mangutana lang ko guys kung mao ba ni na type sa Land of Bondage Land of the free .. : : LAND OF BONDAGE, LAND OF THE FREE By: Raul Manglapus Once upon a time,/ the tao owned a piece of land.// It was all he owned.// But he cherished it,/ for it gave him three things, having which,/ he was contended:// life first of all, /and liberty,/ and happiness.// Then one day, / the Spaniard came and commanded him/ to pay tribute to the crown of Spain.// The tao paid tribute.// And he was silent--/ he was certain that he was still master of his land.// The Spaniard became rich.// But with riches, evil entered into him/ and he came to the tao the second time.// He read to the tao a formidable document saying:// “According to this decreto real,/ which unfortunately you cannot read/ this, what you have been paying me is not tribute but rent, for the land is not yours but mine.// The tao paid the tribute and said nothing…// He ceased to be a freeman.// He became a/ serf.// Still, the tao held his peace.// The rent went up and up.// The tao starved.// And this time, at last he spoke.// Not in words,/ but with that rustic instrument/ with which he cleared the land/ once his own-/ the bolo.// He transformed it from an instrument of tillage/ to an instrument of death,// and with it,/ drove away the stranger.// Then he returned to his field saying:/ “Now indeed/ shall I again be master of this land,/ once my own, but stolen from me/ by the trickery of quicker wits than mine.””// But the tao/ was wrong.// For the land had another master.// This time not a stranger,/ but his own countryman grown rich.// The tao had a new name,/kasama,/ which to us means/ ‘partner’,/ but which to countrymen/ the same things he had suffered from the stranger:/ the rents,/ the usury,/ and all the rest of it.// Yes,/ the tao returned to his field thinking that he was free,// But he soon discovered/ that he was still a prisoner.//His prison,/ a two-room shack, rent by every wind,/ without any comforts,/ except/ that three families have been there/ the privilege to starve.// The tao’s home has become his very prison.// Its doors,// if you can call them such,/ are wide open.// It is a prison, nonetheless.// For the tao is bound to it,/ not with chains of steel,/ but with a stronger chain,// his honor.// To this day,/ the tao remains a slave,/ a prisoner/ of the usurer.// No wonder then,/ that the tao,/ being a slave,/ has acquired the habits of a slave.// No wonder that after three centuries in chains,/ without freedom,/ without hope,/ he should lose the erect and fearless posture of the freeman/ and become the bent, misshapen,/ indolent/ vicious,/ pitiful thing that he is!// Who dares accuse him,/ who dares rise up in judgment against this man,/ reduced to this subhuman level by three centuries of oppression?// The tao does not come here tonight to be judged-// but to judge!// Hear then/ his accusation and his sentence.// I indict the Spanish encomendero// for inventing taxes impossible to bear:// I indict the usurer for saddling me with debts impossible to pay.// I indict the irresponsible radical leaders/ who undermine with insidious eloquence/ the confidence of my kind in our government.// You accuse me of not supporting my family.// Free me from bondage/ and I shall prove you false.// You accuse me of ignorance.// But I am ignorant because my master finds it profitable to keep me ignorant.// Free me from bondage / and I shall prove you false.// You accuse me of indolence.// But I am indolent/ not because I have no will,./ but because I have no hope.// Why should I labor/ if all the fruits of my labor/ go to pay an unpayable debt?// Free me from bondage/ and I shall prove you false.// Give me land.// Land to own.// Land ‘unbeholden to any tyrant.// Land that will be free.// Give me land for I am starving.// Give me land that my children may not die.// Sell it to me,/ sell it to me at a fair price./ as one freeman sells to another/ and not as a usurer sells to a slave./// I am poor, / but I will pay it!// I will work,/ work/ until I fall from weariness for my privileges,/ for my inalienable right to be free.// BUT IF YOU WILL NOT GRANT ME THIS… // If you will not grant me this last request,/ this ultimate demand,// then build a wall around your home//… build it // place a sentry on every parapet!... for I who have been silent these three hundred years/ will come in the night when you are feasting,/ with my cry, and my bolo at your door.// And may God/ have mercy on your soul! // CJ Shin Quinnea Juntilla Eren Tsuskasa Jaegerug sa uban pa natu na mga classmates .. pls. guys help me .. i lost my own copy .. huhuhuhbells
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 09:45:50 +0000