Kriemhild, although King Gunther’s

vassal Hagen von Tronje is suspicious of him. He tells the king stories of Siegfried’s brutal

youth, where he killed a dragon and supposedly gained the power of invulnerability—save for

one spot on his back—from its blood. Despite this, the King allows him to stay in the kingdom,

but does not allow him to meet the princess. When Siegfried helps Gunther defeat the invading

Saxons, he wins the king’s favor. The king asks Siegfried to sail with him to help him win the

heart of the queen of Iceland, Brunhild. Siegfried takes the opportunity to ask Gunther for

Kriemhild’s hand. Brunhild is unimpressed by Gunther, and challenges him to feats of strength.

If he wins, she will marry him, but if he fails, he and his men will be sentenced to death.

Brunhild proves to be immensely strong, but Siegfried cheats and retrieves a magic cloak

he has from an earlier adventure. Using his cloak, which gives him the power of invisibility and

the strength of a dozen men, Siegfried is able to help Gunther through the trials and defeat

Brunhild. By her own terms, Brunhild agrees to marry Gunther. However, Gunther becomes

paranoid and believes that Brunhild is plotting against him. He asks Siegfried to conquer the

neighboring kingdom of Nibelgunenland and bring it under his rule. With thousands of new

vassals working for him, Siegfried leads them against Brunhild’s kingdom in order to ensure

Gunther’s safety. Soon Brunhild and Gunther, as well as Siegfried and Kriemhild, are married in

a grand ceremony in Gunther’s court. That night, Brunhild becomes suspicious of her new

husband, when she is able to easily overpower him despite his supposed strength. When Gunther
tells Siegfried of this, Siegfried offers to help him by using his invisibility cloak. Gunther agrees,

but orders Siegfried not to sleep with Brunhild in the process. Siegfried ignores this request, and

as a result of being deflowered, Brunhild loses her massive strength. Siegfried takes Brunhild’s

ring and belt and gives them to Kriemhild.

Years later, Brunhild still feels that she has been deceived, and convinces Gunther to

invite Siegfried and Kriemhild to their kingdom. They are friendly at first, but an argument over

which of their husbands has a higher rank escalates, and soon Brunhild finds out that Kriemhild

has possession of her belt and ring. Brunhild is humiliated, and this has the potential to create a

massive rift between Siegfried and Gunther. Hagen, who has always distrusted Siegfried,

convinces Gunther to allow him to assassinate Siegfried. They concoct a fake military threat that

Siegfried agrees to face in battle. They convince Kriemhild to mark the vulnerable spot on

Siegfried back with a cross, then kill him with a javelin while he is bent over drinking, and steal

the treasure of Nibelgunenland. Kriemhild finds out about this betrayal, and vows revenge

against all the responsible parties.

In part two, widowed and robbed of her treasure, Kriemhild puts her revenge into effect.

Many years later, she is proposed to by King Etzel of the Huns. She marries him and invites her

family, the Burgundians, to Etzel’s castle. Although Hagen suspects a trap, he is mocked, and

Gunther takes his army. A monk delivers a prophecy that they will all die, but Hagen tries to

drown him to shut him up. The Burgundians are welcomed to the castle, though they are warned

by an ally of Etzel’s, Dietrich of Bern, to keep their weapons on them. Kriemhild confronts

Hagen, but he is unmoved and mocks her with her late husband’s sword. Outside the castle, a

fight breaks out between the Huns and Burgundians, and the castle is soon enveloped in

mayhem. Hagen flies into a rage, killing Kriemhild and Etzel’s young son in front of them. As
the Burgundians storm the hall, Etzel’s warriors hold them off and Kriemhild offers her brothers

their lives if they turn over Hagen. When they refuse, she orders the hall burned with the

Burgundians inside. Eventually, all are killed except for Gunther and Hagen. Kriemhild orders

Gunther decapitated, but Hagen still stubbornly refuses to tell Kriemhild the location of the

treasure he stole from her husband. She kills Hagen in a rage. Old Hildebrand, an elderly wise

man in Etzel’s castle, is enraged by the carnage and attacks her with a sword, but it has no effect.

However, when she bends over to pick up a ring, her body falls to pieces in the same position

Siegfried died in. Dietrich and Etzel mourn the death of so many in their castle as the epic poem

ends.