Ii. Elements of The Short Story
Ii. Elements of The Short Story
SETTING
PLOT
CONFLICT
The setting of a
short story is the
time and place in
which it happens.
Authors often use
descriptions of
landscape,
scenery,
buildings,
seasons or
weather to
provide a strong
sense of setting.
A plot is a series
of events and
character actions
that relate to the
central conflict.
The conflict is a
struggle between
two people or
things in a short
story. The main
character is
usually on one
side of the central
conflict.
On the other side,
the main
character may
struggle against
another important
character, against
the forces of
nature, against
society, or even
against something
inside himself or
herself (feelings,
emotions and
illness).
THEME
The theme is the
central idea or
belief in a short
story.
A long time ago, there was a rich land called Ibalong. The hero Baltog, who came from Botavora of
the brave clan of Lipod, came to this land when many monsters were still roaming in its very dark
forests. He decided to stay and was the first to cultivate its field and to plant them with gabi.
Then one night, a monstrous, wild boar known as Tandayag saw these field and destroyed the crops.
Upon knowing this, Baltog decided to look for this boar with all his courage and patient. At last, as
soon as he saw it, he fearlessly wrestled with it, with all his might. Baltog was unafraid. He was strong
and brave. Though the Tandayag had very long fangs, he was able to pin down the monstrous, wild
boar and break apart its very big jawbones. With this, Tandayag fell and died.
After this fight, Baltog went to his house in Tondo, carrying the Tandayag broken bones. Then he
hung it on a talisay tree in front of his house. Upon learning of the victory of their Chief Baltog, the
people prepared a feast and celebrated. The very big jawbones of the dead boar became an
attraction for everyone. Thus, came the tribes of Panikwason and Asog to marvel it.
The second hero who came to the land of Ibalong was Handyong. Together with his men, he had to
fight thousands of battles, and face many dangers to defeat the monster. As warriors, they first fought
the one-eyed monster with the tree necks in the land of Ponong. For ten months, they fought without
rest. And they never stopped fighting until all these monsters were killed.
Handyong and his men made their next attack against the giant flying sharks called Triburon which
had hardly flesh and sawlike teeth that could crush rocks. They continued fighting until the defeat of
the last Triburon.
They tamed the wild carabaos. They even drove away the giant and very fierce Sarimao which had
very sharp fingernails. And using their spears and arrows, they killed all the crocodiles which were as
big as boats. With all these killings, the rivers and swamps of Ibalong turned red with blood. It was at
this time that the savage monkeys became frightened and hid themselves.
Among the enemies of Handyong and his men, the serpent Oryol was the hardest to kill. Having a
beautiful voice, Oryol could change its image to deceive its enemies. To capture it, Handyong tried
different ways. But Oryol escaped every one of it and disappeared.
So alone and unafraid, Handyong decide to look for Oryol in the heart of the forest. He followed the
beautiful voice and was almost enchanted by it in his pursuit. Days and nights passed until Oryol
came to admire Handyongs bravery and gallantry. Then the serpent helped the hero to conquer
monsters, thus restoring peace to the entire Ibalong.
In one the areas of Ibalong called Ligmanan, Handyong built a town. Under his leadership and his
laws, slaves and masters were treated equally. The people planted rice and because of their high
regard of him they named this rice after him. He built the first boat to ride the waves of Ibalongs seas.
Through his good example, his people became inspired and came up with their own inventions. There
was Kimantong who made the plow, harrow and other farming tools. Hablom who invented the first
loom for weaving abaca clothes, Dinahong an Agta, who created the stove, cooking pot, earthen jar
and other kitchen utensils, and Sural who brilliantly thought of syllabary and started to write on a
marble rock. This was a golden period in Ibalong.
Then suddenly, there came a big flood caused by Unos, with terrifying earthquakes. The volcanoes of
Hantik, Kulasi and Isarog erupted. Rivers changed their direction and the seas waves rolled high.
Destruction was everywhere. Soon, the earth parted, mountains sank, a lake was formed, and many
towns in Ibalong were ruined.
Then appeared the giant Rabot, half-man and half-beast, with awesome and terrifying powers.
People were asking who will fight against Rabot. So Bantong, the third hero was called. He was a
good friend of Handyong. He was ordered to kill the new monster on Ibalong. To do this, he took with
him a thousand warriors to attack Rabots den. But using his wisdom against Rabot, he did not attack
the giant right away. He first observed Rabots ways. Looking around the giants den, he discovered
that there were many rocks surrounding it, and these were the people who were turned into rocks by
Rabot.
Bantong also learned that Rabot loved to sleep during the day and stayed awake at night. So, he
waited. When Rabot was already sleeping very soundly, Bantong came hear him. He cut the giant
into two with his very sharp bolo and without any struggle, Rabot died. So Ibalong was at peace once
more.
Settings:
o Ibalong
o Tondo
o Ligmana
o Heart of the forest
Filipino Tradition:
o Protecting ones own territory.
me the golden moon that brightens the dark and drives away the weariness of the days work.
Without her I cannot return to my village as I left it, for with her I have left heart and my thoughts and
my
happiness.
Pangaiwan listened, and the men grew quite. Bugan blushed and bent her head. Fourteen times her
father had harvested his yearly crops since she was born; she knew that after two or more harvests
her father would begin looking critically at the young men who talked to her. But Aliguyon was such a
hero, so strong and brave, so well-spoken of and handsome! Would her father allow her to leave the
house
and
follow
Aliguyon?
Pangaiwan looked at his daughter fondly. He could read her thoughts as she looked at
him mutely from under shyly lowered eyelashes. Clearing his throat, he answered slowly:
`Aliguyon, you are my son. The spirits are good. They have given me a worthy man for a son-in-law.
Take Bugan. I pray the anitos that she will be a worthy wife for you and a dutiful daughter-in-law for
Amtulao and Dumulao. His words were drowned by the joyous shouts of Aliguyon and his men.
Aliguyon sprang into the air, yelling with happiness, and his friends chanted the first words of the
courting song. The women took up the rhythm with their hands on bronze gongs and hollowed-out
logs, and everyone crowded around to see Aliguyon mimic the strut of a rooster as he danced before
Bugan.
In triumph he led her to his father in Hannanga, and kneeling before Amtulao and Dumulao, he cried:
O Father! O Mother! Your enemy in Daligdigan is no more.Pangaiwan, your enemy, no
longer lived. In his place is Pangaiwan, the father-in-law of your only son Aliguyon. If you love me,
love too the man whom your son promised to honor as the father of his wife. Behold, I have brought
you my wife, Bugan of Daligdigan, the lovely daughter of Pangaiwan. I bring her to you, Father, so
that someone can pound the dried meat for you when you are hungry. I brought her to you, O my
mother, so that someone can carry water to you when you want to drink.
I destroyed your enemy by making him a friend. Therefore, O Father, you can die in peace, for we
have conquered him. But Bugan conquered my heart, and with her I can live in peace.
Thus did peace come to Amtulao and Dumulao. They lived to see Bugan enrich their lives with
several grandchildren. Often Amtulao and Dumulao were honored guests at Daligdigan, in the house
of Pangaiwan; and as often as they visited Pangaiwan, so often did he go to Hannanga to visit his
grandchildren and to talk of old times with Amtulao and Dumulao.
CHARACTERS:
BOY main characters of the play (NOTE: He doesnt have a name in the story)
AIDA object of the boys affections
PETE SAEZ guy who invites the boy to join his band
OTHER BANDMATES preferably two guys
JOSEFINA AND ALICIA Aidas cousins
SETS:
SET IN 1930s
PHILIPPINES
BAKESHOP
AIDAS HOUSE (FOR THE PARTY)
SCHOOL (THIS IS WHERE PETE INVITES THE BOY TO JOIN THE BAND.)
THE MATS
For my family, Papas homecoming from his many inspection trips around the Philippines was always
an occasion to remember. But there was one homecoming - from a trip to the south that turned out
to be more memorable than any of the others.
Papa was an engineer. He inspected new telegraph lines for the government. He had written from
Lopez, Tayabas:
I have just met a marvelous matweaver a real artist and I shall have a surprise for you. I asked
him to weave a sleeping mat for every one of the family. I can hardly wait to show them to you
After a few days Papa wrote again:
I am taking the Bicol Express tomorrow. I have the mats with me, and they are beautiful. I hope to be
home to join you for dinner.
Mama read Papas letter aloud during the noon meal. Talk about the mats flared up like wildfire.
I like the feel of mats, said my brother Antonio. I like the smell of new mats.
Oh, but these mats are different, said Susanna, my younger sister. They have our names woven
into them. There is a different color for each of us.
A mat was not something new to us. There was already one such mat in the house. It was one we
seldom use, a mat older than any of us.
This mat had been given to Mama by her mother when Mama and Papa were married. It had been
with them ever since. It was used on their wedding night and afterwards only on special occasions. It
was a very beautiful mat. It had green leaf borders and gigantic red roses woven onto it. In the middle
it said:
Emilia y Jaime
Recuerdo
The mat did not ever seem to grow old. To Mama it was always as new as it had been on her
wedding night. The folds and creases always looked new and fresh. The smell was always the smell
of a new mat. Watching it was an endless joy.
Mama always kept that mat in her trunk. When any of us got sick, the mat was brought out and the
sick child made to sleep on it. Every one of us had at some time in our life slept on it. There had been
sickness in our family. And there had been deaths.
That evening Papa arrived. He had brought home a lot of fruit from the fruit-growing provinces he had
passed in his travels. We sampled pineapple, lanzones, chico, atis, santol, watermelon, guayabano,
and avocado. He had also brought home a jar of preserved sweets.
Dinner seemed to last forever. Although we tried not to show it, we could hardly wait to see the mats.
Finally, after a long time over his cigar, Papa rose from his chair and crossed the room. He went to
the corner where his luggage was piled. From the heap he pulled out a large bundle. Taking it under
his arm, he walked to the middle of the room where the light was brightest. He dropped the bundle to
the floor. Bending over and balancing himself on his toes, he pulled at the cord that bound it. It was
strong. It would not break. It would not give way. Finally, Alfonso, my youngest brother, appeared at
Papas side with a pair of scissors.
Papa took the scissors. One swift movement, snip!, and the bundle was loose!
Papa turned to Mama and smiled. These are the mats, Miling, he said.
He picked up the topmost mat in the bundle.
This is yours, Miling. Mama stepped forward to the light, wiping her still moist hands against the
folds of her apron. Shyly, she unfolded the mat without a word.
We all gathered around the spread mat.
It was a beautiful mat. There was a name in the very center of it: Emilia. Interwoven into the large,
green letters where flowers cadena de amor.
Its beautiful, Jaime. Mama whispered, and she could not say any more.
And this, I know, is my own, said Papa of the next mat in the bundle. His mat was simple and the
only colors on it were purple and cold.
And this, for you, Marcelina.
I had always thought my name was too long. Now I was glad to see that my whole name was spelled
out on the mat, even if the letters were small. Beneath my name was a lyre, done in three colors.
Papa knew I loved music and played the piano. I was delighted with my new mat.
And this is for you, Jose. Jose is my oldest brother. He wanted to become a doctor.
By commemorating them.
HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROUGHT HOME A WIFE.
She stepped down from the carretela of Ca Celin with a quick, delicate grace. She was lovely. SHe
was tall. She looked up to my brother with a smile, and her forehead was on a level with his mouth.
"You are Baldo," she said and placed her hand lightly on my shoulder. Her nails were long, but they
were not painted. She was fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom. And a small dimple
appeared momently high on her right cheek. "And this is Labang of whom I have heard so much."
She held the wrist of one hand with the other and looked at Labang, and Labang never stopped
chewing his cud. He swallowed and brought up to his mouth more cud and the sound of his insides
was like a drum.
I laid a hand on Labang's massive neck and said to her: "You may scratch his forehead now."
She hesitated and I saw that her eyes were on the long, curving horns. But she came and touched
Labang's forehead with her long fingers, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud except that his
big eyes half closed. And by and by she was scratching his forehead very daintily.
My brother Leon put down the two trunks on the grassy side of the road. He paid Ca Celin twice the
usual fare from the station to the edge of Nagrebcan. Then he was standing beside us, and she
turned to him eagerly. I watched Ca Celin, where he stood in front of his horse, and he ran his fingers
through its forelock and could not keep his eyes away from her.
"Maria---" my brother Leon said.
He did not say Maring. He did not say Mayang. I knew then that he had always called her Maria and
that to us all she would be Maria; and in my mind I said 'Maria' and it was a beautiful name.
"Yes, Noel."
Now where did she get that name? I pondered the matter quietly to myself, thinking Father might not
like it. But it was only the name of my brother Leon said backward and it sounded much better that
way.
"There is Nagrebcan, Maria," my brother Leon said, gesturing widely toward the west.
She moved close to him and slipped her arm through his. And after a while she said quietly.
"You love Nagrebcan, don't you, Noel?"
Ca Celin drove away hi-yi-ing to his horse loudly. At the bend of the camino real where the big duhat
tree grew, he rattled the handle of his braided rattan whip against the spokes of the wheel.
We stood alone on the roadside.
The sun was in our eyes, for it was dipping into the bright sea. The sky was wide and deep and very
blue above us: but along the saw-tooth rim of the Katayaghan hills to the southwest flamed huge
masses of clouds. Before us the fields swam in a golden haze through which floated big purple and
red and yellow bubbles when I looked at the sinking sun. Labang's white coat, which I had wshed and
brushed that morning with coconut husk, glistened like beaten cotton under the lamplight and his
horns appeared tipped with fire.
He faced the sun and from his mouth came a call so loud and vibrant that the earth seemed to
tremble underfoot. And far away in the middle of the field a cow lowed softly in answer.
"Hitch him to the cart, Baldo," my brother Leon said, laughing, and she laughed with him a big
uncertainly, and I saw that he had put his arm around her shoulders.
"Why does he make that sound?" she asked. "I have never heard the like of it."
"There is not another like it," my brother Leon said. "I have yet to hear another bull call like Labang. In
all the world there is no other bull like him."
She was smiling at him, and I stopped in the act of tying the sinta across Labang's neck to the
opposite end of the yoke, because her teeth were very white, her eyes were so full of laughter, and
there was the small dimple high up on her right cheek.
"If you continue to talk about him like that, either I shall fall in love with him or become greatly
jealous."
My brother Leon laughed and she laughed and they looked at each other and it seemed to me there
was a world of laughter between them and in them.
I climbed into the cart over the wheel and Labang would have bolted, for he was always like that, but I
kept a firm hold on his rope. He was restless and would not stand still, so that my brother Leon had to
say "Labang" several times. When he was quiet again, my brother Leon lifted the trunks into the cart,
placing the smaller on top.
She looked down once at her high-heeled shoes, then she gave her left hand to my brother Leon,
placed a foot on the hub of the wheel, and in one breath she had swung up into the cart. Oh, the
fragrance of her. But Labang was fairly dancing with impatience and it was all I could do to keep him
from running away.
"Give me the rope, Baldo," my brother Leon said. "Maria, sit down on the hay and hold on to
anything." Then he put a foot on the left shaft and that instand labang leaped forward. My brother
Leon laughed as he drew himself up to the top of the side of the cart and made the slack of the rope
hiss above the back of labang. The wind whistled against my cheeks and the rattling of the wheels on
the pebbly road echoed in my ears.
She sat up straight on the bottom of the cart, legs bent togther to one side, her skirts spread over
them so that only the toes and heels of her shoes were visible. her eyes were on my brother Leon's
back; I saw the wind on her hair. When Labang slowed down, my brother Leon handed to me the
rope. I knelt on the straw inside the cart and pulled on the rope until Labang was merely shuffling
along, then I made him turn around.
"What is it you have forgotten now, Baldo?" my brother Leon said.
I did not say anything but tickled with my fingers the rump of Labang; and away we went---back to
where I had unhitched and waited for them. The sun had sunk and down from the wooded sides of
the Katayaghan hills shadows were stealing into the fields. High up overhead the sky burned with
many slow fires.
When I sent Labang down the deep cut that would take us to the dry bed of the Waig which could be
used as a path to our place during the dry season, my brother Leon laid a hand on my shoulder and
said sternly:
"Who told you to drive through the fields tonight?"
His hand was heavy on my shoulder, but I did not look at him or utter a word until we were on the
rocky bottom of the Waig.
"Baldo, you fool, answer me before I lay the rope of Labang on you. Why do you follow the Wait
instead of the camino real?"
His fingers bit into my shoulder.
"Father, he told me to follow the Waig tonight, Manong."
Swiftly, his hand fell away from my shoulder and he reached for the rope of Labang. Then my brother
Leon laughed, and he sat back, and laughing still, he said:
"And I suppose Father also told you to hitch Labang to the cart and meet us with him instead of with
Castano and the calesa."
Without waiting for me to answer, he turned to her and said, "Maria, why do you think Father should
do that, now?" He laughed and added, "Have you ever seen so many stars before?"
I looked back and they were sitting side by side, leaning against the trunks, hands clasped across
knees. Seemingly, but a man's height above the tops of the steep banks of the Wait, hung the stars.
But in the deep gorge the shadows had fallen heavily, and even the white of Labang's coat was
merely a dim, grayish blur. Crickets chirped from their homes in the cracks in the banks. The thick,
unpleasant smell of dangla bushes and cooling sun-heated earth mingled with the clean, sharp scent
of arrais roots exposed to the night air and of the hay inside the cart.
"Look, Noel, yonder is our star!" Deep surprise and gladness were in her voice. Very low in the west,
almost touching the ragged edge of the bank, was the star, the biggest and brightest in the sky.
"I have been looking at it," my brother Leon said. "Do you remember how I would tell you that when
you want to see stars you must come to Nagrebcan?"
"Yes, Noel," she said. "Look at it," she murmured, half to herself. "It is so many times bigger and
brighter than it was at Ermita beach."
"The air here is clean, free of dust and smoke."
"So it is, Noel," she said, drawing a long breath.
"Making fun of me, Maria?"
She laughed then and they laughed together and she took my brother Leon's hand and put it against
her face.
I stopped Labang, climbed down, and lighted the lantern that hung from the cart between the wheels.
"Good boy, Baldo," my brother Leon said as I climbed back into the cart, and my heart sant.
Now the shadows took fright and did not crowd so near. Clumps of andadasi and arrais flashed into
view and quickly disappeared as we passed by. Ahead, the elongated shadow of Labang bobbled up
and down and swayed drunkenly from side to side, for the lantern rocked jerkily with the cart.
"Have we far to go yet, Noel?" she asked.
"Ask Baldo," my brother Leon said, "we have been neglecting him."
"I am asking you, Baldo," she said.
Without looking back, I answered, picking my words slowly:
"Soon we will get out of the Wait and pass into the fields. After the fields is home---Manong."
"So near already."
I did not say anything more because I did not know what to make of the tone of her voice as she said
her last words. All the laughter seemed to have gone out of her. I waited for my brother Leon to say
something, but he was not saying anything. Suddenly he broke out into song and the song was 'Sky
Sown with Stars'---the same that he and Father sang when we cut hay in the fields at night before he
went away to study. He must have taught her the song because she joined him, and her voice flowed
into his like a gentle stream meeting a stronger one. And each time the wheels encountered a big
rock, her voice would catch in her throat, but my brother Leon would sing on, until, laughing softly,
she would join him again.
Then we were climbing out into the fields, and through the spokes of the wheels the light of the
lantern mocked the shadows. Labang quickened his steps. The jolting became more frequent and
painful as we crossed the low dikes.
"But it is so very wide here," she said. The light of the stars broke and scattered the darkness so that
shoulders.
"No, Father, she was not afraid."
"On the way---"
"She looked at the stars, Father. And Manong Leon sang."
"What did he sing?"
"---Sky Sown with Stars... She sang with him."
He was silent again. I could hear the low voices of Mother and my sister Aurelia downstairs. There
was also the voice of my brother Leon, and I thought that Father's voice must have been like it when
Father was young. He had laid the roll of tobacco on the windowsill once more. I watched the smoke
waver faintly upward from the lighted end and vanish slowly into the night outside.
The door opened and my brother Leon and Maria came in.
"Have you watered Labang?" Father spoke to me.
I told him that Labang was resting yet under the barn.
"It is time you watered him, my son," my father said.
I looked at Maria and she was lovely. She was tall. Beside my brother Leon, she was tall and very
still. Then I went out, and in the darkened hall the fragrance of her was like a morning when papayas
are in bloom.
CHARACTERS:
Leon/Noel - Maria's husband, older brother of Baldo
Maria - Leon's wife
Baldo - Leon's younger brother, also the narrator of this story
Mother and Father of Leon and Baldo
Aurelia - Leon and Baldo's younger sister
Labang - the carabao
SETTINGS:
Nagrebcan, Bauang La Union
PLOT:
Leon and Baldo waited for the arrival of Maria at the barrio.
Maria was afraid that she won't be accepted by Leon's father because she may not able to
adapt their way of living in the province.
Baldo was ignoring to his older brother's question about why did they have to go to Waig
instead of Camino Real. (The reason is that their father wanted to test Maria if she is worthy to
be Leon's wife.)
Baldo discussed their travel to his father.
Leon's entire family talked to Maria. His Father's voice became livelier than before when he
talked to her (which means he accepted her wholeheartedly.
MORAL LESSON:
We should respect and accept one's life.
Social status is not a hindrance if you truly love each other.
Meeting your special someone to your family is the right thing to do.
One may have to sacrifice small part of his/her life in order to have a happy life.