Emmarlone Salva Ravago Western Literature

September 16, 2010 Dr. Florentino Hornedo

Literature irrigates the desserts that our lives have already become. C.S. Lewis

The Life of Don Juan Tioso of the Kingdom of Valencia and Princess Flocerpida of the Kingdom of Hungary
The Life of Don Juan Tioso of the Kingdom of Valencia and Princess Flocerpida of the Kingdom of Hungary1 is considered one of the most popular Philippine metrical romances. It has been printed in Tagalog, Kapampangan, Ilocano, Bicolano and Hiligaynon. As to the date of the Tagalog version, Retana mentions an edition between 1860 and 1898.2 However, like the majority of Philippine romances this work is anonymous. Classified as an awit, Juan Tioso (John the Scabby) is composed of four-hundred forty quatrains or a total of 1,760 verses. Like other Philippine metrical romances, the four component verses of each quatrain are arranged in accordance with an assonant monorhyme scheme. The rime in each stanza is attained through the uniformity of the final vowel sound produced, in Philippine metrical romances this is known as perfect rime. The verses of the quatrains end either with vowels or consonants. Those ending in consonants have identical or similar vowels, producing what we call ordinary rime. More than two hundred of the component quatrains of Juan Tioso have perfect rime, a fact that helps to show the high poetic quality of our awit and partly explains why it has enjoyed so much popularity that even in recent years it has inspired the writing and staging of a moro-moro entitled Don Juan Tioso printed in many Philippine languages. The abundance of perfect rimes in Juan Tioso undoubtedly contributed to make it a popular favorite not only among singers but among listeners as well. They greatly enjoyed its highly lyrical form that permits a slowly flowing narration of the life of Juan Tioso. Juan Tioso is written as a sequel to another story of widespread popularity, The Story of Prince Oliveros and Princess Armenia in the Kingdom of England, and that of Prince Artos and Princess Blanca, Parents of Don Juan Tioso in the Kingdom of Valencia.

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In order to facilitate frequent reference to the work, the brief title Juan Tioso shall be used. http://bulfinch.englishatheist.org/Filipino.html

Juan Tioso talks about a prince who has been driven away by his father for releasing a giant from prison. In penance for what he has done, he assumes for seven years the disguise of a soreinfested old man. He marries the youngest daughter, among four daughters, of the king of Hungary, who fell in love with him when she saw him bathing without his disguise. He was ridiculed and tormented by the husbands of the three older princesses. His penance having been fulfilled, he then removes his disguise and strike revenge on his tormentors. Eventually, he is reconciled to his parents and, together with Flocerpida, reigns in peace and happiness in Hungary. With respect to the names of other important characters in Juan Tioso, the name of King Artos, the father of Juan Tioso, of the kingdom of Valencia is an anachorism3 for Valencia was a Spanish kingdom, whereas Artos is a name derived from King Arthur of the Round Table of Anglo-Saxon metrical romances. In the same manner, the name of King Diego of Hungary and those of his daughters Juana, Laura and Flora are also anachorisms, since these names are Spanish, not Hungarian.4

The Philippine version of Juan Tioso: modifications made 1) In analogous European works, the giant released by Juan Tioso tells him to call him should he need help. The Philippine version modifies this slightly. The grateful giant gives the hero a magic handkerchief which will does not only give him everything he asks for, but also make him master of all animals. Moreover, in the European analogues, the giant advises Juan to go out and seek his fortune and, in other analogues, instructs him to take service with a king. While in the Philippine version, which is told partly to demonstrate filial obedience and paternal firmness in dealing with a sons misbehavior, Juan is made to leave his fathers kingdom as a punishment for his disobedience to his fathers orders. As a self imposed penance, the Juan assumes the disguise of a sore-infested old man for seven years. This disguise of the hero occurs only in the French analogue and not in Spanish.

2) Juan goes to princess Flocerpidas kingdom because he had seen her in a dream and had fallen in love with her. However, in European analogues he becomes attached of the kings household by taking lodgings with the gardener. Most of the European analogues preserve this theme of the kings gardener. Furthermore, in the Philippine and Spanish versions, the princess falls in love with the hero when she sees him bathing one night without his disguise. In other versions, the heros hair has turned to gold and the princess sees the hero one time with his hair unraveled.
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Something foreign to a country or unsuited to local conditions. Castro et al., Anthology of Asean Literatures, Philippine Metrical Romances (Manila: Nalandangan, Inc., 1985), 102.

3) The choice of the princesses of a husband by throwing a golden pomegranate to the favored one in a tournament occurs only in analogues from Germany, Lorraine, Italy, and Greece.

4) The prescribed cure for the kings illness is lions milk. In other analogues, the milk of other wild animals such as bear, tiger, mule, and wild red goat is prescribed. In some Greek, French and Spanish versions, the cure for the kings blindness is the water of life; in others it is the blood of some animal.

5) Nevertheless, the revelation occurs in much the same way in all the versions. At the assembly, Juan appears splendidly arrayed and reveals everything. He establishes proof by demanding that his brothersin-law show the pomegranate that their wives had given them and which they had surrendered to him, and by exposing the brands on their bodies.

Todays native is yesterdays visitor Like other Philippine metrical romances, Juan Tioso has the double function of entertainment and survival. Entertainment from the music and the poetry of the verses as well as the fascinating storyline, further enhanced by the magical elements added such as the magic handkerchief the grateful giant gave Juan as a token of his gratitude. The survival function, on the other hand, is exemplified by the plot.5 In making foreign literature native, besides our wise choice of words and their playful placement and use, the addition of the element of magic, superstition and fantasy to literature is also one way of making native what we call foreign. We, Filipinos, are a fatalistic and superstitious people, believers of deities. Hence, it has become our trademark that we add something magical, fantastic and superstitious to our literary works. Magic and fantasy stirs up our imagination - it puts us to flight! Lets admit it, magic and fantasy entertain us, they take us away from the concerns and problems of daily life. This is most true especially in the past wherein literature was the sole source of entertainment, panandaliang kasiyahan for the Filipinos. As of the present, this is now how most of us see literature - a source of entertainment. Hence, majority of contemporary Philippine literature focuses on entertainment, the entertainment of the reader/audience.

Ibid., 104.

On the other hand, the enculturation of our very own Filipino values to foreign literature is also another way of making foreign literature native, e.g. values such as obedience and giving due respect to ones parents (as is the moral of Juan Tioso). It gives foreign literary works a distinct Filipino character, a distinguishing mark. Though they maintain some of their foreign elements and structure, nevertheless they imbibe the Filipino spirit, the Filipino character when our culture and values are interwoven with them. Therefore, some of the basic ways of making native what we consider foreign, besides the creativity we employ, especially in words and word order, in translating the literary work, involve the interweaving of magic, fantasy, superstition, Filipino values and value systems with those of original foreign literary works, though still having their original elements and structure. Unlike other Philippine romances such as Bernardo Carpio, Los Siete Infantes de Lara and others, Juan Tioso does not derive the name of its hero from an existing original name in Spanish literature. Considering this fact, plus the message and characteristic trait of the long-suffering Juan (like Filipinos), we can rightly say that despite the borrowings of elements from foreign romances that have been interwoven in its composition, Juan Tioso is a Philippine romance.

Sources: A. Books CASTRO et al., Anthology of Asean Literatures, Philippine Metrical Romances (Manila: Nalandangan, Inc., 1985) EUGENIO, DAMIANA L., Awit at Corrido: Philippine Metrical Romances (Quezon City: University of the Philippines, 1987)

B. Internet http://bulfinch.englishatheist.org/Filipino.html http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8299/8299.txt