By
Sabiniano Gacias and Elias Cuadro
Edited, Annotated and with English Translation by
Erlano Francisco R. Gacias
Excerpts from FOREWORD
In about 1956, two brilliant sons of Irosin
jointly wrote the history of their native land. Their names: Sabiniano Gacias and Elias Cuadro. The title of their monumental opus: Historia Nin Banuaan.
Historia Nin Banuaan, which I believe to have been the first ever written account on the history
of the town of Irosin, was written as a long narrative
poem and consisted of 306 stanzas, each stanza in turn consisting of four
lines. It was written in the original old Bicol
and as such, was totally dedicated to the spreading of information about the town of Irosin.
Today, Sabiniano
Gacias and Elias Cuadro-the
worthy authors of Historia Nin Banuaan-have long been gone.
But their monumental opus continues to serve as a testament of their love
to their native land. Their humble work has successfully passed the tests
of time and has fortunately survived its authors. Indeed, whatever is good
lasts and whatever is done in the right manner and for a good purpose survives
even its doers. If only to humor Shakespeare, the good that men do lives after
them, the evil should be oft interred with their bones.
This is one reason why I am publishing the text of Sabiniano Gacias and Elias Cuadro-the Historia Nin Banuaan. Whatever is good
should not be kept to oneself. Whatever is helpful, be
it a thing or an idea, is worth sharing to others. As John Milton states: “Good,
the more communicated, the more abundant grows.” Indeed, Historia Nin Banuaan cannot only boast of its literary beauty. Now,
it can be said as a great contribution not only to the history of the town
of Irosin but to Bicol literature as
well which even today suffers from a dearth in quality literary works. Its
value has become incalculable.
This opus could have already been an unknown document and for
that matter, it could have already been a big waste. My copy of it, which
I believe is now the only existing original copy, was an untouched and unnoticed
stuff in one dirty corner of our family library for years, providing nourishment
only to hungry insects. In all likelihood, it could have remained eclipsed
and forgotten, not because it failed to excite interest but because it was
fairly unknown. Indeed, it is now ardent hope that its rediscovery will be
able to provide nourishment to our hunger not only for more knowledge but
for quality literary and historical works as well.
I have taken liberty in editing and annotating the text, modernizing
its punctuation, dividing it into chapters and correlatively numbering every
stanza. Obviously, my purpose was to facilitate the reading and understanding
of the text. However, it will be seen that in the footnotes which I have tried
to introduce I the text, I still followed the old Bicol. This is because it was the kind of Bicol used by Gacias and Cuadro.
I have also attempted at a translation of the text and it is
presented herein side by side with the original Bicol
text. Ever since the publication of very limited copies of this book in July
1994, several friends have already been urging me to come up with an English
translation of Gacias’ and Cuadro’s
text. This present volume is a product of those prodding which encouraged
and challenged me to transcend my own limitations and proceed with this ambitious
project. I sincerely hope and pray that I may be able to give justice to their
expectations.
One reason that has impelled me to spend time in this endeavor
is my desire to contribute my bit, however little, in the long over-due reconstruction
of our town’s past. Whereas, other parts of this country are rich in published
works on local history, our own town is relatively poor in them. The lament
of Gacias and Cuadro still holds through: “Ta daing
siisay man na
mag interesar/ Origen material nin sarong banuuan- For no one would take interest/ In the original
materials of a town.” Indeed it is lamentable to learn that not even our municipality,
with all its claims, rightly or falsely, to national and international awards,
nor our parish, i.e., the St. Michael the Archangel Parish, keeps an official
chronicle. The sense of history is simply alien to our skulls!
A number of changes are then introduced in this edition for
the readers to be able to easily locate references. For an easier understanding
and location of a text, certain aids are made.
First, the text itself was divided into several chapters, which
were in turn assigned with titles indicating their contents. In the event
where similarities with other chapter occurs, their
references were enclosed in a parenthesis right under their titles.
Second, every stanza was given an assigned number. This is
to aid the readers in locating subjects in which they will probably take interest.
Third, former hypenated words were
changed and patterned after their present grammatical form. The word pagmauot for instance, will be read as pag-mauot in its original entry and the word ipagboboyboy will be read as ipag-bo-boy-boy. The change is made to be able to use
the word naturally, clearly and sure of its meaning.
Fourth, different kinds of footnotes and notations were introduced.
This is to be able to explain some important points, offer remarks or commentaries
if necessary, and give a proper updating on some subjects.
I have tried therefore to faithfully consider every word used
by Gacias and Cuadro to
be able to give justice to the original text and to the translation I am trying
to offer. Drafts were made and then compared word for word with the original
text and amended where necessary especially when questions of variant reading
or interpretation arose. Of course, I was tempted on several occasions to
consider myself free to remove the purely linguistic archaisms of the translation,
but here I was guided by the principles of Hermeneutics and thus, here, my
freedom ended. I was, for instance, not allowed to substitute my own modern
images for the old ones. A writer or a preacher may be allowed to do that,
but not a translator, which I suppose was one of the roles I assumed in this
endeavor. Nor was I permitted to impose my own style on the original. This
would be to suppress the individuality of Gacias
and Cuadro who each had his genre and each in his own way responded
to the movement of its spirit.
The text posed a special problem in translation since the text
comprises not only a book to be read but a collection of verses which, as
my dear father-Erning-would attest, is originally
intended to sung or chanted. Nevertheless, the first duty of a translator
is to convey as clearly as he can what the original authors wrote and what
they particularly meant with what they wrote. He should not try to inject
a rhetorical quality and an orotundity of cadence which belongs more truly to the first
Elizabethan age of England than to the original Bicol
culture, a serious offense which I am able to note is what most “translators”
of Bicol text are wont to do. It has long been established
that this is a crime, not only to literature, history or philology, but especially
to the original authors themselves. A translator must avoid the pure bathos
of prosy flatness, of course, but he will be aware that there is no longer
an accepted “poetic language” which can be used to give artificial dignity
to plain statements. It would certainly be dangerous to give the form of the
translation precedence over the meaning.
I acknowledge that this present attempt to translate Gacias’ and Cuadro’s text can still
be improved upon. However, I sincerely hope that it is in direction that other
future translations will have to go if we are to give justice to the intents
of Gacias and Cuadro and
ensure a relatively complete conformity with the original text.
But in all these,let
me say that the history of our town-our history-is by no means closed and
ended. This opus therefore is by no means fully accomplished. Hence, I sincerely
welcome not only an amplification but a correction
of my work and treatment of Sabiniano Gacias’ and Elias Cuadro’s text.
Indeed, historical precision cannot simply be overemphasized. The moral lesson
set by Gacias and Cuadrois
clear: the respect for history and an insatiable openness for history-in-the-making.
Progress is not meant to be erratic. It is meant to exact order even out of
chaos.
To my fellow Irosinians then, let
this modest work and its errors, which I consider all mine, be a testament
to the old conviction that those who do not know their past are most likely
doomed to repeat its mistakes.
Gref
Kirk’s birthday ‘99
|
BIKOL TEXT
|
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
|
| Prologo-Capitulo V | Prologue-Chapter V |
| Capitulo VI-IX | Chapter VI-IX |
| Capitulo X-XIV | Chapter X-XIV |
| Capitulo XV-XVII | Chapter XV-XVII |
| Capitulo XVIII-Epilogo |
of LGU Irosin, Sorsogon
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