Noli Me Tangere

Capitan Tiago, Maria Clara, and Aunt Isabel (Capitan Tiago’s cousin who took care of Maria Clara after her mother’s death) arrived in San Diego. Ibarra and his friends had a picnic at the lake with Maria Clara and her four girlfriends, Aunt Isabel, Capitana Tika, Andeng, Albino, and Elias. During the picnic, Ibarra saved Elias from a crocodile, and Maria Clara sang a beautiful song. Padre Salvi and the town officials were also present. However, Padre Salvi became angry when he saw the girls playing a fortune-telling game and tore the book apart. Later, the Guardia Civil came to look for Elias, who had assaulted Padre Damaso and thrown the alferez into a mud hole, but he had disappeared. The next day, Ibarra received a telegram approving his donation of a schoolhouse for the children of San Diego. He visited old Tasio, who wrote in hieroglyphics for future generations to understand. Meanwhile, San Diego was preparing for its annual fiesta in honor of its patron saint. During the high mass, Elias warned Ibarra about a plot to kill him during the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the schoolhouse. Later, the derrick collapsed, but Elias saved Ibarra’s life. At the dinner, Padre Damaso insulted Ibarra’s father, and Ibarra almost killed him, but Maria Clara intervened. After the fiesta, Maria Clara became ill and was treated by the quack Spanish physician, Tiburcio de Espadaña, whose wife, a vain and vulgar native woman, looked down on her own people. She introduced Don Alfonso Linares de Espadaña, cousin of Tiburcio de Espadaña and godson of Padre Damaso’s brother-in-law, to Capitan Tiago’s young Spaniards.