PLOT
The novel Noli Me
Tangere contains 63 chapters and epilogue. It begins with a reception given by
Capitan Tiago (Santiago de los Santos) at his house in Calle Analogue (now Juan
Luna Street) on the last day of October. The reception or dinner was been given
in honor of Crisostomo Ibarra, a young and rich Filipino who had just returned
after seven years of study in Europe. Ibarra was the only son of Don Rafael
Ibarra, friend of Capitan Tiago, and a fiancé of beautiful Maria Clara,
supposed daughter of Capitan Tiago.
Among the guests
during the reception were Padre Damaso, a fat Franciscan friar who had been
parish priest for 20 years of San Diego (Calamba), Ibarra’s native town; Padre
Sybila, a young Dominican parish priest of Binondo; Señor Guevara, as elderly
and kind lieutenant of the Guardia Civil; Don Tiburcio de Espadaña, a bogus
Spanish physician, lame, and henpecked husband of Doña Victorina; and several
ladies.
Ibarra, upon his
arrival, produced a favorable impression among the guests, except Padre Damaso,
who has rude to him. In accordance with a German custom, he introduced himself
to the ladies.
During the dinner the
conversation centered on Ibarra’s studies and travels abroad. Padre Damaso was
in bad mood because he got a bony neck and a hard wing of the chicken tinola.
He tried to discredit Ibarra’s remarks.
After dinner, Ibarra
left Capitan Tiago’s house to return to his hotel. On the way, the kind
Lieutenant Guevara told him the sad story of his father’s death in San Diego.
Don Rafael, his father, was a rich and brave man. He defended a helpless boy
from the brutality of an illiterate Spanish tax collector, pushing the latter
and accidentally killing him. Don Rafael was been thrown in prison, where he
died unhappily. He was buried in consecrated ground, but his enemies, accusing
him being a heretic, had his body removed from the cemetery.
On hearing about his
father’s sad story, Ibarra thanked the kind Spanish lieutenant and vowed to
find out the truth about his father’s death.
The following morning,
he visited Maria Clara, his childhood sweetheart. Maria Clara teasingly said
that he had forgotten her because the girls in Germany were beautiful. Ibarra
replied that he had never forgotten her.
After the romantic
reunion with Maria Clara, Ibarra went to San Diego to visit his father’s grave.
It was All Saint’s Day. At the cemetery, the gravedigger told Ibarra that the
corpse of Don Rafael was removed by order of the parish priest to be, buried in
the Chinese cemetery; but the corpse was heavy and it was a dark and rainy
night so that he (the grave-digger) simply threw the corpse into the lake.
Ibarra was been angered
by the gravedigger’s story. He left the cemetery. On the way, he met Padre
Salvi, Franciscan parish priest of San Diego. In a flash, Ibarra pounced on the
priest, demanding redress for desecrating his father’s mortal remains. Padre
told him that he had nothing to do with it, for he was not the parish priest at
the time of Don Rafael’s death. It was Padre Damaso, his predecessor, who was
responsible for it. Convinced for Padre Salvi’s innocence, Ibarra went away.
