Rizal's Childhood

Rizal’s Childhood
Jose Rizal had beautiful memories of his hometown Calamba with its scenic beauties
and the majestic Mt. Makiling a few kilometers away from home. Just like boys of his age, he
had many happy childhood memories. He spent his childhood with his loving parents,
thoughtful and caring brother and sisters. Perhaps it was his early exposure to the vibrant
beauty of Laguna de Bay, an inland beautiful lake with verdant tall trees and plants surrounding
it that influenced his artistic expressions through his various work of arts. In the middle of the
lake is the storied island of Talim. Farther north of the town of Calamba lies the famous
mountain shrine of Miraculous Lady of Peace and Good Voyage of Antipolo where his mother
vowed to the Virgin that he would be taken to her sanctuary by way of pilgrimage.
Rizal loved his hometown very much which inspired him to write a poem entitled “Un
Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo." (In Memory of My Town). When he was three years old, he was frail,
sickly, and small for his age. Because of these, he was given the tenderest care by his parents,
brother, and sisters. His father built him a small nipa cottage in the garden where he could rest
and play during daytime. His father employed a kind, old woman as his “aya” (nursemaid) to
look after some of his needs and comfort. His “aya” would tell him stories about fairies, tales of
buried treasures and trees blooming with diamonds, legends, and folktales. Sometimes when
he did not want to eat supper, she would frighten him of the “aswang,” the “nuno,” the
“tikbalang,” or the bearded and turbaned Bombay who could come to take him away if he
would not eat.
Rizal's childhood memories were filled with happy moments. While alone in his cottage,
he was mused with the beauties of nature or played by himself. He enjoyed watching from his
garden cottage the “culiauan," the “maya,” the maria capra," the "martini," the “pipit,” and
other birds and listened with joy to their sweet songs. Another fond memory of Rizal's
childhood was the daily prayers. At Angelus, his mother would gather all the children for the
religious activity. They would also pray the holy rosary every night. Another happy memory was
the nocturnal walk in the town, especially when the moon was full.
One of the happiest events in Rizal's early childhood was his journey with his father to
Antipolo in order to fulfill his mother's vow made on his birth. He and his father took a casco
(barge) and sailed towards the Pasig River. He was thrilled by his first voyage, watching the
watery expanse, the silence of the night and the luminous rays shone on the surface of the
wide lake the following morning. After praying at the shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo, Jose and
his father proceeded to Manila to visit his sister Saturnina, who was studying at La Concordia
College in Santa Ana. It was his first trip to Manila.
Not all his memories were full of happiness. When only four years old Rizal experienced
his first taste of sorrow. His younger sister Concha died of sickness. He loved his sister, for he
used to play with her and had learned from her the sweetness of a sister's love. He was very
fond of her and her death had caused him “to shed tears because of love and grief." He cried so
much over the death of his sister who was a year younger than him.
At a very young age, Rizal was endowed with artistic talent. He spent much time looking
at the beauty of his surroundings. He found great joy observing how the blooming flowers
opened their petals under the bright rays of the sun and swayed to the soft blows of the wind.
An artist at heart, he started to draw objects with pencil and to mold clay, and wax objects that
caught his interest and fantasy. At one time when he was spending much time in making
images instead of playing with other children, his sister laughed at him. He did not say anything.
Instead, he kept silent and looked at them. As they were leaving, he told them: "All right, laugh
at me now! Someday when I die, people will make monuments and images of me."
His childhood revealed that he had a poetic mind. He started to write short verses on
sheets of paper and on the pages of the textbooks of his sisters. Like his mother. young Jose
was also a lover of literature. He enjoyed listening to his mother's stories. His mother was good
in literature and rhetoric, and she had many stories to tell the child. One of the stories told by
Dona Teodora to his favorite son was the story of the moth. The tragic fate of the moth left an
impression on Rizal’s mind that to sacrifice for a noble cause is worthwhile.
At one time, Rizal’s mother noticed his son's inclination to poetry and encouraged him
to write poems. At the age of eight, Rizal was able to write his first poem in the native language
entitled "Sa Aking mga kababata" (To My Fellow Children).
The poem reveals Rizal's early sentiment when he declared that a person who truly
loves his native language will surely strive for liberty like “the birds which soar to freer space
above."
His first poem was followed by his dramatic work. Tagalog poetry, which was staged in a
festival in Calamba. This presentation was delightfully recognized and applauded by the
audience.
Rizal was not only a potential writer, possessed dexterity of hand tricks which mystified
the country is who thought that he was also a magician. He had skillful hands which enable him
to twist his fingers into various shapes of animals and person when reflected and enlarged as
shadows on a white screen. He could also make various tricks and do acts faster than the eyes
could watch such as making a handkerchief vanish in the air.
Rizal's beautiful memories of his childhood in Calamba was dimly shadowed by the
cruelty of the uniformed Spanish soldiers across the bay. As he walked during Twilight hours of
summertime. Rizal, accompanied by his favorite black dog Berganza, witnessed the Guardia
Civil Lieutenant had his daily activity of canning and injuring some unarmed and innocent
people of the village.
In his biography, Rizal said:
We saw no restraint put upon brutality. Act of violence and other excesses were
committed daily... I asked me if, in the lands which lay across the lake, the
people lived in this same way. I wondered if there they tortured any countryman
with hard and cruel whips merely on suspicion. Did they respect the home? Or
ever yonder also, in order to live in peace, would on have to bribe tyrants?
Although Rizal was still young, he showed deep concern and grieved deeply over the sad
and depressing situation of his country. The Spanish tyranny awakened young Jose's heart to
make a decision to fight tyranny and vindicate the many victims of cruelty. Strongly affected
with the disgusting picture of agony of the Filipino, Rizal vowed with strong determination to
dedicate his life to his country.
Highlights: The young Rizal had shown early signs of being a defender of the helpless.
During his childhood days, he played a lot with animals. This made him a friend and defender of
the animals in the neighborhood. No wonder his parents had to intervene, otherwise, he would
have become a strict vegetarian in his diet.
Rizal’s Early Education in Laguna

Rizal had his early education in Calamba, Laguna. The lessons were concentrated on the
four Rs – reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. Although the system of instruction was poor,
Rizal worked hard to prepare himself for college work in Manila and abroad. Despite of this, the
teachers were strict. They forced the pupils to memorize the lessons with the aid of the
teacher's whip. Rizal was physically thin and weak but he was able to develop his natural
aptitude and sharpen his brain to become “an intellectual giant” in spite of the defective
Spanish system of education and backward method of instructions in the Philippines during that
time.
Rizal’s first teacher was his mother. By tutoring his son, she was able to establish the
foundation of knowledge he would need in school. At the age of three, Doña Teodora patiently
and conscientiously taught his son the alphabet, to pray and to read the Holy Bible. Being a
remarkable woman, Doña Teodora saw his son's inclination to poetry. She encouraged and
developed in him the desire to learn more and write poetry.
When Jose was older, his parents employed tutors to help him and give lessons at
home. His first tutor was Maestro Celestino, then Maestro Lucas Padua. Later, his father opted
one of his former classmates, Leon Monroy, to be the young boy's tutor. This old teacher stayed
at the Rizal home to instruct Jose in Spanish and Latin. The old man died after five months. This
incident made Rizal’s parents send their gifted son to a private school in Biñan
Highlights: The following is an excerpt of the Anecdote of Jose Rizal regarding the Story of the
Moth.
"She taught me to read in Amigo de los Niños, a very rare book, an old edition, which
had lost its cover and which a very industrious sister of mine had covered again by
posting on its back a thick of blue paper. The remnants of the wrapper of a bolt of cloth.
My mother undoubtably annoyed at hearing me read pitifully, for as I didn't understand
Spanish, I could not give meaning to the phrases, took away the book from me. After
scolding me for the drawings I had made on its pages, with legs and arms extended like
a cross, she began to read asking me to follow her examples. My mother, when she
could still see, read very well, recited, and knew how to make verses. How many times
during Christmas vacation afterwards, she corrected my poems, making very apt
observations. I listened to her full of childish admiration. Marveling at the ease with
which she made them and at the sonorous phrases that she could get from some pages
that cost me so much effort to read and that I deciphered haltingly.”
The rest of the anecdote has been recounted many times telling us the fate of the moth,
which we know brings so much symbolisms and lessons to share. This experience gave the Rizal
a foundation for better lessons, preparing him for a realization in the later part of his life that
light which is God’s beautiful creation is worthy for a man's self-sacrifice of giving up his life.
This is evident in his last poem, "My Last Farewell" when he wrote the lines. "I die just when I
see the dawnbreak, through the gloom of the night to herald the day. And if color is lacking, my
blood thou shall take, pour out at need for thy dear sake. To dye with its crimson ray.

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Rizal’s Childhood

In his biography, Rizal said:

Rizal’s Early Education in Laguna

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