April 2025 National Literary Month: LITERATURE REVIVAL in 15 Articles

April 2025 National Literary Month 

LITERATURE REVIVAL

The power of literature to reflect our inner selves, allowing us to see ourselves and the world in a new light. It suggests that books can be a tool for self-discovery and understanding.

Part 1 - Folklore - Myths and Legends: Legacy of Philippine Literature
Part 2 - Literature’s unending charm and challenge
Part 3 - New Horizon of Literature in our Postmodern World
Part 4 - Literature is the people’s collective masterpiece, their imprimatur.
Part 5 - Twelve Reasons I Love Philippine Literature

Part 6 - The essence of Aesop's Fables is as fresh as ever

Part 7 - Reviving Lola Basyang: Stories for Children by Severino Reyes 

             a.k.a Lola Basyang

Part 8 - Children's Literature: Letters for Venus and the Falling Star*

Part 9 - Children's Literature in Painting and Poetry : 3 Paintings 
Part 10 - Children's Literature in Painting and Poetry: I love the rainbow

               in 5 perspectives
Part 11 - A Child's Parable of The Black Puppy

Part 12 - Children's Books: Nature and the Classics*

Part 13 -  22 Classic Literature Books in Your Palm.

ANNEX A - Books - the Greatest Treasure of Mankind

ANNEX B - Dr. Florentino Hornedo: Philippines' foremost scholar on Ivatan 

             cultural heritage, and UNESCO commissioner 

Part 1 - Folklore - Myths and Legends:

Legacy of Philippine Literature

 Like Lola Basyang relating folklore to children, we imagine a campfire, around it our ancestors exchanged knowledge and recounted experiences, with spices of imagination and superstition. It was a prototype open university. Throughout the ages and countless generations a wealth of native knowledge and folk wisdom accumulated but not much of it has survived.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature School on Blog

Statue of Lola Basyang, the greatest Filipino storyteller for children ranks among the world's famous storytellers like the Grimm Brothers, Scheherazade, Hans Anderson, Aesop and Homer. Severino Reyes, also known as Don Binoy, adopted the persona of a woman we know as Lola Basyang, an elderly woman fond of telling stories to her grandchildren. The statue is located in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan.

Myths and legends are most popular on the grassroots, enjoyed by both young and old, with the latter usually taking the role of a narrator of “once upon and time” and “in the land of fairies and giants” stories.  And not enough they fill the imagination, proceed to tell hair-raising stories in the world of monsters and spirits. A dog howls, a bat swoops down in high pitch notes, the audience huddles closer…

Imagine Lola Basyang seated in an armchair beside a flickering hearth, children of all ages (and adults, too), begging for more stories – stories so powerful the bond of generations becomes closer and stronger. In make-believe stories the imagination is more powerful than reason, which paves to a realm of mystery and fantasy.  

 Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are the world most popular epics.  From the time of the Greeks to this day, they were passed on from generation to generation through oral tradition.  

Myths and legends open the gate to freedom from realities of life, seeking relief in another world, and when we return, we are transformed and humbled, we are stronger in our resolve and task.  Legends make us giants, and myths give us wings.  

We imagine our ancestors huddled around a campfire exchanging knowledge and recounting experiences, with spices of imagination and superstition. It was a prototype open university.

Throughout the ages and countless generations a wealth of native knowledge and folk wisdom accumulated but not much of it has survived.

  

Mark Twain, in real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens, wrote children's adventure, the most popular is Huckleberry Finn.  It has a sequel Tom Sawyer.  He is shown here in academic gown after receiving the degree of Doctor of Literature (Lt.D) 

Homer’s epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, were carried by oral tradition of storytelling, so with Aesop’s fables, surviving many centuries and finding immortality in books and media today. And would we look farther than the timelessness of Christ lessons in parables? The Sermon on the Mount, The Prodigal Son, the Sower, The Good Samaritan. 

The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, lexicographers and authors who together collected and published folklore.

These and many more, continue to live in the home, school, and pulpit as they persisted in the catacombs in the beginnings of Christianity. Because Homer, Aesop, Christ and other early authors did not write, it is through oral history, in spite of its limitations and informal nature that these masterpieces were preserved and transcended to us - thanks to our ancestors, and to tradition itself.

Just as the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans – and even the remote and lesser ancient civilizations like the Aztecs and the Mayas had their own cultural heritage, so have we in our humble ways. Panday Pira attests to early warfare technology, the Code of Kalantiao, an early codification of law and order, the Herbolario, who to the present is looked upon with authority as the village doctor. And of course, we should not fail to mention the greatest manifestation of our architectural genius and grandiose aesthetic sense – the Banawe Rice Terraces, which through centuries spawned legends, folklores and myths unique in the culture of the place.

Jules Verne, world's greatest science fiction writer. Author of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Eighty Days Around the World, among other works.

On the lighter side, who of us don’t know Lam-ang, our own epic hero, the counterpart of England’s Beowulf? Juan Tamad, the counterpart of Rip Van Winkle? Who would not identify himself with Achilles or Venus? Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, Lapu-Lapu, Angalo – how could boys be more happy and become real men without these and other legendary characters? And we ask the same to girls becoming women without Cinderella and Maria Makiling. On my part, like other boys in my time, boyhood could not have been spent in any better way without the science fictions of Jules Verne -Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Eighty Days Around the World – and Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. It is the universality of human thoughts and values that is the key to the timelessness of tradition – indeed the classical test of true masterpieces.

Aesop was an Ancient Greek fabulist or story teller credited with a

number of fables now collectively known as Aesop's Fables.

And would we say the least about children stories? We can only wonder with awe at the determination of the Grimm Brothers going to the villages of Europe soon after the Dark Ages began to end, and the light of learning began to dawn again, the two scholars retrieving the fragments and remnants of stories surviving the darkest period of history of mankind. And what do we know? These stories, together with the stories from the 1001 Arabian Nights, have kept the flame of human hope and joy alive in cradles, around the hearth, on the bedside – even as the world was uncertain and unkind.

We ask ourselves, if it is only truth that can withstand the test of time. Or if it is only events that really happened constitute history. And if there were any tinge that these stories were based on the culture of a people in their own time, would we not find them, we who live on the other side of the globe and in another time, find them strange?

Rediscovering indigenous knowledge and folk wisdom enlarges and enhances our history and tradition and contribute immensely to the quaintness of living. It is to the old folks that we owe much gratitude and respect because they are our living link with the past. 

They are the Homer of Iliad and the Odyssey of our times, so to speak. They are the Disciples of Christ’s parables, the Fabulists of Aesop. They are the likes of the natural healers of Fuga Island, a certain Ilocano farmer by the name of Juan Magana who recited Biag ni Lam-ang from memory, Mang Vicente Cruz, an herbolario of Bolinao, Pangasinan, whom I interviewed about the effectiveness of herbal medicine. It is to people who, in spite of genetic engineering, would still prefer the taste of native chicken and upland rice varieties, old folks incanting “baribari” as they walk through the thickets to appease the unseen. 

Severino "Lola Basyang" Reyes

Greatest Filipino Children's Story Teller  

"Lola Basyang" is the pen name of Severino Reyes, founder and editor of the Tagalog magazine Liwayway. From 1925, Reyes wrote a series of stories for children under the title Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (The Stories of Grandmother Basyang). 

The original magazine stories have been adapted for comics (komiks), television, the cinema, and published in book form. Severino Reyes was 75 years of age when he wrote the first Lola Basyang story "Ang Plautin ni Periking", which was about a kindhearted kid who had a magical flute and flying carpet. Liwayway and Bannawag (Dawn in Tagalog and Ilokano, respectively are published by Manila Bulletin, and their circulation is worldwide, catering to Filipinos abroad. 

Reyes' works have been widely circulated through komiks, books, movies, stage plays, radio and TV, and continue to the present on multimedia. His works are as immortal as the children's stories compiled by the Grimm Brothers, 1001 Arabian Nights, Hans Anderson's stories, and children's stories of Oscar Wilde. Reyes is a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas. ~

-----------------

Philippine Literature Today: A Travelogue Approach

By Abercio V Rotor and Kristine Molina-Doria, C and E Publishing Co.)

The book aims at guiding students, in the light of present day trends, to trace back the foundation of literature’s basic tenets and principles and preserve its integrity and true essence.  Four pillars of Philippine literature stand sentinel to help the students answer the question “Quo vadis?” To where are we heading for? 

Four great Filipinos are acclaimed vanguards of Philippine Literature. The cover of the book, conceptualized and made by artist Leo Carlo R Rotor, depicts the theme of the book - travelogue in literature with these heroes.   Jose Rizal on politico-socio-cultural subjects, including ecological, Rizal being an environmentalist while in exile in Dapitan, Misamis Oriental, Mindanao; Francisco Baltazar or Balagtas on drama and performing arts in general, fiction novels and plays, evolving into stage show and cinema; Severino Reyes or Lola Basyang on mythology, children’s stories, komiks, and a wealth of cartoons and other animations and Leona Florentino, the Philippines’ Elizabeth Browning, Ella Wilcox, Emily Bronte et al, epitomize the enduring classical literature. 

 * Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Part 2 - Literature’s unending charm and challenge

“I can lift the huge universe.”- Mr Sebastian Ruelos, 

Principal, San Vicente (IS) Elementary School

Dr Abe V Rotor

Our principal, Mr. Sebastian Ruelos, visited our classroom and wrote on the board, I can lift the huge universe, and asked us, “What does this mean. Anyone?”

Postwar to Cyber Age Transition

Silence fell in our brick walled classroom which still bore the scars of war. No one dared to recite. There was total silence like anticipating another air raid. But the war was already over. It was already peace time.

“This is what you will face in life.” He continued, this time in our dialect - Ilokano.We were about to graduate in elementary in a small town, San Vicente, west of Vigan. War had taught us survival in the midst of danger and uncertainty. It erased much of the joy of childhood, and instead tempered us early to take over the role of adults.

When one is focused on responsibility and meeting daily needs, unsure of what lies beyond, dreams are just wishes and prayers like passing wind. When fear has numbed the mind to learn, how can it go beyond the three Rs of education - the fundamentals of literacy?

That was 75 years ago.

This time I asked my students in the university to interpret the same statement. It was the opposite of silence that filled our air-conditioned room. Atlas! came a ready answer - the mythical figure holding the sky from falling. Discussion proceeded as my students consulted their electronic notebooks, laptops, tablets, smart phones and i-Pods, and came up with different versions of “lifting the huge universe” through cyberspace. It was like picking up fragments of information from the sky, so to speak. But how can knowledge condense into philosophy from fleeting cirrus and stratus clouds? Short cut to knowledge seldom leads to wisdom.

These contrasting scenarios and the years that separate them raise questions presenting themselves into a thesis. Indeed it is.

These questions have been raised before. They are traced as far back as Aristotle advising the young Alexander the Great, to establish peace soon after winning a war. To Washington Irving’s Rip van Winkle who slept for twenty long years and found himself a stranger in his own village. To the Charles Dickens’ story of Oliver Twist, an orphan who at the end found his lineage to a rich family. To a boy hero who plugged a hole in the dike with his arm and saved Holland from deluge. To Tarzan who inspired adventure in children and kindness to animals. To sages on the question of who is more civilized – the primitive or the educated, in The Gods Must be Crazy. To Lola Basyang’s melodrama, Walang Sugat, played on the town’s entablado (stage) during fiesta.

I remember Camilo Osias’s books for school children, which are rich in lessons for growing up, but never moralistic in approach. It has the touch of Aesop, Grimm Brothers, Hans Anderson, and our own folklores. One story is about a Golden Lion. Impatient of getting a gold coin each day, a greedy boy inserted his hand into the lion’s mouth to scoop all the coins like forcing a slot machine to release the jackpot’s prize. Poor boy, the lion never let go his arm. It has the same theme as Aesop’s goose that lays golden eggs.

We kids in our time imagined the legendary Angalo moved mountains. It is no different from Superman, Lam-ang, Achilles and Beowulf. They reside in fantasy and live forever in children.

We also loved to go into the bottom of the sea, or into a deep crevice below the earth, or to go around the world in eighty days, for the love of adventure. Thanks to Jules Verne. And lo! Science and technology has succeeded in turning fiction into reality. They made us grow into real men.

And for girls, Heidi, the orphan in Spyri’s novel who did not only survive ordeal but also help others succeed as well, has lasting impressions to these girls who someday will raise families of their own. What greater test of love can one find in Balagtas’ Florante at Laura? Man’s chivalry for a woman in Lorna Doone? Or a mother’s utmost devotion to her children in The Railway Children? Or a child’s surprise in opening an old forgotten garden locked by painful memory, bringing forth new life, and rekindling the love of a father and daughter in The Secret Garden?

The Great Books are now on the Internet

The Great Books of the Western World is a series of books originally published in the United States by Encyclopædia Britannica in 1952 presented in a package of 54 volumes. The Great Books of the Western World cover the categories of fiction, history, poetry, natural science, mathematics, philosophy, politics, religion, drama ethics, and economics. The original editors of the series chose three criteria for inclusion:

1. a book must be relevant to contemporary issues, not only in its historical context;
2. it must reward rereading; and
3. it must be a part of "the great ideas," identified by the editors;

Each year from 1961 to 1998 the editors published The Great Ideas of Today, an annual update on the applicability of the Great Books to current issues. With the advent of the Internet and the proliferation of E-book readers, many of these texts became available online. Today Encyclopedia Britannica has phased out the printing of the Encyclopedia proper and has limited the printing of other publications, giving way to online publication, and the various forms of presentation on the Internet. 

I remember dad’s books he brought home after finishing his studies at De Paul University in the US during the Great Depression. One particular book is Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It was about the French Revolution. “Be like Jean Valjean, the hero.” He told us, his three children then in our elementary schooling. It was many years later that we understood him.

Another book is Evangeline or Tale of Acadie y Henry Wadsworth Longfellow written in romantic hexameter and patterned after Homer’s epics. Longfellow listened to Nathaniel Hawthorne relate the story. It’s not my style the latter confessed. So Longfellow re-created the forcible separation and exile of two young lovers on their wedding day only to see each other again in their very old age. It was a sweet parting, their torn lives coming back in one piece, but only for a moment as Gabriel died in the arms of Evangeline.

And the epilogue goes –

“Still stands the forest primeval; but far away from its shadow,

Side by side, in the nameless grave, the lovers were sleeping

… In the heart of a city, they lie, unknown and un-noticed.

Daily the tides of life go ebbing and flowing…”

That was a long time ago. Things have greatly changed. Cable TV is bringing into the home whole theaters, the Internet whole libraries. And with palm-size gadgets, any information is virtually at fingertip’s access. Why many universities no longer have walls!

And the audience has not only increased by leaps and bounds; their profile now includes infants to senior citizens whose longevity is ever increasing. Interestingly as the world walks on two feet – communication and transportation – people are losing their cultural identity and original domicile. One-half of the world’s population of 7.7 billion live in big towns and cities, and cities are ballooning into metropolises and megapolises. Ironically one-half live below the poverty line, while the other half have simply more than what they need and the control of the world’s resources isvirtually at their disposal.

Literature seems to be far out. It is one of the uninteresting subjects in school. It is a topic we encounter everyday and yet at the end ask, “Literature ba yan?” (Is that literature?) Or one distinct from other disciplines and confined in its own quarters. It is literature, if it wears a laurel or olive leaf. And written by well-known writers whose authority is unquestionable. 

I have yet to read Filipino versions of An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore, and Thoreau Legacy published by Penguin Classics that warn of the harmful consequences of global warming. Of a local treatise between man and nature as in Walden Pond, of the Origin of Species that broke a the age-old church’s dogma of creation, of Small is Beautiful that warns of dinosaur syndrome when man’s dream goes beyond control. Of Silent Spring that challenged the excesses of modern agriculture, chemicals that destroy the very base of production. Of Genetic engineering which created Dolly the sheep, the gateway to stem cell technology and cloning, with the human being coming next in line.

Many people are asking where does literature begin and end. What does it set its boundaries?What is its stand on issues like pornographic art, euthanasia or mercy killing, same sex marriage? This prompted me do my own share of research.

Literature and our fast changing world today. Among the ideas of our fast changing world are

1. Common Wealth’s new concept. National interests aren't what they used to be. Our survival requires global solutions.The defining challenge of the 21st century will be to face the reality that humanity shares a common fate on a crowded planet.

2. Runaway world population will reach 8 billion, and will double in 50 years. By 2050 stabilization is believed to be manageable under a sustainable development system.

3. Geo-engineering . Messing with Nature caused global warming. Messing with it more might fix it.One solution to global warming is induced volcanic eruption. (Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991 cooled the Planet Earth. Ash and sulfur actually lowered the atmosphere’s temperature)

4. Aging gracefully . Forget conventional wisdom; gray-haired societies aren't a problem.Aging gracefully means productive retirement and longer life span. Some 5 billion people in 120 countries will live to 60 years old and over not far from now.

5.Women's Work. Tapping the female entrepreneurial spirit can pay big dividends.The role of women may soon equal that of men, and may even surpass them in many fields.

6. Beyond the Olympics. New games and sports, constant TV coverage of local and global sporting events, are outshining the Olympic games.

7. Jobs are the New Assets. A sampling of fast-growing occupations - actuaries, financial analyst, computer programmer, fitness trainer, biophysicists, translators, marriage counselors, radiologists.

8. Recycling the Suburbs. Environmentalists will celebrate the demise of sprawling suburbs, which left national addiction to cars. Infrastructures will be converted in favor of "green", town centers, public libraries, museums, sports centers, parks.

9. The New Calvinism. More moderate evangelicals are exploring cures for doctrinal drift, offering some assurance to " a lot of young people growing up in sub-cultures of brokenness, divorce, drugs, sexual temptations, etc."

10. Amortality. Amortality - "non-moral sensitive" or "neutral morality' - whatever you may call it, this thinking has revolutionized our attitudes toward age. There are people who "refuse to grow old," people who wish to be resurrected from his cryonized corpse.

11. Biobanks. Safe deposits - freezers full of tissues for transplants, cryotube for blood samples, liquid nitrogen storage for sperms and eggs, test-tube baby laboratories and clinics. Welcome, surrogate motherhood, post-menopausal technology, in-situ cloning, multiple;e birth technology, and the like.

12. Ecological Intelligence. There are guidelines now available to judge products on their social and environmental impact. This is new culture characterized by environment-consciousness, environment-friendliness. Here life-cycle assessment and clean-up corporate ecology become an obligation. We are going back - happily and beautifully to a simple and natural lifestyle.

Friendly TV Programs for Growing Up – A Renaissance
When my grand daughter was less than one year old I was advised to keep her away from TV because of the bad reputation of TV to very young children. But I discovered something that convinced her mom - my daughter, and everyone at home. There are TV channels that feature children-designed programs, among them are

Baby TV
Nick Junior
Jim Jam

A cursory look into these programs are:
1. Barney and Friends, stuff dinosaur come alive to play with kids
2. Oswald, the blue octopus (kindness, gentleness)
3. See the Sea (oceanography and marine biology)
4. Fireman Sam (life of a fireman)
5. Benjamin’s Farm (life on the farm)
6. Bob the Builder (life of a workman)
7. Baby Antonio’s Circus (entertainment)
8. Heroes of the City (emergency crew in action)
9. Nuksu (Be yourself)
10. Gazoon (life of animals)

11.Little Kingdom (fairies and elves)
12. Dora and Friends (children's adventure)

The program puts an end to arrogance, violence, sex, sensationalism, and overbearing format which characterize many programs. has no interruptions of advertisements and programs that would negate its child-friendly nature. Episodes may be replayed from time to time, but this is also advantageous in the learning process. The richness of TV programs has come a long way with Discovery, National Geographic, History, and other channels, in an armchair travelogue bringing into the sala nature, whole novels, history and live shows.

The big challenge to other channels is do away with violence, real or cartoon, frivolities and wastefulness, and stories that present ways to live by as good children and citizens. – without proselytizing unless shown with good examples. Under the heap of cheap dramas, features, shows, and the like, true literature is difficult to appreciate. So with the tremendous daily output of social media and digital phorography all the more masks what literature is and should be. Thus requiring a redefinition and continuing education regarding the subject. Are diaries considered literature? Homilies and speeches? Office memoranda, legal opinions and court decisions? How about advertisements?

I was watching State of the Nation of Jessica Soho, and found out how well researched her topics are. I would say to same with SOCO, Matang Lawin, and similar programs. I can only guess how many view regularly Discovery, History and National Geographic. A million copies of printed literature would be a far cry from the power of the Radio, Television TV and the Internet whose total audience at present reaches millions and millions worldwide via satellite and other networks. The power of media can never be underestimated, for which reason literature should be able to ride on it as a strong and beautiful horse.

As a professor I find my students becoming more and more informed than in our time. They are wired to the world all the time. They carry more subjects than we did before. The information highway includes inter university library services, fellowships, student exchange, congress and symposia. Never a dull moment has the student of today.

On the part of the professor, he uses the computer to facilitate his work. Now and then he attends in his home broadcast programs in some kind of refresher course or simply to keep abreast with events. Every semester my classes view at least one movie and some documentaries. In my teaching Humanities and Mass Communication, I have chosen The Little Prince, The Fourth Wise Man, Dead Poet Society, Oliver ; in Mass Communication, Shattered Glass, Reporters at War, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Count of Monte Cristo, Hunchback of Notre Dame, for my students to view and critique. This is a method I found to be effective and to make the subjects more interesting.

Finding Nemo, The Land Before Time, Babe to mention a few of the recommended cartoon movies keep our world young. While literature is tested by timelessness, it is also measured by its success when young and old share together their time, thoughts and feelings, their dreams and hopes for a better world and brighter tomorrow.

Through literature we can lift the huge universe. ~

Part 3 -New Horizon of Literature

in our Postmodern World

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Literature has come a long way through the traditional test of time until it inevitably entered into a sudden acceleration of change along other fields of endeavor. We are caught in a fast changing world brought about by breakthroughs in science and technology, the explosion of knowledge on the Internet, communication networking through social media, and globalization of nations and cultures into one homogenous village, so to speak.

Philippine Literature Today: A Travelogue Approach by Abercio V Rotor, PhD and Kristine Molina-Doria, EdD.  235 pp with CD, C and E Publishing Co., 2015

                

This is the era of Postmodernism, which literally means “living tomorrow today” where everything seems to be moving in an “free fall,” borrowing the words of Dr Florentino H Hornedo, a foremost Filipino social scientist and UNESCO Commissioner.

Philippine Literature Today: A Travelogue Approach takes us into a journey along the path on which literature has come a long way, evolving with richer diversity in so short a time that generations, old and new alike, are brought together closer through the beauty and bounty of the subject of literature.

· Literature has come a long way from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables to Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere to Martin Luther’s King’s I Have a Dream;

· from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to Francisco Balagtas’ Florante at Laura to Spielberg’s Jurassic Park;

· Aesop’s Fables and Grimm Brothers’ Cinderella to Severino Reyes’ Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang to Disneyland’s animated characters.

· Ben Jonson’s Song to Celia to Leona Florentino’s Rukruknoy to Telenobela;

· Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey to Pedro Bucaneg’s Biag ni Lam-ang to Flash Gordon and Starwars; and

· from Nostrodamus: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow to Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock to Higg’s Boson: Link of Energy and Matter. 

Philippine Literature aims at guiding students, in the light of present day trends, to trace back the foundation of literature’s basic tenets and principles and preserve its integrity and true essence. Four pillars of Philippine literature stand sentinel to help the students answer the question “Quo vadis?” To where are we heading for? 
                                             

                          Vanguards of Philippine Literature

Four great Filipinos are acclaimed vanguards of Philippine Literature. The cover of the book, conceptualized and made by artist Leo Carlo R Rotor, depicts the theme of the book - travelogue in literature with these heroes.

· Jose Rizal on politico-socio-cultural subjects, including ecological, Rizal being an environmentalist while in exile in Dapitan, Misamis Oriental, Mindanao;

· Francisco Baltazar or Balagtas on drama and performing arts in general, fiction novels and plays, evolving into stage show and cinema;

· Severino Reyes or Lola Basyang on mythology, children’s stories, komiks, and a wealth of cartoons and other animations; and

· Leona Florentino, the Philippines’ Elizabeth Browning, Ella Wilcox, Emily Bronte et al, epitomizes the enduring classical literature. 
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Philippine Literature – A Travelogue Approach is a sequel to Humanities Today – An Experiential Approach by the same authors and publisher, literature being a major field of humanities, and that the teaching-learning approach adopted in both books is  experiential and exploratory, and largely, on-site and hands-on. It is recommended that the latter be used as a reference in this subject. 
------------------------------------------------------------- 
These great Filipinos contributed immensely to the making of a distinct kind of literature we proudly call our own. It is linked to a larger realm - the literature of the world, which embodies universal principles and values.

Literature is a conservatory of language and culture, and of the humanities. It is a repository of folk wisdom, beliefs and superstitions. It keeps alive the quaintness of social life. It is a treasure of any society.

But literature first of all, must be a "living" one. It builds ideas and thoughts. It strengthens character and instills discipline. To do so it must be understood by the people down to the grassroots – not for entertainment alone but for enlightenment and realization of life’s meaning. Literature indeed is, for and by the people.

.Literature is a builder of leaders - literary greats are leaders with the power of the pen, power of conviction with words, charisma akin to the “singer, not the song.” Or the “the master behind the masterpiece,” to whose name his work is named after. (Shakespearean, Aristotelian, Darwinian). Leaders are looked up to, in building other leaders as well, who continue the task, to carry on the torch and “guide the nation and people through the night ‘til dawn,” in the epilogue of Rizal’s great works.

· Literature is tested by time and change. It is a refuge to the lost, a way back home for a Prodigal Son. A lighthouse in a stormy sea, birds signaling an island must be near somewhere. It is a breeze in doldrums.

                                   Literature in changing times 

We are being swept by the currents of geometric progress. We face a deluge of information that makes separating the grains from the chaff more difficult, so to speak. And how much more picking only the grains we need? Thus we are being led deeper into a maze that takes us farther in our quest for truth.

With the multi-tasks magic palm-size electronic gadget we call in different names like tablet, i-Pod, and smart phone, the world is now virtually in our hand. Never have we been serious in analyzing William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence, which in part is quoted as follows:  

"To see the world in a grain of sand.

     And a heaven a wild flower;

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand ,

     And eternity in an hour."

It is a world shrunk in time and space in one’s lifetime and generation – because technology and affluence have overtaken us at the pace we are used to.

Fortunately we still trace Philosophy back to Socrates, idealism to Plato, Naturalism to Aristotle. We precious independence from colonial rule in Rizal, emancipation of slavery in Lincoln, militancy in women in Tandang Sora and Gabriela Silang, and constitutional reform in the trilogy of the French Revolution - Egalite’, Liberte’ Fraternite’.

Around a bonfire we listen to Aesop, Homer, Scheherazade, Grimm brothers, come alive in vernacular language and costumes. The lament in Shakespearean tragedies, lilting laughter of Jose flying a kite (Saranggola in Pepe), the lyrical melodious pleading of Kudiman (Filipino love song), the dirge of Pasyon (Passion of Christ) – all these take us to a travelogue back to our roots, to the keepers of that Temple which Rizal, Balagtas, Florentino, Reyes, et al built and guarded dutifully and zealously.

                                         Literature and Media

But in today’s capitalism fueled by consumerism, we find the art of literature besieged in a free market where profit is generally the lure and rule. Literature is trapped in this huge market, and if it holds on merely to its past – or just drift aimlessly, then, we may lose its essence, and therefore its treasure.

We must be vigilant to the preservation of literature as the fine art, sensitive to ethics and morality as guide to human actions and behavior, against such issues as pornography, euthanasia, graft and corruption, and issues on the environment that threaten to destroy our living planet. We must regard literature as a powerful tool in preventing war and keeping lasting peace and harmony in society, in keeping faith in our institutions, and our relationship with our Creator, fellowmen, and Nature. It is a travelogue toward the redemption of values and preserving it, indeed a journey on a very rough road.

Commercialization of media has many undesirable consequences to literature, shrouding our thinking and imagination, with the border separating fantasy and reality being eroded. Many creatures are projected with untrue images; while we protect the endangered species, media is making them enemies of mankind – Anaconda, King Kong, The Birds, Jaws rake profits generated by fear, animosity and curiosity while leaving false impression especially to the young. Whole forests, mountains and lakes are destroyed to flush out enemies and bad spirits, or to appease a god of wrath.

But there are, in fact, more positive contributions of literature and media in this aspect in the likes of Black Beauty, Babes, Fly Away Home, Free Willy that elevate human consciousness towards understanding animals and other creatures often rising to the level of moralism in Aesop’s fable, Kipling’s Jungle Book and George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

New horizon of Literature 

Literature rides on multimedia today, in a horse-and-carriage relationship. With the conservative print and broadcast journalism on one hand, and the computer and its state-of-the-art versions on the other, the whole world today is “wired,” theoretically speaking.

But the role of each one in this analogy is not simple and clear cut. Their shared domain is a complex one that needs a definition of their boundaries. But the other school of thought is more of establishing a synergistic relationship which means that more can be gained through cooperation and unity with humanity as the ultimate beneficiary.

This is crucial for the fact that millions of people are bypassed by technology, education, healthcare and other basic necessities for which reason riches particularly generated by computer technology are now channeled philanthropically to the underprivileged.

If literature and media are to support this movement, what could be their roles, and how can they join hands to reach the masses? We are gladdened, at the same time challenged, by a number of developments such as the following:

· Popularization of literature to the understanding of the people. Noli the Musical, translated Rizal’s masterpiece into entertainment education for the TV and cinema. In like manner Oliver Twist’s musical version Oliver, Oliver reached as many people as those who have read the novel.

· The Great Books, among them Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables and Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace now have popular versions for bigger audiences, following the footsteps of The Bible.

· Publishing whether in print or electronic is no longer a business monopoly, it can be done in home workshops, so with documentaries and movies. With the computer one can be an author, publisher, critic, marketer, rolled in one.

· The combination of literary and technical forms, with today’s technology, is bringing into our homes dramas of the living world, reenactment of historical events, stories of the different cultures, and many others. This made National Geographic, Discovery, History and other TV series, very popular.

· Scientific discoveries have found literature a tool for dissemination outside of the conventions of science. Titanic, although more fiction than fact could not have been made without the discovery of the ship’s wreckage at the bottom of the sea. An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary film won for Al Gore, the expert on environment and author, the prestigious Academy Award.

· There are animations and cartoons in print or on screen that are gaining merits to be classified as literature. Finding Nemo, Ice Age, Land Before Time, Disney, Barney and Friends and Jim Jam series are among the most popular of this kind. There are homilies, speeches, conference proceedings, diaries which have literary qualities to be classified as pieces of literature. 

The unquantifiable volume of Information has generated waste, in fact pollution – infollution. This is exacerbated by social networking, and continued increase of wireless technology tools and users.

· Literacy rate may have increased but computer literacy is but “coded literacy” which is not true knowledge. This leads us to the question what constitute the genuineness of a work.

· Neophytes and experts now play the same game on the same playground with multimedia. Exclusivity of clubs, imprimatur of quality granted by select groups, stringent criteria of evaluation, and the like will have to undergo scrutiny and eventual innovation. 

If words, the beauty of words; if plot, the proper organization of chapters; if characters and their superb acting make the story alive; if advanced technology the provider of quality and magic – if these are the parameters of acceptance, and not to consider other factors, we may not be exploring a new horizon of literature. We shall miss the opportunity to face a brave new world of literature.

But we have to look back now and then to that temple built by four great Filipinos and their kind. The flickering light through its window gives us courage and comfort when we see no star in the sky. Dawn is a child coming. ~ 

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About the Cover

The concept of literature by the artist* is viewed from classic-tradition to post-modern movement, which spans over a long period and vast undefined area. It leads to the question, “What is literature today – Philippine literature to be specific?”

Literature, akin to the definition of good government, is of, for and by the people. As a binding force of a culture, literature is about people, their history, their beliefs and ideas.

Literature is the mouthpiece of the people that carries their stories alive and beautiful from generation to generation. It is the people’s collective masterpiece, their imprimatur. Literature is agent of change, never passive, never submissive; it is a pathfinder, a sailing vessel that brings in “the promise of the tides.”

The artist’s idea is in seeing Rizal alive today through his ideals bearing fruits in a free world, Lola Basyang keeping children happy like in his time with mythology’s eternal magic, Balagtas in a new Renaissance in cinemas and the Internet, and Leona Florentino, the muse of Philippine literature as the keeper of the “literary flame.”

- Leo Carlo Rojas Rotor, BSFA-ID (UST), MIT (AdMU),
--------------------------

Part 4 - Literature is the people’s collective masterpiece,

their imprimatur.

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. Three words for a book title, Philippine Literature Today,

The essence of three elements: space, subject and time;

Yet subjective and elusive to the critical eye and mind

But courageous at the frontline, gentle over our clime.

2. What is literature to the old is also that to the young;

Bridge of generations, continuum of race and culture;

Heroes of old, heroes of new, and those awaiting, too,

Living book, not archive or litany, to love and treasure.

3. Dawn the prelude to sunrise, brings in a new sentinel,

New to the learned, to the unlearned, to the new born,

Sunset not the end of day and coming peace of night;

But rage, for to settle down is sin when the flag is torn.

4. Wonder the sun rising late and dying young in smog;

Wonder a high rise cast its shadow to hide a shanty;

Wonder ostentatious shows, courtesy of the needy;

Wonder literature thriving on romantic dichotomy.

5. Icons, masters, the pedestal too crowded for a few;

Names branded by fraternity, laurel or olive wreath;

Vanity and fancy, in language beautiful in the clouds,

Cordon sanitaire that wisdom is barred to bequeath.

6. While the world moves on by leaps from a small step,

In quantum of knowledge beyond the brain can hold;

Cyberspace the blackboard that was, now unlimited,

Makes the old torch a lightning bolt its power untold.

7. Literature its profile from Baby TV to Disney to HBO
Its domain epics and tales to history, science and ad;
Access on the palm and wrist, biometrics and robotics;
Quo vadis literatura? The canons are now old and sad.

8. Talk about Black Death, talk about COVID, both dreaded;
Angels and astronauts; about Noah’s flood and Yolanda;
Tenants in the field and condominiums they don’t own;
Man-made islands and deserts, the mall and talipapa.

9. No part truly speaks of the whole, comprehensive it may,
For literature defies science; unlike happiness multiplies
When divided in the magic of synergy and imagination
Above reason like rainbow that often comes in disguise.

10. Pathfinders at the heels of the world’s men of letters,
Universal truth in Rizal, genius put to test in martyrdom;
Reyes the Lola Basyang, relived fairies and the dwarfs
By the hearth and tamed the giants in faraway kingdom.

11. The doyen, Leona in Philippine poetry past, preserved
The endangered classics of the west tuned in vernacular;
Balagtas brought on stage Shakespearean drama alive;
Four pillars stand over our literature like shining star.

12. To our shores came Aesop, Homer, the Grimm brothers,
Stories from far north and south, and across the globe,
In times war and peace, in colonial days and in liberty;
An invisible hand guided our destiny from the cold.

13. What now from millennia past, in postmodern age -
The atom a ticking bomb, the life’s secret in DNA code?
The world has shrunk into a gadget, now owned by all
At fingertip’s command, at anytime, by young and old.

14. The second Big Bang that in cyberspace never sleeps,

Rousing and prodding, intruding, unyielding to our right,

Where computer and literature on busy feet moving,

Like a river of no return, rushing aimlessly in the night.

15. Humbly this book presents a less trodden way, perhaps nil;

Footsteps it lays ahead on a long journey on the horizon

By pioneers unknown, untested, theirs not of the glory

But courage and joy beating a path to a promising zone. ~

---------------------
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio. 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Part 5 -  Twelve Reasons I Love Philippine Literature

Dr Abe V Rotor

1. Philippine Literature takes me to the domain of the gods and goddesses, to the kingdom of the Great Maker of Malakas at Maganda, in respect and awe to their power over mortals for which man submits himself through fear and dedication in the name of Bathala - the counterpart of Odin to the Norse and Zeus to the Greeks . For literature started at the dawn of civilization in epics, songs and chants, myths, riddles, legends and folktales passed on from generation to generation. (PHOTO: Clan and neighbors traditional beach party (Bacnotan, La Union)

2. Philippine Literature brings back the sweet days of childhood when children believed in the kapre (hairy giant) that lives in big tree, dwende in punso (anthills), the manananggal (half-bodied vampire) peeping through thatch roofs. The whole experience is distilled during adolescence, the courageous parting of childhood to adulthood, leaving the imprints of the unknown world always remaining enigmatic and entertaining in adult life. Sarangola ni Pepe, (The Kite of Young Jose), lyrical and typical of a ballad, takes one back in time, up to the sky, with the lilting laughter of a child that he was.

3.Philippine Literature unveils the world of the minutiae that provides bounty and source of merriment – honeybees converting nectar into the sweetest substance on earth – pukyutan (honey), caterpillars making the purest fabric ever – sutla or seda (silk), bubod (natural yeast) brewing the best wine in buried burnay (earthen jar) –basi, tuba, tapoy, bahalina, layaw, lambanog, and mead, the drink of the gods – these bring Bacchus and Dionysius into the midst of celebration. Sober they listened to a sage recount Biag ni Lam-ang (The Life of Lam-ang), Hudhod and Alim (Ifugao), Kumintang (Tagalog), Maragtas and Hinilawod (Panay-Bisaya) in like manner Homer related the Iliad and Odyssey to the Greeks hundreds of years ago. (Photo: WWII Memorial, SPU-QC)

4. Philippine Literature is never passive and prosaic, it has moved on with the times, dating with post-romanticism and emerging with contemporary subjects, among them the glamorous Philippine Jeepney, converted surplus jeep into passenger vehicle, which introduced a different concept of beauty, overbearing in decorative accessories; the Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut) romantic symbol of rural life, and now common feature in parks, and satellite of modern homes. It retains its coziness and quaintness in the midst of modern environment. 

The Jeepney, Filipino art on wheels

Contemporarily, literature diverged from the traditional book and theater to cinema and television, making it accessible at homes, cinema houses and viewing centers – and now with hand-held electronic gadgets (tablets). Literature has entered a global trend of “ hybridization” enriched it in the process, with history, photography, ecology, archaeology, documentary, science, and other disciplines. Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, has a local version of submarine adventure, Spyri’s Heidi is typical of televovela theme. This is a global trend that brings “literature to the people, and not people to literature.” Noli, the Musical brought Rizal’s serious political novel to the grassroots, in performing arts shown on screen and electronic monitor with state-of-the-art technology.

5. Philippine Literature, on the other side of midnight, so to speak, portrays the dark, the painful and sorrowful events and conditions of life, yet gives a sense repentance and hope usually ending up with renaissance which is the foundation of ancient religions and later, Christianity. Man still believes that he can do so little without the intercession of the gods and goddesses – Anianihan (God of Harvest), Cabuyaran (Goddess of Healing) of the Cordilleras, and other deities like Maria Makiling (Legend of Mt Makiling) and Daragang Magayon (Legend of Mt Mayon) who guard our forests and fields. Probably there is no place without stories of spirits and ghosts, pastime of storytelling and subject of worship and superstition. Photos: Bountiful fruiting Nangka (Agoo, La Union); Diego and Gabriela Silang monument (Santa, Ilocos Sur)

6. Philippine literature succeeded in toppling the pedestal of classicism and romanticism of Renaissance Europe in the 16th century with the discovery and subsequent colonization of the Philippines by Spain for almost 400 years. 

Author poses with members of the editorial staff of Bannawag magazine, proudly  displaying basi wine, signature product of the Ilocos region.

Towards the end, we gained from the toppling of aristocracy in Europe that gave way to proletarian and agrarian life – which is characterized by everyday drama of the people. It took several pathways to the grassroots – komiks (comics), popular magazines like Liwayway and Bannawag (Dawn)  in Tagalog and Ilocano, respectively), and stage play, the Zarzuela (melodrama), and ramifying through multimedia today.Telenovela (TV drama) draws millions of viewers into tears and laughter. It is responsible in early closing shops and going home so as not to miss the excitement of every episode, reminiscent of the 1001 Arabian Nights when Scheherazade held the Sultan in suspense with her stories as a tactic in postponing her execution.

7. Philippine Literature exults beauty often envisioned in the Filipina, now a melange of Oriental and Occidental lineages, the subjects of stories, poems and songs, and while the Maria Clara image has fused with contemporary culture, still it captures the essence of womanhood and the role of women in present society. Decada 70, Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang, OFW, and other related movies may still project the suffering Sisa in Rizal’s Noli, except that she is also a Gabriela, independent and militant. Literature would not be complete without the Filipina at the center of the story, notwithstanding her dual role in the workplace and the home. Carmen Guerrero Nakpil tells more in The Filipino Woman, so with Paz Mendez, The Principal Role of the Home in Making a Filipino. (PHOTO: Coed holds coral fossil, St Paul University QC)

8. Philippine literature produced not only great works but projected before the eyes of the world the greatness to the Filipino nation and people: Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo inflamed the Revolution led by Andres Bonifacio who penned the Kartilya, Graciano Lopez Jaena’s La Solidaridad, Carlos P Romulo’s Pulitzer winning essay, “I Saw the Philippine Fall; I Saw the Philippines Rise.” Florante at Laura by Francisco Baltazar (Balagtas) earned him the counterpart of Shakespeare. And the stories for children gathered and compiled by the Grimm Brothers, and Hans Anderson in Medieval Europe - these too, have a local version in Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang by Severino Reyes. (PHOTO: Towering kapok tree (UP Diliman QC)

9. Philippine Literature is rich in mythology, largely influened by ethnic and Greco-Roman mythology, albeit the myths and legends of other foreign lands, for which reason our literature has gained rich diversity, from local versions of Medusa (woman with hair of snakes), centaur (half man, half beast - tikbalang), the balete as alleged hanging tree of the repentant Judas Escariot. The fact is, Philippine legends trace the mythological origins of places, objects, and events. Gaudencio V Aquino’s book of Philippine Legends gives us a glimpse of the fertile imagination engrained in our culture. Mythology is the core of our supertitious beliefs, rituals, prayers, and festivities, that largely comprise Philippine Literature. (PHOTO: Traditional wedding (Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur)

10. Philippine Literature has a holistic nature, encompassing native songs like Paruparong Bukid (Butterfly in the Field), Ang Maya (Brown Finch), Bakya Mo Neneng (girl’s wooden clog), Bahay Kubo (nipa hut); music played by the Rondalla (string ensemble), dallot (skirt dance), prayers and adoration like pasyon (Passion of Christ), dung-aw (dirge). Florentino Hornedo’s Pagmamahal and Pagmumura (Love and Curse) shows the extremes of our human nature. Goodness always prevails as shown by bayanihan (cooperation), lamayan (wake), and the annual fiesta to commemorate a significant event or feastday of a patron saints. And if the incantations of the herbolario, (quack doctor), and the spiritista (faith healer), together with the lullaby (Ugoy ng Duyan, a cradle song), as well as other rituals to bring man closer to his creator - if these were to be retrieved deep from the remote sitio or purok (unit of barangay) in the twelve regions of the country - certainly these will further enrich the treasure of our literature and culture.

11. Philippine Literature needs to advance, over and above its present confines, to “come down to earth” in order to become relevant to the issues and concerns of the times. By so doing it keeps distance from cheap soap opera, blind devotion, and latent scholarship. “Get out of the house” cried the late national poetess Ophelia Dimalanta, “Bond with Nature,” a subject that has stirred all disciplines today on the subject of ecology. Literature must use the modern tools of communication - photography , the Internet and multimedia, because, literature as a medium of communication must exercise the power of the pen - the electronic pen with cyberspace to write on today. PHOTO: Standing skeleton of pine tree, Benguet

12. Philippine literature challenges both young and old, Quo vadis? (Where are you going?), to set the direction of change, to move out of the comfort of fraternity and shield of arrogance, to tap talents, especially among the young, and catalyze their expression, to make literature, technical writing and journalism compatible, a triumvirate in a vernacular language understood and appreciated by the people, not so much for stylistic quality but for advocacy towards a better life and a better world. Of equal importance, Philippine Literature must strive to be always vigilant and true, in the protection of its integrity from the trappings of the Good Life – pornography, violence, acculturation, materialism, institutional decline, particularly the family and village community. The homogenization effect that globalization poses is the biggest challenge not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well: the preservation of literature which is the precursor of culture, making it relevant and significant in our present age of postmodernism.~

Part 6 -  The essence of Aesop's Fables is as fresh as ever

Even as Aesop fables are taking a new dimension as viewed in a changing world, their essence is as fresh as ever. All one needs to realize them as relevant as they were in Aesop’s time is simply to reflect on them himself. For human character and behavior have not really changed since then.

Researched and presented by Dr Abe V Rotor

lecture, UST Faculty of Arts and Letters; 

lesson, Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid*

Aesop's Fables have been told and re-told, then written and re-written countless times as a form of entertainment and education. Anecdotal and comic sketches were everyday forms of amusement in ancient Athens and Delphi. Today these works envelop many realms of life including psychology, politics, spirituality, education, health and well-being. Whether the man himself or Aesop the modern construct of scholars, his influence and commentary on human behavior has been firmly established. (C.D. Merriman)

…………………………………………………………………………………

Aesop did not write down his fables. He told many people the stories and they remembered them. It was nearly two hundred years before the stories were collected together and published. The fables were not published in English until the 15th century, but since then they have been read by people all over the world. Their moral lessons are as true today as they were 2,500 years ago when Aesop was alive. …………………………………………………………………………………………………

Childhood Lessons from Fables 

The first lessons I learned from my father came from Aesop’s fables. Quite a number of them are still fresh in my mind nearly seven decades after. 

Fable or fibula in Latin is a story or tale, especially a short story, often with animals or inanimate objects as speakers or actors, devised to convey a moral. So simple and universal are fables that no one could possibly miss the lesson of each story. 

Before I proceed let me say a few words about the genius behind this ancient art of storytelling. Aesop, the founder of fables, was a native of old Greece, a former slave who earned his freedom out of his genius and wit, a master in allegorical philosophy. It is for this natural gift that he also gained fame – and ironically, it is also for this that he met a lamentable end in the hands of enemies whom his fables created. 

Aesop is the greatest fabulist of all time, and if there are other prominent fabulists after him and at present, there is likely a trace of Aesop in their stories. Even modern fables like the movie Babes, about a pig that gained its right to live by learning to be a "sheep dog," reminds us of Aesop. 

Or take the case of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a story about man’s folly and greed for power and wealth and lavish living. 

But little can we perceive the original morals of Aesop in most of today’s animations. There is simply too much fantasy that masks the lesson, especially so with the versatility of technology that emphasizes scenarios that heighten the plot as if fables are running entertainment stories. 

What technology misses is that it fails to capture the refinement of presentation and the purposeful message that lingers in afterthought. Aesop has a unique way of making his reader to first look within himself before casting judgment upon others. Like many philosophers in his time, he believed that change is basically internal and often, discreetly self-atonement and non-effacing.

Aesop is Aesop for such extraordinary character as can be gleamed from records about the man. To wit -

“It is probable that he was of a low and diminutive stature, though agreeable in his complexion, and polite in his manners. It is however, certain that he had a great soul, and was endowed with extraordinary mental qualification; his moral character approached to a degree of perfection to which very few have attained. He appears to have had a true sense of morality and a just discernment of right and wrong; his perceptions and feelings of truth were scrupulously nice, and the smallest deviation from rectitude impressed his mind with the greatest antipathy. “

No considerations of private interest could warp his inclinations to as to seduce him from the path of virtue; his principles are steadfast and determined, and truly habitual. He never employed his great wisdom to serve the purposes of cunning; but, with an uncommon exactness, made his understanding a servant of truth.” (Oliver Goldsmith, Life of Aesop) 

While we recognize Aesop as the father of the fable, there were fabulists ahead of him like Archilochus who wrote fables one hundred years before. But it is certain that Aesop was the first that brought that species of teaching into reputation, building upon the style of using animals and inanimate objects to describe the manners and characters of men, communicating instructions without seeming to assume authority of a master or a pedagogue. 

Here is a story from which we can gleam the Aesop’s indomitable reputation. He adopted a unique strategy to reconcile his master and his estranged wife who had left him. It is said that Aesop, then a slave of Xanthus, went to the market and brought a great quantity of the best provisions, which he publicly declared were intended for the marriage of his master with a new spouse. This report had its desired effect, and the matter was amicably settled. And at a feast to celebrate the return of his master’s wife he is said to have served the guests with several courses of tongues, by which he intended to give a moral to his master and wife, who had by too liberal use of their tongue almost caused their permanent separation. 

In another occasion, Aesop astounded the sages of Greece. An ambitious king having one day shown his vast riches and magnificence, and the glory and splendor of his court, asked them the question, whom they thought was the happiest man. After several different answers given by all the wise men present, it came at last to Aesop to make his reply. 

He said: “That Croesus was as much happier than other men as the fullness of the sea was superior to the rivers in his kingdom.” If we were to base Aesop’s sagacity and severe morality his answer would rather be one of sarcasm rather than compliment, but he was undoubtedly understood by the king to be a great compliment, that in his vanity exclaimed, “The Phrygian had hit the mark.”

Afterward, alone with a friend, Aesop commented, “Either we must not speak to Kings, or we must say what will please them.” 

While he was living at the court of King Croesus, now a free man, celebrated and famous, he was sent on a journey to the temple of Apollo at Delphi. There he was accused by the Delphians of sacrilege, and he was convicted by an act of the greatest villainy. They concealed among his baggage, at his departure, some golden vessels consecrated to Apollo, and then dispatched messengers to search his baggage. Upon this he was accused of theft and sacrilege, and condemned to die.  The angry Delphians pushed him over a steep cliff to his death. 

Aesop’s ironic death is not the first among respected citizens of Greece, paradoxically when Greece was at its peak of power, as we can only imagine with this aphorism “the glory that was Greece.” 

Not far after Aesop’s time, Socrates, the greatest philosopher of Athens in his time and one of the greatest minds the world has ever known, was condemned to die by drinking poison hemlock for “corrupting the minds of the youth.” Socrates opened the gate of enlightenment; the concept of the Lyceum or university. 

I have selected a number of Aesop fable to suit the purpose of conveying important messages related to contemporary issues in a manner that they can be understood at the grassroots. This is the purpose of Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's school-on-the air) to impart functional literacy to the masses. It is not the intention of the lessons to impose moral authority, much less to proselytize our society of its failures and weaknesses. It merely seeks to elevate awareness for change, in the humblest manner we may find ways to reform, through the lessons in the fables Aesop related more than two thousand five hundred years ago. 

Here are some of the popular fables of Aesop with the morals they convey. Popular Aesop Fables 

1. The fox without a tail – Wise people are not easily fooled

2. The shepherd boy and the wolf – If we tell lies, no one will believe us when we speak the truth. 

3. The boastful traveler – People who boast are soon found out. 

4. The crow and the fox – Beware of people who say nice things they do not mean. 

5. Who will bell the cat – Some things are more easily said than done. 

6. The crow and the swan – Think well before you copy other people. 

7. The wolf and the lamb – People who want to do something bad can always find an excuse. 

8. The lion and the hare – It is sometimes wiser to be content with what you have. 

9. Brother and sister – It is better to be good than to be just good looking. 

10. The goose that laid the golden eggs - A greedy man can lose all he has. 

11. The wind and the sun– Kindness often gets things done more quickly than force. 

12. The trees and the axe – Be careful when you give way over small things, or you may have to give way over big ones. 

13. The dog and his reflection – If you want more because you are greedy, in the end you might find you have less. 

14. The fir tree and the bramble – People who are too proud may be sorry later. 

15. The ant and the dove – No one is too little to be helpful. 

16. The boys and the frogs – Do not do things to other people that you would not like to be done to you. 

17. The raven and the jug – If you try hard enough, you may find you can do something that at first seems very difficult. 

18. The dog in the manger – Do not stop others having what you don’t need. 

19. The fox and the grapes – It is silly to say that you do not want something just because you cannot have it. (idiomatic expression: sour grapes) 

20. The wolves and the dog – Those who cannot be trusted deserve to be treated badly. 21. The fox and the lion – Things are not always what they seem to be at first. 

22. The bear and the travelers - A real friend will not leave you to face trouble alone. 

23. The fox and the stork – If you play mean tricks on other people, they might do the same to you. 

24. The man and the partridge – No one loves a traitor. 

Versions and Interpretations of Aesop’s Fables 

The interpretation of an Aesop fable may vary. For example, The Fir tree and the Bramble, has this earlier interpretation, from Oliver Goldsmith, citing Bewick’s version. Poverty secures a man from many dangers; whereas the rich and the mighty are the mark of malice and cross fortune; and still the higher they are, the nearer the thunder. To have a better view of the moral, let me cite the fable from Bewick’s. 

The fable starts with a verse, as follows: 

Minions of fortune, pillars of the state, 

Round your exalted heads that tempest low’r! 

While peace secure, and soft contentment wait 

On the calm mansions of the humble poor. 

So the story goes like this. 

“My head, says the boasting Fir-tree to the humble Bramble, is advanced among the stars; I furnish beams for palaces, and masts for shipping; the very sweat of my body is a sovereign remedy for the sick and wounded: whereas thou, O rascally Bramble, runnest creeping in the dirt, and art good for nothing in the world but mischief. I pretend not to vie with thee, said the Bramble, in the points that gloriest in. But, not to insist upon it, that He who made thee lofty Fir, could have made thee an humble Bramble, I pray thee tell me, when the Carpenter comes next with the axe into the wood, to fell timber, whether that hadst not rather be a Bramble than a Fir-tree?” 

Compare the same fable with this simplified version for children. Here it goes. One day, on a hill top, a fir tree said to a bramble bush. “Look at me. I am tall, strong, graceful and very beautiful. What good are you? You are small, ugly and untidy.” This made the bramble bush very unhappy because it knew the fir tree was right. But next day some men carrying axes came up the hill. They started to chop down the fir tree. They wanted to use it to make a new house. ”Oh dear!” cried the fir tree, as it started to fall. “I wish I were a bramble bush, then the men would not have cut me down.” 

The Fox and the Grapes and other Fables

Sour grapes is a popular idiomatic expression which we often hear from people who find excuse for not having succeeded at a thing. It's like saying, "It's not worth anyway." Here is Bewick’s version of The Fox and the Grapes. 

Old maids who loathe the matrimonial state 

Poor rogues who laugh to scorn the rich and the great, Patriots who rail at placemen and at pow’r, 

All, like Reynard, say, ”The Grapes are sour.” 

And here is the main body of the fable. “A fox, very hungry, chanced to come into a Vineyard, where hung many bunches of charming ripe grapes; but nailed up to a trellis so high, that he leaped till he quite tired himself without being able to reach one of them. At last, Let who will take them! Says he; they are but green and sour; so I’ll even let them alone.” 

This is the interpretation from the same source (Bewick’s). When a man finds it impossible to obtain the things he longs for, it is a mark of sound wisdom and discretion to make a virtue of necessity. To compare with the simplified children’s version, the story goes like this as retold by Marie Stuart (A Second Book of Aesop’s Fables, Ladybird Books, 1974)

 A fox saw some nice grapes. “They look good,” he said. “I want to eat them, but they are too high for me. I must try jumping for them.” He jumped and jumped but could not reach the grapes. So he said, “I can see now that they are green. They are not sweet. I do not like green grapes. They are sour. I don’t want them.” So he went away without any. He knew that the grapes were really very nice. He just said they were sour because he could not reach them. 

This story gave rise to the idiomatic expression – sour grapes, which are an expression of frustration, a passive surrender, a defeatist argument, and a kind of defense mechanism. 

What could have led to the variation in the interpretation of the two versions? 

Thomas Bewick from whom Goldsmith based his English translation, lived in the later part of the 18th century and early 19th century, and apparently wrote and illustrated in wood block Aesop’s fables; whereas the children’s version is a very recent one. 

Understandably, it the social message in Bewick’s time and ours that has not changed, but it is in the way it is stated. The earlier version reflects the fineness in expression and diplomacy of the English language, unlike our contemporary style of expression - direct and moralistic. Thus the idiom – sour grapes was born out of the contemporary version. 

The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf (A Boy and False Alarms) 

Of all the fables I learned as child, I like best the story of the boy who cried “Wolf!” After bluffing twice, thrice, and make fun out of wit, people didn’t believe in him anymore. Then the real wolf came and killed all the sheep. 

Here is the story from Bewick written in Medieval English style. “A shepherd’s boy kept his sheep upon a common, and in sport and wantonness had gotten a roguish trick of crying. A wolf! A wolf! When there was no such matter, and fooling the country people with false alarms. He had been at this sport so many times in jest, that they would not believe him at last when he was in earnest; and so the wolves broke in upon the flock, and worried the sheep without resistance.” 

The fable shows us the dangerous consequences of an improper and unreasonable fooling. The old moral observes, that a common liar shall not be believed, even when he speaks true. 

The Mice in Council (Who will bell the cat?) 

It’s an interesting fable that behooves upon those who are good only as critics, and ruefully poor doers. It also applies to those who may be sincere in a thing they think is right, but lack the courage to do it. Why many evil things continue to prevail because of indifference! Let us look into the story. 

This is the simpler version for children to understand. Once some mice lived in a house where there also lived a big cat. Everyday she liked to eat some mice. At last the mice said to one another. “This must stop, or soon we shall all be eaten.” So after a time an old mouse said. “I know what we can do. One of us must put a bell on the cat. The bell will tell us when she is near and when we must stay at home. After she has gone away, we can come out again.” “Yes, that will be a wise thing to do. Let us do that,” they all said. “But which one of us will put the bell on her?” said the old mouse. “I am too old, I cannot run very fast so I don’t think I can do it.” “So are we,” said some of the others. “And we are too little,” said the baby mice. In the end no one would do it. So the bell was never put on the cat and she went on eating the mice. 

Another interpretation suggests that the fable must have been addressed to celebrated personages - people who are members of a council. 

In the story, the members offered solutions which they debated upon. Here the one who offered the solution to bell the cat came was a young mouse, who in fine florid speech convinced the council. Thereafter an old grave Mouse, who had sat silent all the while, gave another speech, in which he said that the proposal is ingenious. However, he thought it would not be so proper to thank the proponent unless he informs them how the bell was going to be fastened around the cat’s neck, and which mouse would undertake the dangerous assignment. 

Bewick’s interpretation speaks on a higher level of thought. To wit: 

“The different lights, in which things appear to different judgments, recommend candor to the opinions of others, even at the time we retain our own.” 

The Dog and the Shadow (The Dog and His Reflection) 

Perhaps the most popular fable about avarice is The Dog and the Shadow (The Dog and His Reflection) One day, a dog took a bone from a shop. He ran off with it before anyone could catch him. He came to a river and went over the bridge. As he looked down into the water, he saw another dog with a bone. He did not know that the dog he saw in the water was a reflection of himself. “That dog has a big bone. It is as big as mine,” he said. “I will jump into the water and take it from him.” So he jumped. When he was in the water, he could not see the other dog. And he could not see the other bone either. He had lost his own bone, too, because it fell as he jumped in. So because he was greedy, he got nothing in the end. 

The story invites the reader to reflect upon himself on these related lessons:

 • Excessive greediness mostly in the end misses what it aims.

 • Disorderly appetite seldom obtains what it would have.

 • Passions mislead men, and often bring them great inconveniences. 

Other Aesop Fables 

Here is a list of Aesop Fables which may not be as popular to us as compared with those in the first list. It is true that many fables have remained obscure and forgotten in some shelves, relinquished aside in favor of modern day fables and animations. Ironically many stories about animals are not fables at all. Even legends have a place of their own, and a lot of them do not fall into the category of fables. 

The Minotaur for example will remain firmly within the sphere of mythology, more so with the mystical beasts legends and myths like Medusa and the Dragon.

 • The Ant and the Grasshopper – “Save for the rainy day.” Action and industry of the wise and a good man, and nothing is so much to be despised as slothfulness. 

 • A boar and a fox – A discreet man should have a reserve of everything that is necessary beforehand.

 • The fox and the crow – There is hardly any man living that may not be wrought upon more or less by flattery

 • An ass, an ape and a mole; The hares and the frogs – These two fables tell us that we cannot contend with the Orders and Decrees of Providence

 • The ant and the fly – An honest mediocrity is the happiest state a man can wish for. 

 • The horse and an ass – This fable shows the folly and the fate of pride and arrogance.  

• An husbandman and stork – Our fortune and reputation require us to keep good company. • A father and his sons – The breach of unity puts the world in a state of war. • The sick father and his children – Good counsel is the best legacy a father can leave to a child.

 • A peacock and a crane – There cannot be a greater sign of a weak mind than a person’s valuing himself on a gaudy outside. 

 • The stag looking into the water – We should examine things deliberately, and candidly consider their real usefulness before we place our esteem on them.

 • The gnat and a bee – Industry ought to be inculcated in the minds of children.

 • A swallow and a stork – A wise man will not undertake anything without means answerable to the end.

 • The Satyr and the traveler – There is no use conversing with any man that carries two faces under one hood.

 • The eagle, the cat and the sow – There can be no peace in any state or family where whisperers and tale bearers are encouraged.

 • The two frogs – We ought never to change our situation in life, without duly considering the consequences of such a change.

 • The discontented ass – Here is a beautiful verse written about this fable Who lacks the pleasures of a tranquil mind, Will something wrong in every station find; His mind unsteady, and on changes bent, Is always shifting, yet it is ne’er content.

And here is a shade of mythology in Aesop in these two fables: 

Hercules and the carter. Prayers and wishes amount to nothing: We must put forth our own honest endeavors to obtain success and the assistance of heaven; and 

Mercury and the woodman – Honesty is the best policy. 

The Little Red Hen – A Modern Fable

Once upon a time there was a little red hen that lived in a farmyard, and one day found some grains of wheat which she took to the other animals in the farmyard – cat, rat, pig. He asked who of them can help her plant the grains of wheat. None wanted to, so the little red hen planted the grains, and the plants grew tall and strong until it was time to harvest them. Again she asked her companions if they are willing to help. Just like before, none of them was. So the little red hen did the harvesting. And she did all the work – brought the grains to the miller and to the baker, and when the bread was baked he asked her friends, “Who will help me eat the bread?” “I will,” said the cat. “I will,” said the rat. “I will,” said the pig. “No you will not,” intoned the little red hen. “I shall eat it myself.” So she did. 

The Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat is a modern fable which evolved into philosophy that touches sensitive issues of modern living such as capitalism and socialism. 

Animal Farm by George Orwell may be different in presentation and philosophical connotation, from the traditional style of a fable. It is a socio-economic and political thesis in the guise of animals acting like humans do under a system which they themselves created. 

Even as Aesop fables are taking a new dimension as viewed in a changing world, the essence is as fresh as ever. All one needs to realize them as relevant as they were in Aesop’s time is simply to reflect on them himself. For human character and behavior have not really changed since then. ~

 

 

References: Goldsmith O (1973) - Treasury of Aesop’s Fables Avenel Books, NY 139 pp Stuart M (1974) A First Book of Aesop’s Fables (Vol 1 and 2) Ladybird Books

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air) 738 DZRB AM, 8 to 9 o'clock evening, Monday to Friday Dr Abe V Rotor and Melly C Tenorio

Part 7 - Reviving Lola Basyang:

Stories for Children by Severino Reyes a.k.a Lola Basyang

Compiled and Edited by Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Philippine Literature Today by Abercio V Rotor and Christine Molina-Doria CE Publishing Co. QC

Acknowledgment: To all sources of information I used in this educational blog, including the movie producers of Lola Basyang stories, magazine and Klasiks publishers, Ballet Manila and all its performers, book publishers and distributors, the Internet, family and friends of the greatest Filipino storyteller for children of all times, and the University of Santo Tomas where he graduated a long time ago. I was told he finished a degree in Philosophy and Letters from UST. 

There is one very extraordinary lesson about the storyteller which should inspire his audience, and particularly writers like me, and that is, there is nothing too late to achieve something valuable: Mang Binoy as he was fondly called, wrote the first of his four hundred children's stories at the age of seventy-five.  It inspires us all for an old man to talk the language of children and make them real men and women, courageous and happy to face the world where fantasy makes reality not only bearable but kind and fulfilling.  

I invite my readers to revive the good tradition of Lola Basyang amidst conflicting values that make children difficult to raise. It is tradition I know to be the best alternative to too much exposure to today's living conditions, what with all the computers and malls, and too much expectations we demand from our children.  Let them be in their own sweet time.  Knowledge is also learned in leisure and quiet, in sitting by the fireplace listening to a Lola Basyang, when the roads turn rough, so with the tides of life. Be children like the children in Lola Basyang's time.  

 

 

 

 Lola Basyang stories translated into Tagalog Komiks 

became popular among the masses in sixties and seventies.

Popularly known as Mang Binoy, Don Severino Reyes, was also the co-founder and editor of the Liwayway in 1923. The very first years of the Liwayway was a struggle, and there was scarcity of literature to include in its contents, so Mang Binoy created the "Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang" in 1925 as filler. He did not sign it with his name though because he thought it was unethical, while still serving as editor of the magazine.

And so Mang Binoy used the byline "Lola Basyang" after a friend's neighbor named Gervacia Guzman de Zamora, who was known as "Tandang Basyang". It was from her where Mang Binoy took the inspiration to create"Lola Basyang".

In real life, Tandang Basyang was described as an old bespectacled woman in baro't saya, seated in her famous silyon, and reading her timeless classic stories - dug from her ancient baul (wooden chest) - to her fascinated grandchildren.  The grandchildren were more than eager to hear stories about faraway castles, heroic princes, lovely maidens, giants, and elves. Always, at the end of each story is a moral lesson to be learned.

The first story of the "Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang" was entitled ang "Plautin ni Periking", a wonderful story of a kindhearted kid who has a magical flute and flying carpet. It was the first of the more than 400 "Lola Basyang" stories to have graced the Liwayway, and only discontinued because of Mang Binoy's death in 1942. (Wikipedia)

    

In 2006, Anvil Publishing, Inc. relaunched a series of picture books based on the tales written by Severino Reyes and retold by Christine Bellen. All books were illustrated by Frances C. Alcaraz, Albert Gamos, Elbert Or, Liza A. Flores and Ruben de Jesus. The 11 picture books are:

· Ang Alamat ng Lamok (The Legend of the Mosquito), which was originally titled Ang Parusa ng Higante (The Giant's Curse)
· Ang Mahiwagang Biyulin (Magical Violin)
· Ang Sultan Saif (Saif the Sultan)
· Parusa ng Duwende (The Dwarf's Curse)
· Plautin ni Periking (Periking's Flute)
· Rosa Mistica (Mystical Rose)
· Ang Binibining Tumalo sa Hari (The Maiden Who Defeated a King)
· Ang Prinsipe ng mga Ibon (Prince of Birds)
· Ang Prinsipeng Duwag (The Cowardly Prince)
· Si Pandakotyong
· Ang Prinsipeng Mahaba ang Ilong (The Prince with the Long Nose)

Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Season 1
· Ang Mahiwagang Kuba (The Enchanted Hunchback)
· Ang Prinsipeng Unggoy (The Monkey Prince)
· Ang Parusa ng Duwende (The Dwarf's Punishment)
· Ang Binibining Tumalo sa Mahal Datu (The Maiden Who Defeated the Datu)
· Ang Mahiwagang Biyulin (The Enchanted Violin)
· Ang Prinsipeng Mahaba ang Ilong (The Prince with A Long Nose)
· Ang Sumpa ng Higanteng si Amok (The Curse of Amok the Giant)
Ang Walong Bulag (The Eight Blind Men)
· Ang Prinsipeng Duwag (The Cowardly Prince)
· Akong Ikit
· Maria Alimango
· Si Sultan Saif (Sultan Saif)
· Ang Prinsipe ng mga Ibon (The Prince of the Birds)

Season 2
· Si Pedrong Walang Takot (Fearless Pedro)
· Ang Gwapong Sastre (The Handsome Tailor)
· Ang Palasyo ng mga Duwende (The Palace of the Dwarves)
· Ang Kapatid ng Tatlong Maria (The Brother of the Three Marias)
· Ang Hukbo ni Padre Pedro (The Legion of Father Pedro)
· Ang Plautin ni Periking (The Flute of Periking)
· Anting-anting (The Amulet)
· Ang Mahiwagang Balabal (The Enchanted Cape)
· Ang Dragon sa Ilog Lingwa (The Dragon in Lingwa River)
· Pandakotyong
· Ang Kastilyong Bakal (The Iron-made Palace)
· Prinsesang Kalbo (The Bald Princess)
· Ang Pitong Hilo (The Seven Idiots) ~

Part 8 - Children's Literature

Letters for Venus and the Falling Star*

By Odette P Apodaca

Dear Venus,

"I wonder if you and the earth can merge so your beauty and my planet's warmth can join forces to create life of beauty and warmth.  Then everything will be all right." 

I have learned from a science book that you are the most beautiful planet in the whole universe.  But I have forgotten why you are beautiful due to many things.  I have read about the universe, the planets.  Oh, no, I can't even recall those many things!

Is it because of your bluish color that makes you beautiful? Or is it something else?  Gee, forgive me for not remembering. How I wish i can go to you and look at your beauty the whole day! I wonder what it feels to be living with you and coming out like you beautiful and admired by the other planets.

Is there life inside you?  Are there tall trees and colorful flowers that grow in you?  Are there buses, jeepneys tall buildings, and houses in you? How do people live in you?  Are they like us earth people who have to eat three times a day and take a nap in order to be healthy and fit? What do your people look like?  Do they have eyes, ears, nose and lips?  Do they smile often like us?  Do they cry sometimes?

I have so many questions to ask you but I am not sure If I will have a chance to do that in person.  I have to be an astronaut and pass those rigid tests first before I can be with you.  Life is hard sometimes, especially to a kid like me.

Well, I have just heard from my teacher that life does not grow in you.  You are cold despite your beauty.  I am sad to know that amidst your beauty no life exists.  How sad for a planet as beautiful as you are to be that way on a physical level only.  How sad, really.

I wonder if you and the earth can merge so your beauty and my planet's warmth can join forces to create life of beauty and warmth.  Then everything will be all right.

Hoping to see you,
Kimmy

Dear Falling Star

"I wish to be like you so I may grant the wishes of children like me.  Yet, unlike you, I'll come often to grant every wish I hear.  Again, unlike you, I'll move a little bit more slowly so I may fully hear their wishes."

Every night I look out of my window to wait for your return.  My older brother keeps telling me stories about you and how you grant wishes of people who ask you something, including his.

I didn't believe him at first.  He's kind of braggart, that's why I don't often take him seriously.  But testimonials of other people who, for me, are credible have made me change my mind.

Now, I'm one of the countless children who look out of the window every night to wait for you. Like them, I have rehearsed over and over what I'd like to wish for.  The elders say we have to say our wish fast, just before you disappear, so it will be granted.

I'm kind of having a stiff neck because I look out of the window so much.  I'm getting a little bit restless but I know I have to be patient.  I know that we, children, don't easily get our wishes like getting good grades.  We have to work hard for them, I know.

You have to appear soon or I might grow old with this waiting.  Do you know what I'm going to wish for?

I wish to be like you so I may grant the wishes of children like me.  Yet, unlike you, I'll come often to grant every wish I hear.  Again, unlike you, I'll move a little bit more slowly so I may fully hear their wishes.

Now, wouldn't that be grand?

Please come soon,

Kimmy

*From Miss Odette P Apodaca's second book, The Wrath of Indaragata and Other Stories published by Giraffe's Books in 2000.  The book contains eighth short stories, which "tackles a wide range of subjects for children: cleanliness and hygiene, concern for the environment xxx the importance of reading books." (Introduction by Nick B Melgar). 

Dr Abe V Rotor's Note: Odette's stories for children convey a very important message in the midst of our digital and postmodernism living "to slow down, and reflect," so to speak. Her stories are for children's reflection and meditation, more so for us parents and grown ups. Odette and I taught at St Paul University QC, a most memorable association and experience with scholarly and creative professors exemplified by Odette herself.   Acknowledgement with gratitude to all concerned - avr

----------------------------
Children's literature is a genre of written works and illustrations created to entertain or educate young people. It includes: 

- Books, stories, poems, magazines, songs, recordings, TV shows, and films
- Picture books, easy-to-read stories, fairy tales, lullabies, fables, and folk songs
- Works that are classified by the age of the intended reader or their reading level. 

(Reference: Internet)

Part 9 - CHILDREN'S LITERATURE ON NATURE

1. Mackie and the Owl

    Until I captured the scary creature

     with paint brush on the wall,

where kids could talk to and touch; 

                                   now the owl is a friend to all.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Mackie poses before a wall mural painted by the 

author at her home in Lagro QC 2015

Mackie used to be afraid of the owl,

     imagined or on the screen.

and would fling into embrace blind

     until it is no longer seen.

The creature would appear in the dark,

     in her favorite cartoon;

by its hooting in the hollow of a tree,

     she would freeze like stone.

Until I captured the scary creature

     with paint brush on the wall,

where kids could talk to and touch; 

     now the owl is a friend to all. ~

2. The World in his Paint Brush

Markus 2 author's grandson paints a mural 2015, QC

"Freedom in imagination, young as he is, while grownups yearn for expression outside the confines of art; who is the master then? Yet, the path that he takes is rough and uncertain, sans model and determination he'll miss his aim." - A V Rotor

"Nothing, indeed, is more dangerous to the young artist than any conception of ideal beauty: he is constantly led by it either into weak prettiness or lifeless abstraction: whereas to touch the ideal at all, you must not strip it of vitality." - Oscar Wilde

"It is only after years of preparation that the young artist should touch color - not color used descriptively, that is, but as a means of personal expression." - Henri Matisse

3. "Nature is a world of reality and fantasy."- avr

Details of Mural by Dr Abe V Rotor

"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter." - Rachel Carson

Wish the animals are alive and tame.

 

They never saw the animals in the wild;

no, not in the concrete jungle of the city;

save a visit to the zoo, images on TV,

it's a world of reality and fantasy.

"I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles." 

- Anne Frank

White Doves Meet the Sun - a Forest Scene.

Morning comes late in the forest,

and evening comes early;

So with creatures at play or rest

 in their leisure and play. 

"My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature."

 - Claude Monet

Part 10 - CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN PAINTING AND POETRY

I love the rainbow in 5 perspectives

“When there is love in the heart, there are rainbows in the eyes, which cover every black cloud with gorgeous hues.” — Henry Ward Beecher

                                                           Dr Abe V Rotor

1. Rainbow at the Waterfalls

2. "Yellow Spot into Sun"

3. Rainbow Across a River

4. Yes, you can bring down the rainbow - and touch it, too.

5. Rainbow on a Wall Mural

ANNEX - Rainbow comes down to earth in many ways

                                    1. Rainbow at the Waterfalls

“I can see my rainbow calling me through the misty

 breeze of my waterfall." - Unknown

Rainbow at the Waterfalls, by Leo Carlo R Rotor, 13

"I am told when we knock at heaven's gate

St. Peter will ask, Pray, tell me, 

what price have you paid to enter heaven?

I will then have to recall and reflect...

on all the good deeds I have done from birth to death

as well as my sins of omission and commission."

2. "Yellow Spot into Sun"

"Picasso once said that a real artist has a unique talent to transform a yellow spot into sun... a sun shining into the heart, giving warmth and comfort that go with enlightenment, wisdom, faith and hope - for the young generation." -  avr

Rainbow on a Tree by Mishane Chura, 9

"I used to be of the dark

I still am...

But I have come to terms with this fear.

I now leave the light off when I sleep

For I have come to terms with darkness

And my fear of it... "

3. Rainbow Across a River

"Count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms." - Alyssa Knight

Rainbow across the Bamban River, Tarlac

I love the rainbow

because it holds a pot of gold

that glitters in kaleidoscope,

and prism on its huge crown,

where lovely deities play I'm told;

it's reborn when worn and old

into a cathedral in the sky

cherubim sweetly sing in praise, 

humbling the proud and bold;

it guides the lost from the fold

and those searching for heaven -

a rainbow suddenly appears

whenever faith grows cold. ~

4. Yes, you can bring down the rainbow - and touch it, too.  

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.” — E.Y. Young

 

Children in the neighborhood delight in making a rainbow through an aquarium as prism.

 You can make one, too, in your home. 

Rainbow - a kaleidoscope of colors in a pattern of seven - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet - that guide man's art in endless combinations.

Rainbow - it builds slowly before our eyes; it comes as twin, or breaks out suddenly  perking up life in its low ebb, and taking out the boredom of living. 

Rainbow - gauge of  weather, reference for travel and trade, source of inspiration of lovers,  bards and writers, subject of the arts, icon of faith and devotion. 

Rainbow - the make-believe subject in children's stories of fairies and spirits; the most sought treasure of grownups -  the proverbial pot of gold. 

Rainbow - ephemeral for which its beauty in heightened, like a rose in the morning, 
first rain in May, the passing of day and night, and the march of seasons.  

Rainbow - likened to the cycle of life - its birth and death, glory and fall, its simplicity grandeur, its independence and attachment to all things, visible and invisible.

Rainbow - now you see it, now you don't, a puzzle to the old and young in all walks of life, yet seeing it best with a clear mind, pure heart and spirit.

Rainbow - it conquers gloom, sows hope, builds the biggest, the most beautiful and magnificent arch of the world that bestows honor to everyone. 

Rainbow - the cathedral in the sky that brings the faithful of all beliefs together in awe and respect to the Creator, the unifying grace of all mankind.  

Rainbow - too high, too far, too abstract, yet to the children it is near, it is real and true; rainbow the symbol of beauty and hope, it comes when the sky is gloomy and dark. ~

5. Rainbow on a Wall Mural 

"Today's teardrops are tomorrow's rainbows." - Ricky Nelson 

. Rainbow on a Wall Mural by the author, Lagro QC

I painted a wall and brought a rainbow down;
it fell on the grass, over my head its crown;
what my painting lacked, it gloriously filled,
and I, the artist humbled, my pride stilled.

Now I understand how a masterpiece is made,
the Sistine chapel, Berlin wall, Roman pallisade,
these classical works, their secrets long sought -
it's the Creator's expression in man's thought. ~

ANNEX - Rainbow comes down to earth in many ways

Rainbow comes down to earth in many ways - in flowers in spring, leaves in autumn, mountains at sunrise, reflection of lakes, spray of running streams, mirage in deserts, feathers of fowls, and the like.  The rainbow is commonly imitated in man-made structures and designs, and many items of trade and commerce.

Living things like this rainbow fish have captured through evolution the colors and pattern of the rainbow, assuring them of their place in the living world. Internet photo  

      Part 11 - A Child's Parable of The Black Puppy

Anna Christina R Rotor, 12*

School Project on CLIVE,

Year 2 Malvar, Teacher Remy

October 20, 1997

Unedited

 

Pastel drawing by Anna Christina, 12 (1997)

It was late in the evening when three children searched for their pet, wondering what had happened to it. Their dog was crying in pain and they didn't know where to find. Suddenly, at a corner of their garage, they saw the missing, white dog. The dog gave birth to three little puppies. The children were so delighted to see a very beautiful, white puppy with a cute, pink nose. But they became disappointed upon seeing two black, ugly puppies, which they didn't even had the color of their mother. So the children poured all their love to the white puppy. They even had the plan to make this dog an intelligent one. After a few days, they noticed that the other black puppy was very weak. Not for long, it died, which they didn't mind too much.

One morning, the children were shocked to see their favorite puppy lying helplessly and trying to catch its breath. They did everything they could do to save the puppy but it was too late and died. They children felt very, very sad and tried not to cry. But then they realized that there is still a black puppy left whom they could love like their love for their favorite pet.

They learned to love the black puppy and took good care of it. They taught him different dog tricks and trained him to be a smart dog.

Many years passed, the children were very proud to see the black, ugly puppy grew into a very beautiful, talented and intelligent dog.

Author's Comment: Based on my experiences related in this parable, there is one experience that I will never forget. It is an experience of disappointment and contentment. At age 10, my favorite cousin died at an early age. I always let the time pass longing for him. Just then, I realized that I could do nothing to bring him back. I finally knew that I could go on with my life without my sorrows. I began to enjoy my life again and learned to love my other cousins, who sometimes I hated most. I learned to be more considerate to them and we grew up in a better relationship.

With my unforgettable experience, there is one important lesson that I learned: The one you love least may sometimes be the one you'll love most. ~


* Anna is daughter of Dr, and Mrs. Abe V Rotor. Presently, she and her family live in Brisbane, Australia.

Part 12 - Nature and the Classics*

 Living with Nature Center 

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

"Write, read Classics about Nature, and vice versa;

Reach for the highest level of arts and philosophy." - avrotor

*The word classics is derived from the Latin adjective classicus, meaning "belonging to the highest class of citizens." The word was originally used to describe the members of the Patricians, the highest class in ancient Rome.

Dr Abe V Rotor

“We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.” –Albert Einstein

"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter." –Rachel Carson

 

"It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty, the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living" - David Attenborough

 

“I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.” –Anne Frank

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." –John Muir

 

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” –Langston Hughes

 

"If you wish to know the divine, feel the wind on your face and the warm sun on your hand.” –Buddha

“The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.”- Zeno

Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Wikipedia

References: The Living with Nature Series (2 Volumes) by AVRotor, Unversity off Santo Tomas; Living with Folk Wisdom, Light from the Old Arch, AVRotor (UST), Living with Nature in Our Home and Community AVRotor (Sadiri Publication, 2023) 

Part 13 - 22 Classic Literature Books in Your Palm.

More Books at the Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

A book is like a garden, carried in the pocket. There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island. Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she can read printed words! To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark. (Excerpts from famous quotations on classic literature)

Dr Abe V Rotor

The story of Heidi may have been written in 1880, but author Johanna Spyri's messages of optimism, altruism and nature appreciation continue to attract new readers around the globe.

Tous pour un, un pour tous (All for one, and one for all) is a motto traditionally associated with the titular heroes of the novel The Three Musketeers written by Alexandre Dumas père, first published in 1844.

Treasure Island is an adventure and historical novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It was published as a book in 1883, and tells a story of "buccaneers and buried gold" set in the 18th century.

Gulliver's Travel's, written by Jonathan Swift, recounts in first-person narrative the vibrant adventures of Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon who works on ships and time after time encounters himself stranded in new lands, a victim of shipwreck, piracy, and mutiny.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett is about a young girl named Sara Crewe, who becomes a servant at an English boarding school after her father's death.

King Solomon's Mine. Though this is a work of fiction, there might be some truth to the story. The Bible does not explicitly say that Solomon owned mines but does speak about his wealth and his access to raw materials, which he used to create riches for the First Temple.

Swiss Family Robinson. In this family film, the Robinson clan -- mother (Dorothy McGuire), father (John Mills) and their three sons, Fritz, Ernst and Francis -- flee the reign of Napoleon to start afresh in New Guinea. When their ship gets damaged en route, the family takes refuge on a deserted island.

Kidnapped. In this family film, the Robinson clan -- mother (Dorothy McGuire), father (John Mills) and their three sons, Fritz, Ernst and Francis -- flee the reign of Napoleon to start afresh in New Guinea. When their ship gets damaged en route, the family takes refuge on a deserted island.

In Dracula, Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to help Count Dracula finalize legal business regarding a purchase in London. Harker barely survives an encounter with Dracula and his Brides and writes to his fiancé Mina in London. Mina leaves to help Johnathan, but writes to her friend Lucy about life in London.

The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned is a 1989 horror novel by American writer Anne Rice. Taking place during the early twentieth century, it follows the collision between a British archeologist's family and a resurrected mummy.

In Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," the ambitious scientist Victor Frankenstein, driven by a thirst for knowledge, creates a creature from corpses, only to abandon his creation and suffer the consequences of his hubris, leading to tragedy and a exploration of themes like responsibility, ethics, and the nature of humanity.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Dr Jekyll is a kind, well-respected and intelligent scientist who meddles with the darker side of science, as he wants to bring out his 'second' nature. He does this through transforming himself into Mr Hyde - his evil alter ego who doesn't repent or accept responsibility for his evil crimes and ways.

 

"Lorna Doone," a historical romance by R.D. Blackmore, follows the love story of John Ridd, a farmer, and Lorna Doone, a beautiful woman raised by outlaws in 17th-century Exmoor, amidst the backdrop of violence and social unrest.

"Oliver Twist," a novel by Charles Dickens, follows the journey of an orphaned boy, Oliver, who endures hardship in a workhouse, encounters criminals, and ultimately finds redemption, exploring themes of poverty, crime, and social injustice in 19th-century England.

 

"The Lost World" can refer to two different works: a 1912 science fiction novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about a plateau in South America with prehistoric animals, or a 1997 sequel to the film "Jurassic Park" by Michael Crichton, exploring a "lost world" of dinosaurs on Isla Sorna.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles," a Sherlock Holmes novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, centers on a mysterious death and the legend of a supernatural hound haunting the Baskerville estate in the English moors, which Holmes and Watson investigate, ultimately revealing a real-life culprit behind the supernatural façade.

 

Mutiny of the Bounty. On April 28, 1789, during a voyage from Tahiti, the crew of the HMS Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian, mutinied against Captain William Bligh, forcing him and 18 loyal crew members into a small boat and setting them adrift.

"Oliver Twist," a novel by Charles Dickens, follows the journey of an orphaned boy, Oliver, as he navigates the harsh realities of 19th-century London, facing poverty, crime, and the corrupting influence of society, ultimately finding redemption and a loving family.

 

 

"Black Beauty" follows the horse Black Beauty's life, narrated from his perspective, as he experiences kindness and cruelty from various owners, ultimately finding a happy retirement after facing hardships and abuse.

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," a classic novel by Mark Twain, follows the mischievous and adventurous escapades of a young boy, Tom, in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, exploring themes of childhood, freedom, and societal expectations.

"The Wind in the Willows," a beloved children's classic, follows the adventures of animal friends—Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad—as they navigate life in the English countryside, emphasizing themes of friendship, nature, and the importance of moderation and facing challenges together.

In "Around the World in 80 Days," Phileas Fogg, a meticulous Englishman, bets his friends that he can circumnavigate the globe in 80 days, and embarks on a globe-trotting adventure with his loyal valet, Passepartout, facing numerous challenges and unexpected events along the way.

Acknowledgement with gratitude: AI Overview, Google, Internet, publishers of these books in this article.

ANNEX A - Books - the Greatest Treasure of Mankind

In celebration of National Book Month, October 2023*

tive attributes as humanity, the very stimulus of man's rationality to rise above other creatures - and himself." - avr

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Please visit avrotor.blogspot.com  and Naturalism - the Eighth Sense

 

Award winning books written by the author on display at the Yuchengco Museum Makati, during the awarding ceremonies of National Book Awardees.

Books, the privilege of a few in pre-printing machine era, each page painstakingly handwritten, each book a well-kept treasure. 

Books, the authority, the final say, unquestioned, un-refuted, else any one rising contrary faces punishment, including death or damnation. 

Books, the diary, the ledger, the document of conquest and discovery, of battles fought, often in favor of the writer and party.  

Books, that gave the idea and structure of the Wonders of the Ancient World, and the significance and belief for which they were built. 

Books, that grew with knowledge, brought new schools and movements in arts and philosophy, in unending search for truth. 

Books, the most widely read, the Bible; the shortest, Albert Einstein’s e=mc2, and book-to-cinema versions of Spielberg, Lucas, Cecile DeMille, et al.  

Books, the novels that carry the greatest stories of all times are called classics, for which they are regarded timeless for their enduring universal values.

Books, the epics of Homer, stories of the Grimm Brothers, One-thousand-and-one Nights of  Scheherazade, distilled from oral literature passed through generations to our present time. 

Books, written ahead of their time - Galileo's astronomy, Darwin's evolution, Martin Luther's Protestantism ignited dis-pleasure of the Church.

Books, bedtime stories, baby's introduction to the world, legends and fantasies that take young ones to the land of make believe. 

Books, the record of ultimate scholarship, are the epitome of the greatest minds in thesis and dissertation, theories and principles. 

Books, the precursor of the Internet, the framework of the i-Pod, Tablet, Galaxy, and other gadgets that man becomes virtually a walking encyclopedia. 

Books, the progeny of the earliest forms of writing like the cuneiform, hieroglyphics, caves drawings, etchings, scrolls of the Dead Sea. 

Books, the greatest treasure of mankind, its collective attributes as humanity, the very stimulus of man's rationality to rise above other creatures - and himself.

Author inspects books for shipment to his ancestral home, site of the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Books, that brought about man's disobedience to his creator, playing god, and questioning if god made man, or that man made god.  

Books that enlighten man to care for the environment, guide the young and future generations to a better future, and lead man to save his own species from extinction. ~

*Also celebrated on World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, an annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright. April 23, 2023

Part 2 - 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written

by Martin Seymour-Smith

Note: This list is in chronological order. I received via e-mails from people who complain that there are too many religious books in the list. We cannot deny that religion has been influential in human history. I'm sure that's what Seymour-Smith had in mind.

1. The I Ching
2. The Old Testament
3. The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
4. The Upanishads
5. The Way and Its Power, Lao-tzu
6. The Avesta
7. Analects, Confucius
8. History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides
9. Works, Hippocrates
10. Works, Aristotle
11. History, Herodotus
12. The Republic, Plato
13. Elements, Euclid
14. The Dhammapada
15. Aeneid, Virgil
16. On the Nature of Reality, Lucretius
17. Allegorical Expositions of the Holy Laws, Philo of Alexandria
18. The New Testament
19. Lives, Plutarch
20. Annals, from the Death of the Divine Augustus, Cornelius Tacitus
21. The Gospel of Truth
22. Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
23. Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Sextus Empiricus
24. Enneads, Plotinus
25. Confessions, Augustine of Hippo
26. The Koran
27. Guide for the Perplexed, Moses Maimonides
28. The Kabbalah
29. Summa Theologicae, Thomas Aquinas
30. The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri
31. In Praise of Folly, Desiderius Erasmus
32. The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli
33. On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther
34. Gargantua and Pantagruel, François Rabelais
35. Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin
36. On the Revolution of the Celestial Orbs, Nicolaus Copernicus
37. Essays, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
38. Don Quixote, Parts I and II, Miguel de Cervantes
39. The Harmony of the World, Johannes Kepler
40. Novum Organum, Francis Bacon
41. The First Folio [Works], William Shakespeare
42. Dialogue Concerning Two New Chief World Systems, Galileo Galilei
43. Discourse on Method, René Descartes
44. Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes
45. Works, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
46. Pensées, Blaise Pascal
47. Ethics, Baruch de Spinoza
48. Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan
49. Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, Isaac Newton
50. Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke
51. The Principles of Human Knowledge, George Berkeley
52. The New Science, Giambattista Vico
53. A Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume
54. The Encyclopedia, Denis Diderot, ed
55. A Dictionary of the English Language, Samuel Johnson
56. Candide, François-Marie de Voltaire
57. Common Sense, Thomas Paine
58. An Enquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
59. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon
60. Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant
61. Confessions, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
62. Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke
63. Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft
64. An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, William Godwin
65. An Essay on the Principle of Population, Thomas Robert Malthus
66. Phenomenology of Spirit, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
67. The World as Will and Idea, Arthur Schopenhauer
68. Course in the Positivist Philosophy, Auguste Comte
69. On War, Carl Marie von Clausewitz
70. Either/Or, Søren Kierkegaard
71. The Manifesto of the Communist Party, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
72. "Civil Disobedience," Henry David Thoreau
73. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Charles Darwin
74. On Liberty, John Stuart Mill
75. First Principles, Herbert Spencer
76. "Experiments with Plant Hybrids," Gregor Mendel
77. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
78. Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, James Clerk Maxwell
79. Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche
80. The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud
81. Pragmatism, William James
82. Relativity, Albert Einstein
83. The Mind and Society, Vilfredo Pareto
84. Psychological Types, Carl Gustav Jung
85. I and Thou, Martin Buber
86. The Trial, Franz Kafka
87. The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Karl Popper
88. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, John Maynard Keynes
89. Being and Nothingness, Jean-Paul Sartre
90. The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich von Hayek
91. The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir
92. Cybernetics, Norbert Wiener
93. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
94. Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff
95. Philosophical Investigations, Ludwig Wittgenstein
96. Syntactic Structures, Noam Chomsky
97. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, T. S. Kuhn
98. The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan
99. Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung [The Little Red Book], Mao Zedong
100. Beyond Freedom and Dignity, B. F. Skinner

Source: Seymour-Smith, Martin. 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1998. © 1998 Martin Seymour-Smith. From the Internet

ANNEX B - Dr. Florentino Hornedo

 the Philippines' foremost scholar on Ivatan cultural heritage,

commissioner of the UNESCO 

April is National Literary Month

Earl D.C. Bracamonte - Philstar.com

April 1, 2022 | 9:49am

 The late Prof. Dr. Florentino Hornedo, the Philippines' foremost scholar on Ivatan cultural heritage, was commissioner of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines. In 1999, he chaired the UNESCO Committee to draft the Washington D.C. Statement on International Intangible Heritage at the Smithsonian Institution. He was also a commissioner of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino and a member of the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). Culturalcenter.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines — The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) announced April as the celebration of the National Literary Month (NLM). This year's Buwan ng Panitikan is anchored on the theme "Muling Pagtuklas ng Karunungang Bayan."

The annual celebration is mandated by virtue of Proclamation No. 968 that was signed in 2015.

"National Artist for Literature Rolando S. Tinio wrote, in 1975, that literature is the collective memories of a civilization. Thus, the very reason for celebrating #NLM2022 is to reminisce and recollect the memories of our race," intoned Dr. Michael Coroza, head of the technical working group, during a message he gave at a recent virtual press briefing.

"Our 'karunungang bayan' is comprised of epic tales, fables, folk stories, riddles, and the like. And all these will be made into monogram for pupils in the primary level with Filipino-centric and Asian-centric focus to better foster our identity as a race," enthused Dr. Arturo Casanova of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF).

"We are connecting the past and the present in the face of a global pandemic - crossing the bridge to rewrite our story amid the shifting directions of the times. The Book Festival runs from April through October, together with the other events of the KWF and NCCA," revealed National Book Development Board (NBDB) chairman Dante "Klink" Ang II.


To drumbeat the crusade, Sentro Rizal Youth Ambassadors SB19 sang their patriotic ditty "What?," extolling the virtues of raising the Philippine flag.

"There will be competitions on the Laji, Balitaw, and Leleng for elementary and high school students. The Laji chronicles the life of the Ivatans in Batanes that is sung in rituals and celebrations. The competition will be called the Timpalak Florentino Hornedo.