A different kind of Rizal revealed.
On December 8, 6 p.m., the Paciano Rizal Family Heritage, Inc., and Cruz Publishing will launch the book Haec Est Sibylla Cumana at Auditorium 1 of the Ateneo Professional Schools on Rockwell Drive in Makati City.
Sybilla Cumana, we are told by the eminent Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, is a seeress and fortune teller in the Graeco-Roman culture.
What will be launched on Dec. 8 is an undisclosed and believed to be the last book written by the National Hero Jose Rizal.
Mrs. Nakpil wrote in the Publisher’s Note:”Jose Rizal continues to surprise us. An unexpected facet of Rizal’s persona has been revealed with this book. He was so humorous, playful and resourceful that he once invented and produced the material for a new parlor game using a character from the ancient Graeco-Roman culture of occult practices, the Sybilla Cumana, seeress and fortune teller.”
The publishers said the book Haec Est Sibylla Cumana is actually a game of chance, to be played by any number of gamesters, with a wooden top to point to the answers to questions asked by the players. Both the questions and answers were written by Jose Rizal. The answers are down-to-earth, irreverent and humorous, denoting the manners and culture of the period. It is like talking to the National Hero himself.
The other thrill is owning a relic like the Sibylla which is an exact replica of Rizal’s very on creation. The wonderful sensation of owning one of Rizal’s toys invented at a crucial point in his life while in exile in Dapitan , a year before he died. What was he trying to tell us?
Haec Est Sibylla Cumana is a set of three books–a replica of the original written by Jose Rizal in Spanish; a Tagalog translation by Rio Almario, National Artist for Literature and Diwa ng Sining (Araw ng Maynila, 2011) and an English version by Gemma Cruz Araneta, great grandniece of Jose Rizal. It also comes with a copy of Rizal’s wooden top.
The book will be available at the launch for Php 950.00 and at Cruz Publishing ( 891-1045).
Sad,that most Filipinos nowadays could not read books written in spanish by our heroes.Translation sometimes lost the intensity of its meaning. I don’t know about Rio Almario but I know Gemma Cruz as Spanish speaker and stayed sometime in Mexico.If she”s to translate,she”ll do it closer to her heart…
I would like to have a copy even if I have to read it with my baku-bakong Espanyol. Para na rin i-diplay sa bookshelf, maganda yan na converse topic for sure.
I’ll Be Home For Christmas…. at magandang regalo ‘to sa sarili ko.
Astig ‘to – katha ni Rizal at isinalin sa Tagalog ni Rio Alma (Virgilio Almario).
Ms. Tordesillas, available din po kaya ito sa National Bookstores?
Ka Enchong, gusto kong regalo sa sarili ko ang orig sa Espanyol, parang feel ko si Lolo Pepe. Pabibili rin ako ng Tagalog version kasi bilib na bilib ako kay Virgilio Almario.
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Cruz Publishing (look for Ruby)
891-1945
cruzpublishing@gmail.com