MINIATURES

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Franz Liszt - Letter to Heinrich Brockhaus -- Bookseller in Leipzig. On the issue of erroneous titles, false attributions and hyped up diplomas: My dear Mr. Brockhaus, In thanking you for your kind mention of the notice of the inclusion of my name in the Conversations Lexikon, I wish above all things not to go beyond the limits of most scrupulous delicacy, which in these sorts of things have alwa ys appeared to me all the more desirable to maintain because they are so very often passed. Consequently, I will only allow myself to point out three misstatements of fact in the article about myself: firstly, my supposed title of ex-St. Simonien; secondly, my supposed journey to America; thirdly, my diploma of the University of Konigsberg, which my biographer arbitrarily changes into a diploma of Doctor of Music, which was not the one given to me. I have never had the honor of belonging to the association, or, to put it better, to the religious and political...

Kagabi habang nagbabasa ng ilang artikulo at tala ng mga siyentipiko at politikong Europeo na bumisita sa Asya noong ika XIX Siglo, nasumpungan ko ang isang talata sa libro ng isang kawani ng French "Ministère de l'Instruction publique" (Katumbas ngayon ng Ministry of Education) na si Mon. Edmund Cotteau. Ang libro ay patungkol sa kany ang biyahe sa Indochina taong 1881-1882. Binanggit ni Cotteau ang selebrasyon nangyari sa kaniyang sinasakyang barko patungo ng Angkor. (Ang biyahe ay sponsor mismo ng hari ng Cambodia). At sa pagdaong nito kasabay ang mga fireworks o pailaw, narinig naman ang pagbati at pagsigaw "Vive le roi!" ng mga marinong Franses at "Vive la Republique!" naman ang tugon ng mga sundalo at mamayang Cambodian. Sinabayan naman ito ng pagtutog ng isang brass band ng mga Pilipinong nagsisilbi sa hari. Musika at selebrasyong tila dumaig sa indak at titik ng "La Marseillaise". Sa ilalim ng talata, may insinulat na anotasyon an...

The Moorish conquerors of Medieval Spain often described freshly picked "naranjas" as that of a cheek of a beautiful maiden. Yesterday evening was palengke day. These small oranges caught my fancy, they come with stems and green leaves as if they were harvested minutes ago. An elderly lady came and asked the tindera: "Magkano itong dalanghita? The old lady spoke with a vocabulary that seems to be dying. Dalanghita is the old term used in Tagalog, from Spanish "naranjita" or the diminutive of the word naranja (orange) which in turn was borrowed from Arabic نَارَنْج‎ (nāranj) and also related to Sanskrit नारङ्ग (nāraṅga). Traces of a fallen tower that was Babel? I thought of Seville's "Patio de Los Naranjos", what beauty what color of green with oranges. But the fruits I bought yesterday in the palengke were from China. Probably bombarded with pesticides and developed with GMO technology. Well, so much for citruses.

In Spanish, there is a word -- "ramoso", an adjective that describes a plant or a tree full of branches or abounding with twigs. One can even translate it with the words 'twiggy", "branchy". The Spanish word "ramo" (branch) standing as its noun. But for Filipinos, if we then shift to the plural form "ramos", it creates a different bang, as people will relate it to surnames a nd personalities. Actually, the Spanish, "Domingo de Ramos", and even the Tagalog "Linggo ng Palaspas" are terms, too generic, merely mentioning branches, etc. With the English "Palm Sunday", attention of course focuses then more on a branch of palm trees. It also highlights the meaning of palm branches, that Semitic and Middle Eastern tradition of offering it as a symbol of peace, triumph, renewal, and happiness. Hosanna! In the Pigafetta account of Magellan's voyage, with its original Italian title "Relazione del primo Via...

Ladrones- Hunter from Marianas from "Boxer's Codex" One of the strangest episodes in the chronicles of the Magellan Voyage written by Pigafetta was perhaps the first encounter between the crew of Magellan and the  natives of the Mariana Islands -- which includes the present day Guam. Think about this; A group of Europeans whose basic driving force in undertaking a perilous voyage to the unknown was greed, even ready to slit each other's  throats for bags of spices, meeting for the first time, a race of people whose concept of private property was probably nonexistent. A clash of culture? Pigafetta wrote: "The people of these islands entered into the ships and robbed us, in such a way that it was impossible to preserve oneself from them. Whilst we were striking and lowering the sails to go ashore, they stole away with much address and diligence the small boat called the skiff, which was made fast to the poop of the captain's ship, at which he was much irrit...

Checking the breakfast table and the fruit basket this morning, I was greeted by three fresh-looking lemons, which actually are sold at three for fifty pesos (Tatlo Singkwenta) in the Pasig Public Market. When did lemons invade our diet? I asked. I also noticed that it's getting cheaper. But the lemon's fate is no different to what has happened now to our "calamansi," which is nati ve to the Philippines. Calamansi has now invaded the hawker's stands of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It comes in handy for such business. I recall my culinary adventure years before in Malaysia. For citrus flavoring for noodles, juices, etc., they usually use fruits that are similar to our local "dayap" and "cabuyao." Quite expensive and also bulky for such hawker stands. My lemon and citrus thoughts this morning brought me also to Magellan and his epic voyage. In the crossing of the Pacific, hunger and sickness struck the fleet. It was not just some sickness, it ...