\'The Reign of Greed\' (El Filibusterismo) is a novel written by the Philippine national hero, José Rizal. Originally written in Spanish, it was published in 1891 as a sequel to Rizal's earlier work, \'Noli Me Tangere.\' Both novels are highly regarded as important texts that played a crucial role in inspiring the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule.\'The Reign of Greed\' picks up the narrative a few years after the events of \'Noli Me Tangere.\' The novel continues to critique the oppressive social and political system under Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. It follows the character of Simoun, a wealthy and influential jeweler, who is revealed to be Crisostomo Ibarra from the first novel. Simoun becomes a revolutionary figure seeking to overthrow the colonial regime through subterfuge and armed struggle.The novel explores themes of justice, vengeance, and the consequences of unchecked greed and corruption. Rizal uses the narrative to criticize the abuses of the Spanish friars, the friarocracy, and the broader societal issues that contributed to the suffering of the Filipino people.José Rizal's writings, including \'The Reign of Greed\' and \'Noli Me Tangere,\' played a pivotal role in raising national consciousness and awakening a sense of national identity among Filipinos. Rizal's literary works are celebrated for their profound impact on Philippine history and their role in inspiring the pursuit of independence from colonial rule.
How the good man labored, the most active of all the arbiters in the world! He wished to get out of the predicament by pleasing everybodythe friars, the high official, the Countess, Padre Irene, and his own liberal principles. He had consulted with Seor Pasta, and Seor Pasta had left him stupefied and confused, after advising him to do a million contradictory and impossible things. He had consulted with Pepay the dancing girl, and Pepay, who had no idea what he was talking about, executed a pirouette and asked him for twenty-five pesos to bury an aunt of hers who had suddenly died for the fifth time, or the fifth aunt who had suddenly died, according to fuller explanations, at the same time requesting that he get a cousin of hers who could read, write, and play the violin, a job as assistant on the public worksall things that were far from inspiring Don Custodio with any saving idea.
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Two days after the events in the Quiapo fair, Don Custodio was as usual busily studying the petition, without hitting upon the happy solution. While he yawns, coughs, smokes, and thinks about Pepays legs and her pirouettes, let us give some account of this exalted personage, in order to understand Padre Sibylas reason for proposing him as the arbiter of such a vexatious matter and why the other clique accepted him.
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Don Custodio de Salazar y Sanchez de Monteredondo, often referred to as Good Authority, belonged to that class of Manila society which cannot take a step without having the newspapers heap titles upon them, calling each indedefatigable, distinguished, zealous, active, profound, intelligent, wellinformed, influential, and so on, as if they feared that he might be confused with some idle and ignorant possessor of the same name. Besides, no harm resulted from it, and the watchful censor was not disturbed. The Good Authority resulted from his friendship with Ben-Zayb, when the latter, in his two noisiest controversies, which he carried on for weeks and months in the columns of the newspapers about whether it was proper to wear a high hat, a derby, or a salakot, and whether the plural of carcter should be carcteres or caractres, in order to strengthen his argument always came out with, We have this on good authority, We learn this from good authority, later letting it be known, for in Man
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He had come to Manila very young, with a good position that had enabled him to marry a pretty mestiza belonging to one of the wealthiest families of the city. As he had natural talent, boldness, and great self-possession, and knew how to make use of the society in which he found himself, he launched into business with his wifes money, filling contracts for the government, by reason of which he was made alderman, afterwards alcalde, member of the Economic Society,1 councilor of the administration, president of the directory of the Obras Pias,2 member of the Society of Mercy, director of the Spanish-Filipino Bank, etc., etc. Nor are these etceteras to be taken like those ordinarily placed after a long enumeration of titles: Don Custodio, although never having seen a treatise on hygiene, came to be vice-chairman of the Board of Health, for the truth was that of the eight who composed this board only one had to be a physician and he could not be that one. So also he was a member of the Vac
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