UNIT II

Philippine Realities
Module 1:
Poverty
• What is poverty?
• Why are so many Filipinos
poor?
• When males lose their job in
the Philippines, does it mean
they lose their manhood?
 Lengua
• Is a Spanish dish that is part of
the Philippine cuisine. It is
basically cow’s tongue, cooked
until it is very tender.
• Have you ever eaten Lengua?
Would you like to try it or eat
it again? Why or why not?
• What does Lengua taste like?
• Who usually eats Lengua?
 Let’s talk about

Lengua Para Diablo (The

Devil Ate My Words)
[Excerpt from Banana Heart
Summer]
By: Merlinda Bobis
 Unlocking of Difficulties
1. Appeasement- to make (someone) pleased or
less angry by giving or saying something desired
2. Cajole- to persuade someone to do something
by making promises or saying nice things
3. Mason- a skilled worker who builds or works
with stone, brick or concrete
4. Epicure- a person who appreciates fine food
and drink
5. Sated- to fill (someone) with food so that no
more is wanted
I suspected that my father sold his tongue to
the devil. He had little say in our house.
Whenever he felt like
disagreeing with my mother, he
murmured, ‘The devil ate my words.’ This
meant he forgot what he was about
to say and other was often appeased. There
was more need for appeasement after he lost
his Job.
The devil ate his words, the devil ate his
capacity for words, the devil ate his
tongue. "but perhaps only after prior
negotiation with its owner, what with other
always complaining, ‘I’m already taking a
peek at hell’
when it got too hot and stuffy in our tiny
house. She seemed to sweat more that
summer, and miserably.
She made it sound like Father’s fault, so he cajoled
her with kisses and promises of an electric fan,
bigger windows,
a bigger house, but she pushed him away, saying,
‘Get off me, I’m hot, ay, this hellish life’ 'gain he
was ready
to pledge relief, but something in my mother’s eyes
made him mutter only the usual ‘The devil ate my
words,’ before he shut his mouth.
Then he ran to the tap to get her more water
Lengua para diablo ,tongue for the devil. Surely he
sold his tongue in the devil (change for those promises
to my mother) comfort, a full stomach, life without
our wretched want . . . But the devil never delivered
his side of the bargain. The devil was alien to want.
He lived in a Spanish house and owned several stores
in the city. This Spanish mestiso was my father’s
employer, but only for a very short while. He sacked
him and our neighbour Tiyo Anding, also a mason,
after he found a cheaper hand for the extension of his
house
We never knew the devil’s name. father was
incapable of speaking it, more so after he
came home and sat in the darkest corner of
the house, and stared at his hands. It took
him two days of silent staring before he told
my mother about his fate
I wondered how the devil ate my father’s tongue.
Perhaps he cooked it in mushroom sauce, in that special
Spanish way that they do ox tongue. First, it was
scrupulously cleaned, rubbed with salt and vinegar,
blanched in boiling water, then scraped of its white
coating ---- now, imagine words scraped off the tongue,
and even taste, our capacity for pleasure. In all those
two days of silent staring, father hardly ate. He said he
had lost his taste for food, he was not hungry. Junior and
Nilo were more than happy to demolish his share of
gruel with fish sauce
Now after the thorough clean, the tongue was pricked
with a fork to allow the flavours of all the spices and
condiments to penetrate the flesh. Then it was browned
in olive oil. How I wished we could prick my father’s
tongue back to speech and even hunger, but of course we
couldn’t, because it had disappeared. It had been served
on the devil’s platter with garlic, onion, tomatoes, bay
leaf, clove, peppercorns, soy sauce, even sherry, butter,
and grated edam cheese, with that aroma of something
rich and foreign. His silent tongue was already luxuriating
in a multitude of essences, pampered into a piquant
delight
Perhaps, next he should sell his esophagus, then his
stomach. I would if I had the chance to be that
pampered.
To know for once what I would never taste. I would be
soaked, steamed, sauted, basted, baked, boiled, fried
and feted with only the perfect seasonings. I would
become an epicure. On a rich man’s plate, I would be
initiated to flavours of only the finest quality. In his
stomach, I would be inducted to secrets. I would be ‘the
inside girl’, and I could tell you the true nature of sated
affluence
• What does Lengua symbolize?
• What did the father mean by “The devil ate
my words”? What happened to him that made
him say that?
• What does this tell us about Philippine
society? Do you think this is still true today?
Explain.
• Does the little girl understand what her father
means? Why do you say so?
• How does the girl misinterpret her father’s
words?
• Why is it necessary to talk about Spaniards,
when this is a story that takes place in the
Philippines? What is their significance in the
story?
• What does the girl wish for in the end? Why
does she wish for it?
• What do you feel toward the little girl? What
do you feel toward the father?
• What do you think the story is trying to say?