 The bleak winter of 1886 was memorable in the life of Rizal for two reasons:

 It was painful episode for he was hungry, sick and despondent in a strange city.

 It brought him great joy, after enduring so much sufferings, because his first novel Noli
Me Tangere came off the press in March, 1887.

 Idea of writing a Novel on the Philippines

 His reading of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Toms Cabin, which portrays the brutalities
of American slave-owners and pathetic conditions of the unfortunate Negro slaves,
inspired Dr. Rizal to prepare a novel that would depict the miseries of his people under
the lash of Spanish tyrants.

 July 2,1884 – In a reunion of Filipinos, Rizal proposed the writing of a novel about the
Philippines by a group of Filipinos. His proposal was unanimously by those present,
among who were the Paternos (Pedro, Maximo, and Antonio), Graciano Lopez Jaena,
Evaristo Aguirre, Eduardo de Lete, Julio Llorente, Melecio Figueroa, and Valentin
Ventura.

 Unfortunately, Rizals project did not materialize. Those compatriots who were expected
to collaborate on the novel did not write anything.

 The novel was designed to cover all phases of Philippine life. However, almost
everybody wanted to write on women. Rizal was disgusted at such flippancy.

 He was more disgusted to see his companions, instead of working seriously on the
novel, wasted their time gambling or flirting with Spanish senioritas.

 Writing of the Noli

 Toward the end of 1884, Rizal began writing the novel in Madrid and finished about
one-half of it.

 When he went to Paris, in 1885, after completing his studies in the Central University of
Madrid, he continued writing the novel, finishing one-half of the second half.

 He finished the last fourth of the novel in Germany.

 He wrote the last few chapters of the Noli in Wilhelmsfeld in April-June, 1886.

 In Berlin during the winter days of Febuary 1886. Rizal made the final revisions on the
manuscript of the Noli.

 Sick and penniless, he saw no hope of having it published, so that in a momentary fit of
desperation, he almost hurled it into the flames.
  Years later he told he good friend and former classmate, Fernando Canon: “I did not
believe that Noli Me Tangere would ever be published when I was in Berlin, broken-
hearted, weakened and discouraged from hunger and depravation. I was on the point of
throwing my work into the fire as a thing accursed and fit only to die.”

 Viola, Savior of the Noli

 In the midst of his despondency and misery, Rizal received a telegram from Dr, Maximo
Viola who was coming to Berlin.

 When he arrived in Berlin shortly before Christmas Day of 1887, he was shocked to find
Rizal living in poverty and deplorably sickly due to lack of proper nourishment.

 Viola, being loaded with ample funds, gladly agreed to finance the printing cost of the
Noli. He also loaned Rizal some cash money for living expenses. Thus it came to pass
that Rizal and Viola happily celebrated the Christmas of 1886 in Berlin with sumptous
feast.

 After the Christmas season, Rizal put the finishing touches on his novel.

 To save printing expenses, he deleted certain passages in his manuscript, including a

whole chapter --- “Elias and Salome”

 Febuary 21, 1887- Noli was finally finished and ready for printing.

 With Viola, the savior of the Noli, Rzal went to different printing shops in Berlin to
survey the cost of printing. After a few days of inquiries, they finally found a printing
shop --- Berliner Buchdrukrei-Action-Gesselschaft – which charged the lowest rate, that
is, 300 pesos for 2,000 copies of the novel.

 Rizal Suspected as Frenchy Spy

 One morning in the chief of police Berlin paid a visit to Rizal’s boarding house and
requested to see the latter’s passport.

 Unfortunately, Rizal could not produce a passport, for he had none --- in those days it
was possible to travel without a passport.

 The police chief then told him to secure a passport within four days, otherwise he would
be deported.