Here’s one of the nicest verses I’ve ever read.  It’s calling on men, but I believe women should seriously take it, too.

The World Needs Men…

Are you the man (or woman) the world needs?

John Stockton’s famous story, The Lady or the Tiger, has gained much review especially about the possible ending to the story. Stockton’s treatment of the ending and his presentation of the background for the ending come with just the right formula to make his story a hit.

But what really came out of the opened door? The lady or the tiger?

The author used a lot of words to somehow bring the ordinary reader to an immediate conclusion that it’s the tiger. Words such as “hot-blooded”, “despair”, “jealousy”, and “barbarism” will create such picture of the princess as a person more inclined to lead her man to the door that would show her selfish love and her brutal nature.

But what did the author mean when he said, “The more we reflect upon this question, the harder it is to answer. It involves a study of the human heart which leads us through devious mazes of passion out of which it is difficult to find our way”? Well, Stockton’s magic is actually in the descriptive word semi-barbaric which he used to picture the king and the princess, and impliedly, the suitor.

Had the author removed the prefix “semi-”, the question would have been easier to answer. But those four letters imply a half-and-half nature of the princess. Those four letters show her heart as equally dominated by both brutality and humanity. Those four letters tell us that she was not just capable of easily dumping her man into a bloody death, but that she was equally bothered by the wickedness of such a fate especially that it would befall the very man she loved.

When she signaled to her man to open the door on the right, did she make that decision based on the SEMI or the BARBARIC part of her? The author said she made that decision after “days and nights of anguished deliberations.” What level of anguish would she have to go through to make her finally bring her man to the tiger’s deadly fangs and paws? What other level of anguish would she have to go through to show her man that her love was willing to let go and give him another lease on life in the arms of the lady behind the door?

Another point of issue is her extent of barbarism. If she indeed had to decide on the basis of her barbarism, did she decide in a more barbaric way? And which was more barbaric: to let her man die a cruel death or to let her man live a life of regret? The princess knew how much the man loved her and it is safe to assume that he loved her with the same ardour and passion that was enough to show a highly barbaric level.

Why in the world did the man love the princess when there was that other lady who may have been lovelier and more attractive? How much pride did the princess feel when she realized that she was loved more than any woman in all the kingdom? And when she had to make that decision based on her barbaric nature, did she make it to tell her man to say “thank you” to him for the love he shared to her; that though it was only for a moment, it was enough to make her live a fulfilled semi-barbaric life? Was not her presence in the arena an indication that the extent of barbarism inside her was enough to witness only the delightful wedding and not the horrible demise of the man she loved with semi-barbaric intensity?

Or was she still so barbaric that she decided not to suffer alone in a losing cause for love? That she wanted also her lover to feel the pierces of pain brought about by a semi-barbaric passion? Did she want that they both suffer: she for longing to shower a barbaric love to a person forever absent, and he for showering a barbaric love to a person forever wrong?

I hope I did my share in making you, reader of the story, decide on the most logical outcome of the story. Or did I make you more confused?

Share your reactions, please.

“The Hill of Samuel” by Alfred Yuson is a Palanca award winner (third place) in 1968 and is the top winner in the 1968 Free Press Literary Awards of the Philippines Free Press.

Synopsis:  Dignos, son of Samuel the Mistico, came back to where his father used to wield his influence–a sexual rite of great occultic proportions.  He looked for the hill where his father did his orders and he got to the place through the helpless acquiescence of an aunt.  He met his cousin Orlando and his betrothed, the virginal Lumen whose features Dignos instantly desired.  He went to prepare the place of the ritual and in no time he drove his mystical power to work laying aside the protestations of the males in the community and attracted with a magnetic devilish power all the women including Lumen who was to be the main dish for his lustful appetite.  Orlando, coming from a distant place from which he did a mystical form of healing, tried to catch up with the ongoing sexual ritual of his cousin for fear of losing Lumen but he was powerless to the already frenzied horde of hypnotized women.  The hill of Samuel had come alive again.

Share your thoughts about this story.

Up to this point, the issue of showing the movie version of the controversial The Da Vinci Code novel of Dan Brown is still a hot topic among Filipino leaders.  Everyone itches to say something to make the showing of the movie such a very big deal.  No less than Malacañang’s Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita has given his bias against the movie.

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Your postman here is not really a sexist. He just knows what words to put as far as gender issues are concerned. Here is one thread that will boost the morale of women.

“A woman can be delicate
Yet strong and vibrant too,
In fact, I know a woman
For whom this all is true.”

Actually, it’s quite long but you will see a more picturesque version if you click here.

If you’re planning a tour which not only gives you the photo excitement, video ecstasy, challenging encounters but palatable munches, buzzing beaches and hassle free travelling as well, then you should not miss Dagupan City, producer of the world’s tastiest milkfish (bangus).

Dagupan City resurrected from the rubbles of the July 16, 1990 earthquake in an incredible manner. Many thought that it would take at least five years for Dagupan to recover but in a matter of two years, Dagupan City was bustling again. With renewed vigor, the place has even developed into a premiere tourist destination when its efforts to stamp its class on the world map came via its local pride–the Bonuan bangus, said to be the largest and tastiest milkfish in the world. It also registered its name in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest grill.

Inihaw na Bangus, Relyenong Bangus, Bangus Lumpia, the world famous Boneless Bangus, Kilaweng Bangus, aside from the normal Sinigang na Bangus with Shrimp, Inselar ya Bangus ed Malunggay Leaves. These are just some of the delectable menus for the pride of Dagupan City.

Come here because we have prepared not just the bangus for you, but many other things as well.

Click here for the official website.

I risk being branded as sexist in this article, but I think everybody, women included, needs to take a look at this.  

I don’t know where this catchy thing about women came from but I received it in my e-mail address and I am convinced it deserves a space here.  Stop the intrigue and click on the next two words now!  Read more