Story of the Moth

Kwento ng Gamu-gamo sa Lampara:Pinagsabihan ng inang gamu-gamo ang kanyang anak na huwag lumapit saapoy ng lampara para hindi siya masunog ngunit hindi nakinig ang anak.Siya ay lumipad at naglaro malapit sa apoy ng lampara at walang anu-anoay nahagip siya ng apoy at namatay. Kung nakinig sana ang anak sakanyang ina, sana ay hindi siya napahamak.Pinapakita sa kwentong ito na ayaw ng ina na malagay sa kapahamakanang kanyang anak. Ang ina ay mas maalam at hindi papayuhan ang anakng ikakasama niya. Mga bagay lamang na ikabubuti ng anak ang hangad ngina.Si Rizal ay isa ring gamu-gamong lumipad malapit sa apoy pero hindi paramaglaro kundi lumaban sa nang-aapi. Siya ay pinagbawalan ng kanyang inapero nagpatuloy pa rin. Gayunpaman, naging maimpluwensiya talaga angkanyang ina sa kung ano ang kanyang pinaniwalaan at pinaglaban.Rizal at ang kanyang InaSi Dona Teodora Alonzo, ina ni Rizal, ay isang edukadang babae sa kanyangpanahon. Siya ang nagturo kay Rizal maging matalino, mahusay gumawa ngtula at maging mabait na bata. Mahal na mahal niya ang kanyang ina atganun din naman ang kanyang ina sa kanya. Narinig nga niya noong labinganim na taon siya na sinabi ng kanyang ina sa kanyang ama, Do not sendhim any more to Manila. He has learned enough. If he learns more theywould cut his head. Maihahalintulad ang pangyayaring ito sa kwento nggamu-gamo sa lampara. Ayaw ni Dona Teodora na lumapit ang kanyanganak sa apoy sapagkat ito ay ikakapahamak niya.Naging malaking impluwensiya ang kanyang ina sa kung ano siya noonglumaki. Pinapahalagahan talaga ni Rizal ang edukasyon dahil na rin sigurosa pinamulat sa kanya ng kanyang ina. Sa kanyang liham kay Blumentritt,pinagmamalaki niya ang kanyang ina. My mother is not a woman of ordinary culture. She knows literature and speaks Spanish better than Ido. She used to correct my verses and gave me helps when I was studyingrhetoric. She had a mathematical mind and read many books.Sa liham na ito makikitang mataas ang tingin ni Rizal sa edukasyon kayagusto niyang makapag-aral sana ang mga kababaihan sa ating bansa

Doña Teodora teaches his son Rizal how to understand spanish. In the first sentences of the story, Rizal looked toward the light which the moth circling around the lamp. The mother moth tell his child not to stay in the lamp but the young moth resist the advice, and so the young moth died. Tinuruan si Jose ni Donya Teodora na bumasa sa wikang Kastila. Isang gabi binigyan niya si Jose ng isang aklat, EL AMIGO DE LOS NINOS. Sa Tagalog ang ibig sabihin nito ay "ANG KAIBIGAN NG MGA BATA".

Heto ang isang aklat, Jose ang sabi ng Nanay niya. Tignan mo kung mababasa mo ito. Tinignan ni Jose Kung mababasa niya ang aklat sa kastila, ngunit hindi niy ito mabasa. Kinuha ng Nanay niya ang aklat at ito ang sinabi niya. " Ah, hindi ka pa makababasa sa wikang Kastila. Makinig ka at babasahin ko ito para sa iyo." Nang buksan niya ang aklat, nakita niyang maraming drowing ang mga pahina nito. "Sino ang may gawa ng mga nakakatawang mga larawan ito? Ang tanong niya. :Ako po, Nanay". "Ah ! pilyo kang bata. Mula ngayon huwag mong guguhitan ng kung anu-anong mga larawan ang mga pahina ng alinmang aklat?". Matapos mapagalitan si Jose nagsimula na siyang magbasa sa liwanag ng ilawang langis. Sa simula, nakikinig si Jose sa kanyang pagbabasa. Hindi naglaon nawalan na siya ng kawilihan. Hindi niya maunawaan ang binabasa ng Nanay niya. Natawag ang pansin niya sa ningas ng ilawang langis. Napansin ni Donya Teodora na hindi nakikinig si Jose sa kanyang binasa. Isinara niya ang aklat. "Makinig ka sa akin, Jose," ang sabi niya. "May ikukuwento ako sa iyo." "Nakikinig po ako, Nanay." Sinimulan basahin ng Nanay ang kuwento ng "Batang Gamugamo". Binasa niya ang kuwento sa wikang kastila. Pagkatapos, ikinuwento niya ito kay Jose sa Tagalog para maunawaan ito ng bata. Pagkatapos ng kuwento ni Donya Teodor, tinanong niya si Jose. " Alam mo ba ang nangyari sa munting gamugamong hindi sumunod sa kanyang ina? Ang mga batang hindi sumusunod sa kanilang mga magulang ay makakatulad din ng batang gamugamo. Hindi naniwala si Jose sa paalaala ng Nanay niya, para sa kanya , maganda ang ningas ng ilaw. Ang ningas na iyon ay kumakatawan sa isang mithiin sa buhay. Isang karangalan para kanino mang tao ang mamatay para sa kanyang mithiin katulad ng munting gamugamo. At gaya ng batang gamugamo siya ay nakatakdang mamatay na martir para sa isang dakilang mithiin.

It's initially understood as a story of disobedience between a young lad and his elder. You probably are familiar with what happened to the young moth in the story. It got too attracted to the burning light of the oil lamp despite warnings from the older moth not to get too close to the fire. So its wings caught fire, burned and it died. While hearing the story from his mother, Rizal was actually watching the moths flying around their table lamp. And it indeed got too close to the fire and shared the fate of the young moth in the story.

An Oil Lamp

Another angle that historians thought that could have affected Rizal's thinking was how daring the moth became to go beyond the limits. To search for further knowledge outside the norms and trying to go beyond its comfort zone while risking danger that goes with all of it. Which is actually what happened to Rizal for knowing too much and saying too much that he gained the ire of the nation's colonial government then which eventually put him to death. There's definitely a lot of wisdom you can get from that simple moth story and I think I can see another one. I can relate this to the usual overestimation of our own selfcontrol. We always think that we are above our urges. We supposedly are. Though being around the trigger is never a good thing to test it. Just like how the moth enthralled by the beauty of the burning light, we will all get sucked into the fire if we continuously play with it. It is like a temptation for a wrong relationship. Though fully aware of it being wrong, we hear people saying they are just trying to be friendly. Ignoring the risk of getting deeper into it thinking that they are in control, they continue with it. And then got burned later as expected.

Then there are youth starting out with vices thinking that it's just part of their "growing up years". Pressured by peers, they tried it while thinking they can easily get out after the first try. They think they are strong and different. Because nothing happened at the first time, they tried again. And again. And again. And they got burned. Then there's someone who gets a business proposal. An illegal one. Just a one-time big-time thing as he's told. It will earn big bucks and very low risk of being caught at all. Salivating by the idea of huge amounts of money, he jumped in. And it happened as promised. They earned big and didn't get caught. After a while, he was asked for another shot. It was good at first so the wall of hesitation slowly crumbled. Then it became a part of his system. He's gaining big and not getting caught. Until he got burned.

The burning light is beautiful, tempting, attractive but always dangerous. We think that we are in control then we try to play around the fire until it becomes a habit too hard to break. It is always too late to notice that families get broken, people get addicted to vices and illegal doers get caught, arrested or get killed. It's always too late to realize that our wings are already burning. I’m still trying to work around the kryptonites of my life. I guess I’ll simply accept that I’m weak. If I’ll be more aware that I am too weak to face them or even just to get near them, then I might just go avoiding them at all. At the onset, I’ll be staying away. Because I am weak. And by being conscious of my weaknesses, it will now become a part of my strength.