In the fleet of this year fifteen hundred and ninety-five, our very reverend father-general, Claudio Aquaviva, sent to the Filipinas Father Francisco de Vera, with twenty-four of the Society, at the request and expense of his Majesty the Catholic king, Don Felipe Second. With all these, he reached Nueva España in the same year; and, in the following, he embarked at the port of Acapulco for the Filipinas with fourteen members of the Society, with the governor, Don Francisco Tello. [67] In order that this voyage from Nueva España to the Filipinas may be successfully made, it should be undertaken by the middle of March, at the latest, so as to reach the Filipinas before the vendavals or southwest winds of June set in, which are very tempestuous—like the north winds in Nueva España which begin in September. As these vessels left the port of Acapulco so late, upon reaching the Filipinas they encountered vendavals which exposed them to great peril and hardship. It has happened that vessels, leaving late as did these, upon striking these vendavals in the Filipinas, have been obliged to turn back with these winds to the Ladrones Islands, and to return thence with the brisas from those islands to the Filipinas; then, reaching the latter, to encounter the vendavals, and again be driven by their force to the Ladrones. The hindrance and privation thus experienced can be imagined; nor can the ship land at either islands until the months of October and November when the vendavals cease.
Almost the same thing befell Ours that year. The vendavals and currents long drove them back, and, in consequence, their voyage was lengthened, and provisions ran short; the ship's stores gave out, and, that they might not lack water, they were allotted small rations, each being given but half a quartillo a day—a privation which at sea is keenly felt. Finally, relieved from all these hardships and torments, through the mercy of God they arrived safely at the college in Manila on the first day of August of the same year. This voyage is usually made in seventy days, but they, to their own greater merit, did not reach the islands before one hundred and thirty days; and afterward they journeyed more than one hundred leguas besides, by both sea and land, coasting the shore in large boats. They crossed by land the province of Camarines, all of which is occupied by the convents of the glorious father St. Francis, where they were received and cared for according to their dire necessities; even the father commissary of those provinces, heedless of entreaties or excuses, washed with his own hands the feet of six of Ours, who chanced to pass by his abode. The first words with which one of those servants of the Lord received them were the following, which he uttered with loving tears: "Would they were a thousand fathers, for they would all have a harvest in the Filipinas." The Indians, too, who had never seen Ours in this province, were greatly rejoiced at their arrival—not only those already baptized, but even the infidels; and they gave proof of their good will in the hospitality which they showed towards our fathers, in imitation of their own fathers and ministers.
This was indeed a valuable reënforcement; for, combined with that of the year before, they made a sufficient force to begin the extension of the Society throughout the islands which were assigned to it as a province, and to care for the humble souls who begged for bread and had no one to give it to them. Father Ramon de Prado, who had succeeded to the office of vice-provincial, thus obtained people to employ in this work, conformably to his great zeal for the salvation of souls. How he did this we shall see later, each subject in its proper place. First, I will say that the facility with which many ministers of the Lord in the four religious orders learned the languages used in their respective missions, even so as to preach and hear confessions in them, seems a gift from heaven. The most tardy student of them, if he apply himself moderately, spends no more than six months; and one of Ours, Father Cosme de Flores, learned and mastered this language, so that he could preach and hear confessions, in seventy-four days—to the astonishment of our people, as well as of the Indians themselves. The latter, seeing this facility, say that God, without doubt, bestows it upon us, recognizing their needs. In truth these languages are not very difficult, either to learn or to pronounce—and more especially now, since there is a grammar, a vocabulary, and many writings therein. The most difficult is the language of Manila (which they call Tagal)—which, I have already said, Father Martin Henriquez learned in three months; and in three more, he used it fluently. This was the first of the native languages that I learned, to which and to the others I shall profitably devote another chapter. [68]
Of the Languages of the Filipinas. Chapter XV.
There is no single or general language of the Filipinas extending throughout the islands; but all of them, though there are many and different tongues, are so much alike that they may be learned and spoken in a short time. Consequently if one is learned, all are almost known. They are to each other like the Tuscan, Lombard, and Sicilian dialects of Italia, or the Castilian, Portuguese, and Galician in España. Only the language of the Negrillos is very different from the rest, as, in España, is the Vizcayan [i.e., Basque]. There is not a different language for each of the islands, because some of them—as, for example, Manila, and even Panai, which is more than four hundred leguas smaller—contain several languages; and there are languages each of which prevails in several islands. In the island of Manila alone, there are six different tongues; in Panai, two; in some others, but one. The languages most used, and most widely spread, are the Tagal and the Bisayan; and in some regions of the Pintados another tongue is also prevalent, called Harayan. The Tagal embraces the greater part of the coast and interior of the islands of Manila, Mindoro, Luban, and some others. Bisaya is in use through all the islands of the Pintados, although in some of the villages therein the Harayan is spoken. Of all these languages, it was the Tagal which most pleased me and which I most admired. As I told the first bishop, and, afterwards, other persons of dignity in the islands and in Europe, I found in this language four qualities of the four greatest languages of the world, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Spanish: it has the abstruseness and obscurity of the Hebrew; the articles and distinctions in proper as well as in common nouns, of the Greek; the fulness and elegance of the Latin; and the refinement, polish, and courtesy of the Spanish. Examples of all these characteristics may be seen in the "Ave Maria" done into Tagal; and, as that is a short prayer, and more easily understood than the others, I will place it here with its explanation in our vernacular, and with word-for-word equivalents. In this way may be seen the idioms and characteristic expressions of this language which will please some readers, and furnish information, both useful and curious.
The "Ave-Maria" in the Tagal language
Aba Guinoo Maria matoa ca na.
Hail Lady Mary, joyful thou now,
Napono ca nan gracia,
full thou of grace;
An Panguinoon Dios na saio.
the Lord God is with thee
Bucor can pinagpala sa babain lahat.
especially, thou blessed among women all.