Article 5:

"Midsummer"

by: Manuel E. Arguilla 

 

     Manuel E. Arguilla is an acclaimed Filipino short story writer as well as a patriot and a guerrilla hero.He was born in Barrio Naguilian in Bauang, La Union on June 17, 1911. He was the fourth child of Crisanto Arguilla and Margarita Estabillo, hard-working farmer folk who owned a small piece of land. Aside from being a farmer, his father was also a carpenter; his mother, on the other hand, was an occasional potter.When he was seven years old, he enrolled in a school in the neighboring Barrio Calumbaya, where he was taught the cartilla by Alfredo Abuan. Later, he transferred to the public elementary school in Bauang, La Union and graduated in 1926.

     The  story Midsummer is about a man meeting a very beautiful Filipina woman by the well in a sizzling summer day.It stars with the man and his cart tied to his bull on a long dry road, when he suddenly sees a woman who stood unmoving watching the man come towards her. The woman was described from head to toe with such detail as the man looked from a distance. The man followed the woman to where she went and led him to the well under a big mango tree. He watched her as she filled the jar and placed it on top of her head. the woman leaves and the man goes to the well and gathers water for his bull and himself while still thinking of the woman. The man eats his food under the shade of the tree when the woman comes back to refill her jar. The man referring to the woman as "Ading" and inviting her to eat with him. The woman addresses the man as "Manong" and thankfully refuses his invitation to eat. They converse and suddenly the woman spills water all over the food and apologizes by getting him water but Manong insists that he fetch it from the well. Ading notice Manong well built muscles and body as he fetches water, showing her how strong he is. He drinks his water as Ading lifts the bucket for him. The strong ends with Ading inviting him to their home and Manong follows her with his cart and bull.

     In this short story, the seducer is the girl. It is because she let the man saw her wetted look or wetted body and that is not good especially she is a Filipina. When the man is already seduced, he followed and went to the girl's house. The man felt that he could follow the slender, lithe figure to the end of the world.