Twilight or source?

Recently, the Instituto Cervantes held a reception at which a book recently published in Spain was presented to the public. The book was a Spanish translation of Francisco Sionil Jose’s novel Poon, translated into Spanish by Carlos Milla Soler and issued by the publishing house of Maeva in Madrid.

The word Poon, which in Tagalog means lord or chief, means "source" or "origin" in Ilocano. This is probably what the author had in mind, for that novel, although the latest to be written, deals with a situation chronologically prior to the rest. It may therefore be called the first of what has come to be known as the Rosales Saga.

That series of five novels deals with the migration of Ilocano peasant from the Ilocos to the plains of Pangasinan, and the subsequent migration of their descendants to the big city.

Poon begins with life in Cabugaw, Ilocos Sur, proceeds to the establishment of a settlement in the Pangasinan plains called Cabugawan, and ends with one of the young men being involved in the Battle of Tirad Pass. The novel is framed by a prologue and an epilogue. Both are letters, and both are written by representatives of two colonizing powers: the prologue by a Spanish friar, the epilogue by an American soldier.

Sionil Jose is probably the Filipino writer (aside from Rizal) whose works have been translated into the largest number of languages. This latest is in excellent Spanish, and has an interesting glossary which adds to the original native words, those words that are good Spanish in the Philippines but which the modern Spaniard does not understand.

The Spanish translation has a different title from the original. The title Anochecer as a verb means "to grow dark"; as a noun, dusk or nightfall. The title may perhaps be the translator’s summary of the situation in the book. But there is also the fact that the first chapter begins with the word

Anochecer.

Both the Spanish title Anochecer and the Poon of the English original are apt. The story is ambivalent. It describes the source; as such with the connotations of hope; it may also be the twilight of certain things. Either way, Sionil Jose has written a fine novel and fully deserve his title of National Artist.