CHAPTER 8

NOLI ME TANGERE PUBLISHED IN

BERLIN (1887)

The bleak winter of 1886 was memorable in the life of Rizal for two
reasons: first, it was a painful episode for he was hungry, sick and despondent
in a strange city and, second, it brought him great joy, after enduring so much
suffering, because his first novel Noli Me Tangere came off the press in
March 1887. Like the legendary Santa Claus, Dr. Maximo Viola, his friend
from Bulacan, arrived in Berlin at the height of his despondency and loaned
him the needed funds to publish the novel.
Idea of Writing a Novel on the Philippines. His reading of Harriet Beecher
Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which portrays the brutalities of American
slave-owners and the pathetic conditions of the unfortunate Negro slaves,
inspired Dr. Rizal to prepare a novel that would depict the miseries of his
people under the lash of Spanish tyrants. He was then a student in the Central
University of Madrid.
In a reunion of Filipinos in the Paterno residence in Madrid on January
2, 1884, Rizal proposed the writing of a novel about the Philippines by a
group of Filipinos. His proposal was unanimously approved by those present,
among where the Paternos (Pedro, Maximo and Antonio), Graciano Lopez
Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre, Eduardo de Lete, Julio Llorente, Melecio Fugueroa
and Valentin Ventura.
Unfortunately, Rizal’s project did not materialize. Those compatriots
who were expected to collaborate on the novel did not write anything. The
novel was designed to cover all phases of Philippine life. However, almost
everybody wanted to write on women. Rizal was disgusted at such flippancy.
He was more disgusted to see that his companions, instead of working
seriously on the novel, wasted their time gambling or flirting with Spanish
senoritas.
 Undaunted by his friend’s indifference, he determined to write the
novel – alone.
The Writing of the Noli. Toward the end of 1884, Rizal began writing the
novel in Madrid and finished about one-half of it.
When he went to Paris, in 1885, after completing his studies in Central
University of Madrid, he continued writing the novel, finishing one-half of
the second half. He finished the last fourth of the novel in Germany. He
wrote the last few chapters of the Noli in Wilhelmsfeld in April-June 1886.
In Berlin during the winter days of February 1886, Rizal made the final
revisions on the manuscript of the Noli. Sick and penniless, he saw no hope
of having it published, so that in a momentary fit of desperation, he almost
hurled it into the flames. Years later he told his good friend and former
classmate, Fernando Canon: “I did not believe that Noli me Tangere would
ever be published when I was in Berlin, broken-hearted, weakened and
discouraged from hunger and deprivation. I was on the point of throwing my
work into the fire as a thing accursed and fit only to die.”
Viola, Savior of the Noli. In the midst of his despondency and misery, Rizal
received from Dr. Maximo Viola who was coming to Berlin. Thus friend of
Rizal was a scion of a rich family of San Miguel, Bulacan. When he arrived
in Berlinshortly before Christmas day of 1887, he was shocked to find Rizal
living in poverty and deplorably sickly due to lack of proper nourishment.
Upon seeing his talented friend’s predicament, Viola, being loaded with
ample funds, gladly agreed to finance the printing cost of the Noli. He also
loaned Rizal some cash money for living expenses. Thus it came to pass that
Rizal and Viola happily celebrated the Christmas of 1886 in Berlin with a
sumptuous feast.
After the Christmas season, Rizal put the finishing touches on his
novel. To save printing expenses, he deleted certain passages in his
manuscript, including a whole chapter – “Elias and Salome.”
On February 21, 1887, the Noli was finally finished and ready for
printing. With Viola, the savior of the Noli, Rizal went to different printing
shops in Berlin to survey the cost of printing. After a few days of inquiries,
they finally found a printing ship – Berlin Buchdruckrei-Action-Gesselschaft
– which charged the lowest rate that is 300 pesos for 2,000 copies of the
novel.
Rizal suspected as French Spy. During the printing of the Noli, a rare
incident happened to Rizal. One morning the chief of police Berlin paid a
sudden visit to Rizal’s boarding house and requested to see the latter’s
passport. Unfortunately, Rizal could not produce a passport, for he had none
– in those days it was possible to travel without a passport. The police chief
then told him to secure a passport within four days, otherwise he could be
deported.
Immediately, Rizal, accompanied by Viola went to the Spanish
embassy to seek help of the Spanish ambassador, the Count of Benomar, who
promised to attend to the matter. But the ambassador failed to keep his
promise, for it turned out that he had no power to issue the required passport.
At the expiration of the four-day ultimatum, Rizal presented himself at
the office of the German police chief, apologizing for his failure to obtain a
passport and politely asked the latter why he was to be deported when he had
not committed any crime. The police chief informed him that he had received
intelligence reports that he (Rizal) had made frequent visits to the villages
and little towns in the rural areas, thereby arousing the German government’s
suspicion that he was a French spy, in as much as he entered Germany from
Paris, where he resided for some years and was apparently a lover of France,
whose language and culture he knew so much. At that time the relations
between France and Germany were strained on account of Alsace-Lorraine.
Rizal, in fluent German language, explained to the police chief he was
not a French spy, but was a Filipino physician and scientist, particularly an
ethnologist. As an ethnologist, he visited the rural areas of the countries he
visited to observe the customs and life styles of their simple inhabitants.
Favorably impressed with Rizal’s explanation and fascinated by his mastery
of the German language and personal charisma, the police chief was satisfied
and allowed him to stay freely in Germany.
Printing of the Noli Finished. After the incident of his aborted deportation
as suspected French spy, Rizal, with the help of Viola, supervised the printing
of Noli. Day by day, they were at the printing shop proof-reading the printed
pages.
 On March 21, 1887, the Noli Me Tangere came off the press. Rizal
immediately sent the first copies of the printed novel to his intimate friends,
including Blumentritt, Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor, G. Lopez Jaena, Mariano
Ponce and Felix R. Hidalgo. In his letter to Blumentritt, dated March 21,
1887, he said: “I am sending you a book. It is my first book, though I have
already written so much before it and received some prized in literary
competitions. It is the first impartial and bold book on the life of the
Tagalogs. The Filipinos will find it the history of the last ten years. I hope
you will notice how different my descriptions are from those of other writers.
The government and the friars will probably attack the work, refuting my
arguments; but I trust in the God of Truth and in the persons who have
actually seen the sufferings at close range. I hope I can answer all the
concepts which have been fabricated to malign us.”
On Mach 29, 1887, Rizal in token of his appreciation and gratitude,
gave Viola the galley proofs of the Noli carefully rolled around the pen that
he used in writing it and complimentary copy, with the following inscription.
“To my dear friend, Maximo Viola, the first to read and appreciate my work
– Jose Rizal.”
The Title of the Novel. The title Noli Me Tangere is a Latin phrase which
means “Touch Me Not”. It is not originally conceived by Rizal, for he
admitted taking it from the Bible.
Rizal, writing to Felix R. Hidalgo in French on March 5, 1887, said:
“Noli Me Tangere, words taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke, signifies “do
not touch me”. In citing the Biblical source, Rizal made a mistake. It should
be the Gospel of St. John (Chapter 20, Verses 13 to 17). According to St.
John, on the First Easter Sunday, St. Mary Magdalene visited the Holy
Sepulcher, and to her Our Lord Jesus, just arisen from the dead.
The Author’s Dedication. Rizal dedicated his Noli Me Tangere to the
Philippines - :”To My Fatherland”.
Synopsis of the “Noli.” The novel Noli Me Tangere contains 63 chapters and
an epilogue. It begins with a reception given by Capitan Tiago (Santiago de
los Santos) at his house in Calle Anloague (now Juan Luna Street) on the last
day of October. This reception or dinner was 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 of
Capitan Tiago.
Among the guests during the reception were Padre Damaso, a fat
Franciscan friar who had been parish priest for twenty years of San Diego
(Calamba), Ibarra’s native town; Padre Sybila, a young Dominican parish
priest of Binondo, Senor Guevarra, an elderly and kind lieutenant of the
Guardia Civil, Don Tiburcio de Espadana, a bogus Spanish physician,lame,
and henpecked husband of Dona Victorina.
Ibbara, upon his arrival, produced a favourable impression among
guests, except Padre Damaso, who was rude to him. In accordance with a
German custom, he introduced himself to the ladies.
During the dinner the conversation centered on Ibbara’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 Ibbara’s remarks.
After dinner, Ibbara 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
thrown in prison, where he died unhappily. He was buried in consecrated
ground, but his enemies, accusing him of 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