part2
el pintado continues to share with me his beliefs. I listened intently.
"our lives are dictated by Nature, Nature is the mouthpiece of God - birth and death to us are just like opening the same window in the hut - no matter - it brings the same view - it's not living that matters to us, it's the beauty we see while living. In the north, people understood this concept since long long time ago - even head hunting becomes beauty - that of triumph, of superiority, the feeling of elation with the tribe cheering. Beauty is the reason why I exist. In beauty, I get close to my God. When I achieve the most perfect beauty, I will walk with my God."
Then I, sebastian legua del rey, pointed my finger to the pattern of what appears to be multiple waves around his torso, like patterns in a cloth - for I have seen people in filipinas weave cloths containing the same wave patterns.
"the ocean," el pintado said. "my life belongs to the ocean. my father claims
i have the nature of a pearl
diver, because i survived and floated when, upon birth, he threw me
to the ocean to test my lungs. i have grown up spending my time upon rocks,
marvelling at the colors of the corals and fish, and when it's
pearl season, i dive...
Then i, sebastian, saw the smile form in el pintado's lips, the excitement therein upon mentioning the ocean. he immediately stood up, as if remembering something, and went beside the window of the hut and stared at the waves; i watched him from behind; he raised his arms to feel the breeze, raised his eyes to observe the moon, the tide is high, he said, and stood there as if summoning all the forces of Nature to himself - that's the time i knew he was far above mortals like me. the contour of his build belongs to the gods of greece, but unlike the marble gods of greece, el pintado is made of gold, colored by blue tattoes, which when sat upon the reflection of the moon and ocean, turn coppery shiny,
he was probably the most magnificent specimen on earth.
i wondered then if i were in heaven because i was in the company of
a god; if not, perhaps this were heaven if heaven existed. After
a moment, el pintado climbed over the window and dove into the ocean, i got
scared for a while, but i realized his hut was standing above waters, i
heard his quick splash, like a fish. I hastily ran to the window and raised
my lamp to see him, but the lamp was no use, i brought it inside and went
back to the window, and i saw him gliding straight-forward, following the
line of the moon's rays, the water was dancing, and i felt the warm breeze,
ah, i thought this was refreshing --- standing under the moon, standing
in a hut above the ocean, with my friend's smooth gliding into the
ocean.
After a moment, under the moonlit night, above a pale-silvery ocean, i saw el pintado's hand rising above the water, i heard him call me, beckoning me to join him. I said i'm not a diver, i can probably float on the sea but i can't get deeper than the surface.
"imagine yourself a fish," he laughed, and then he disappeared.
I did not know how el pintado did it but he was in a second standing behind me, i was startled when his warm hand touched my nape.
"i can become a dolphin," he whispered. "i can talk with the creatures
of the ocean; they can lead me
where the pearls are; sometimes i can stay under the water for hours
because they allow my spirit
enter theirs, and i begin living like them; the fish world is the most
beautiful world you can imagine, a
life dictated by the law of God and nature - of kingdoms and tribes,
of battles and courtships and the
romance of dying after spawning - aaaah..."
i, sebastian legua del rey, could only stare at the beauty of this man standing naked before me with both admiration and longing, the strength and freedom he possesses, his abandon and uninhibited demonstrations - all these - all these made me want him - and he could read my mind very well.
"you are an eel," he whispered, "you are very shy, and you hide everything under the bed of the ocean, slippery, appearing dangerous but you can't even bite. your strength lies in your speed andability to control emotions, but...my shy friend, the night is beautiful, come with me, lets get into the ocean and play among the fishes, lets listen to them talk and sing. lets watch them dance."
there was only one dance i wanted to see - it's the dance of my el pintado as he stood beside me with his shell necklace and gold earings and armlets, he grabbed my hand and led me down his hut; helped me take off my clothes before we descended the bamboo stairs leading to the water. he was just as fascinated, i assumed he was, in seeing the whiteness of my skin, and i felt awkward because i was not used to being naked in the open, more so in front of a well-built man like him. but the night was quiet and the ocean was endless, and all i could hear was the whispering of the wind; i found my spirit, though made mature by age, turning into the bucolic child i once was. i suddenly felt my body joining the elements of earth, for the air was warm and the sea was warm and the leaves of coconut trees were dancing with the wind. i am an eel, el pintado said, then i felt him touching the back of my head, seeeee, he went on, in that soothing voice, you are slippery.
i was never touched by another man in this fashion before, not even by my father. and the warmth of this hand touching me, despite its calluses, seem to return me back to the womb of my mother, i feel like a baby in the ocean of my mother's womb. with this touch, i released all the tension of my life, i gave up my history and my purpose as a soldier under king philip in these islands, i embraced the company of the ocean and my el pintado.
i admitted i was not a good swimmer, el pintado told me to wrap my arms
around him. when i did so
i was propulsed into the fastest slide up on the surface of the ocean,
i felt i was riding a board, this, i
thought to myself, must be like riding up the back of a bird in flight,
only in this case, I am on the ocean.El pintado was carrying me....
And when we reached a sea cave, our lips touched, our hands touched,
our bodies merged under the watchful eyes of awakened bats.
(to be continued)
ihome