REVERSALS OF FORTUNE Our fatalistic ancestors not only believed in destiny, they also feared its whims and caprices that often resulted in sudden reversals of fortune. They had a word for karma: it’s “kalma,” which Bergaño defined as “destiny” (the surname Calma probably came from this word). “Makalma” (or “macalma”) means “very fortunate.” The ancient Kapampangan word “mulatmuti” referred to a person who once enjoyed his moment of fame until he was thrown back to obscurity. The term “yuguing” applied to a respected intellectual who suddenly lost his credibility. And “yubing” described someone who had once been rich and was now poor; or once strong, now weak; or once happy, now sad. If the English language has the idiom “star-crossed” to refer to two persons whose destinies meet, the Kapampangan language has mibatuin, which Diego Bergaño defined in 1732 as “having the same stars or destinies.” Do you believe our destinies are written in the stars? That Fate can step in and see you through? If people who need people are the luckiest people in the world, who are the unluckiest? Theyve got to be Frane Selak and Henry Ziegland. Selak was a music teacher from Croatia who was traveling by train from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik on a cold January day in 1962. Suddenly, the train jumped the tracks and plunged into an icy river, killing most passengers. Selak, bruised, arm broken and suffering hypothermia, managed to swim back to shore. In 1963, Selak needed to travel again, so he avoided trains and took a plane instead. He was seated near the door, just to be sure that if something happened, he would have a quick exit. As the plane climbed into the atmosphere, the door blew off and Selak was sucked out of the aircraft, just in time before the plane crashed, killing all passengers. He landed on a haystack with only minor injuries. In 1966, Selak figured in another accident, this time while riding a bus. Like the train, the bus also fell into a river, killing passengers except Selak. Then, in 1970, the car that Selak was driving caught fire. He pulled over and quickly got out, barely escaping death when the car exploded. Train, plane, bus, car—what would Selak ride next that would not lead him into the jaws of death? He imagined that if he took a cart pulled by a donkey, the donkey would probably run berserk and run into a speeding train. So in 1973, he got into another car, thinking that since he’d been in a car accident before, a repeat would somehow break the jinx. As he drove, the car’s fuel pump snapped and sprayed gas all over the engine. Once again, the car Selak was driving burst into flames. Thankfully, the only injury he had was burnt hair. Twenty-two years passed before Selak met another accident: he was crossing the street when a bus hit him. Again, he only had minor injuries. In 1996, Selak, now 67, was driving his car up a mountain when it skidded into a cliff and exploded 300 feet below. Selak jumped out in the nick of time. When he turned 74 in 2003, he bought his first lottery ticket and won $1 million. The following year, he was hired by an Australian company to star in a TV commercial. When he learned that he would have to ride a plane to film in Sydney, he changed his mind, saying he didn’t want to test his luck anymore. So was Frane Selak the unluckiest man in the world, or was he, in fact, the luckiest? Death pursued him everywhere, yet he cheated death every time. He even ended up a millionaire, and by the time death came knocking again, he had become older and wiser—wise enough to outsmart him one last time. The story of Henry Ziegland of Honey Grove, Texas had a sadder ending. Following the discovery of his infidelity, Ziegland walked out on his girlfriend, who then committed suicide. Her brother was so enraged that he went to Ziegland’s house with a gun in his hand. He found Ziegland in front of his own house and without warning, shot him in the face. Ziegland fell on the ground, bleeding. Thinking he had killed the man who had wronged his sister, he pointed the same gun on his head and committed suicide. As it turned out, Ziegland was still alive; the bullet had only grazed his face before being embedded in a tree trunk, a few yards away from where Ziegland had been standing. Lucky? Not so fast. Fate would certainly show no mercy for a man whose indiscretion had caused two suicides. Twenty years later, in 1913, Ziegland (who had put the episode behind him and was already living a quiet, normal life in the country) decided to cut the same tree in front of his house. The wood proved too hard for his axe, so he decided to put sticks of dynamite into the tree trunk. The explosion sent the old bullet flying into the air and right into Ziegland’s face, killing him instantly.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 07:23:06 +0000
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