The novice did not understand the connection between the price of
rice and the whiteness of those girls, but he held his peace.

"There goes the fellow that's engaged to one of them, that thin brown
youth who is following them with a lingering movement and speaking with
a protecting air to the three friends who are laughing at him. He's
a martyr to his beliefs, to his consistency."

The novice was filled with admiration and respect for the young man.

"He has the look of a fool, and he is one," continued Tadeo. "He
was born in San Pedro Makati and has inflicted many privations upon
himself. He scarcely ever bathes or eats pork, because, according to
him, the Spaniards don't do those things, and for the same reason he
doesn't eat rice and dried fish, although he may be watering at the
mouth and dying of hunger. Anything that comes from Europe, rotten
or preserved, he considers divine--a month ago Basilio cured him of
a severe attack of gastritis, for he had eaten a jar of mustard to
prove that he's a European."

At that moment the orchestra struck up a waltz.

"You see that gentleman--that hypochondriac who goes along turning
his head from side to side, seeking salutes? That's the celebrated
governor of Pangasinan, a good man who loses his appetite whenever any
Indian fails to salute him. He would have died if he hadn't issued the
proclamation about salutes to which he owes his celebrity. Poor fellow,
it's only been three days since he came from the province and look how
thin he has become! Oh, here's the great man, the illustrious--open