*Note this story is in Kapampangan
Penalben ne pang meko keng Palasyu ning Malacañang ing pekatalwing saken. Balu ng Mister Brown na dapat yang manenayang kapitangan bengi para agawa na ing kayang tradisyun, at deng bayu keng palasyu buring buri da pa naman ing magpalakwan kayabe da deng dati ng atiyu. Minitit ya pang misan keng kayang tabaku at lebulan ne ing asuk a minyalungan keng kayang dila. Payari na ing selebrasyun.
Linakad ya keng pasilyu ning palasyu at inawus na la deng lagyu da reng matwang multu. Mipadalan ya keng opisina ning Presidenti at ikit na karin deng magpulung a lalaki na balik-balik maglakad. Lapin deni deng makalunus na kaladwang mekulung manibat anyang Gerang Hapon. Ala yang akarapat I Mr. Brown nune tangung basti karela, miye respetu at malawus ya keng lakad na.
Keng pamanlakad na ikit ne ing pekamumunang menuknangan keng palasyu. Linwal neng Mister Brown ing metung pang tabaku keng bulsa na at siniklod ne ing buntuk na at mamye respetu kaya. Bista mang tau ya mu iti, at kapilan man e mamye paggalang ing metung a imortal a Kapreng kalupa na, aliwa ya pa mu rin ing asta ng Mister Brown. Uling ikit na nung makananu la mitas at mibaba deng mangayap mangobyernu at traydor na mengadapat mayap at ali ustu keng bansa.
Panakit ng Mister Brown mas meragul la deng kwartu at pasilyu ning palasyu. Mas sane ya kareng mangalating sukad kanitang mengalabasan a banwa. Aganaka ne pa ing pamagobra na gewa ning dating First Lady para mibalik ya keng mayap ing lugar a iti. Balamu kapilan na pa daramdaman deng sigla da reng lakbang ning kayang anak a babai, at mebayat la anyang sinubli yang misan at dalaga ne.
Meyli ya I Mister Brown keng aganaka na. Matutula ya ustung dakal bage ing mababayu, dapot mas dakal pa rin ing kalupa na ning dati.
Pagtakan na pin nanu mong pamagbayu ing gawan da keng bale ng ini, uling mangalagu at mayap naman ing egana-gana maliban keng Gerang Hapon. Dakal nemang sukulan ing palasyu. At balu na naring Mister Brown ing aske da deng dating mangupaan. Dapot pakiramdam na, masyadu lang merakal ngeni deng istatwa na gawa keng ivory ing makatalakad.
Miras ya rin i Mister Brown keng kayang pupuntalan. Madalumdum, at deng makasabit atlung chandelier misusulwanan la keng kayang tabakung sisindi. Tunggal-tunggal na lang gaganakan deng alalabasang mangaragul a litratung pakasabit.
Ing mumunang Presidenti ning Commonwealth at anyang mibalik ya iti. Ing metung naman ing awsan dang traydor. Ing metung ing minuna keng Bayung Republika. Ing menalakaran keng pamagserbisyu keng kilwal ning bansa. Itang agad mete at ing pinalit kayang masyas a buntuk. Ing amanwan dang “Poor boy from Lubao”. Ing lalaking makamalutu at ing babaing maka dilo. Ing sundalu. Ing artista. Deng adwang anak na migdala kareng lagyu da pabalik kening matwang palasyu.
Miras ing lawe ng Mister Brown keng bayung litratu na makasabit kasiping da deng datian. Metung na namang kapalyaryan. “Nanu kayang kasaysayan ing misulat keni?” ing kutang na keng keyang sarili. Nanu pa man ing malyari keng aldo bukas, atiyu pa rin i Mister Brown para akit na iti.
Ini ing agawa na para keng kayang tuknangan a iti.
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English version
He watched the last car leave Malacañang Palace. Mr. Brown knew he had to wait until later that night to do his tradition, the new ones always attracted those that wanted to stay behind. He took another puff of his cigar and let the smoke linger on his tongue. The festivities would be over soon.
He stepped through the halls of the Palace, calling the names of old ghosts. He passed by the Executive office and saw a group of men roaming aimlessly. The poor souls were trapped here since the Great War. There was nothing he could do but give a courteous nod and keep walking.
On his way he saw the first to make his home in the palace. He put out his cigar as a sign of respect and bowed his head. The man was human and in normal circumstances a Kapre would never condescend to a mortal being, but Mr. Brown was different. He had seen the rise and fall of statesmen and traitors alike. They made the country what it was, for good or ill.
The halls seemed bigger. He was still used to the smaller spaces in the years past. He remembered the first lady that managed to bring the building back to life. The footsteps of her daughter still echoed through the halls, though they were much heavier when she returned as a woman.
Mr. Brown smiled. He always took comfort when the more things changed the more they stayed the same.
He did wonder what changes the new one would bring to his home, though anything would be better than what happened in the Great War. Mr. Brown had enough of prisons. He also had enough of the style of one of the former tenants, he thought the ivory statues were just a bit too much.
Mr. Brown finally reached his destination. The three chandeliers were dull in the darkness, but his cigar gave him the light he needed. He passed by each portrait and remembered each one as he went by.
The first of the commonwealth and the one who restored it. The one called a traitor. The first of the new republic. The father of foreign service. The one who left too soon and the austere head that replaced him. The poor boy from Lubao. The man in red and the woman in yellow. The soldier. The actor. The two children who carried their names back to their old home.
Mr. Brown looked at the new portrait on the wall. It was one of possibility. “What history would be written because of this one?” he asked himself. Whatever the future held Mr. Brown would be there to see it through.
He owed his home at least that much.
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* Kapampangan, Pampango, or the Pampangan language is a major Philippine language. It is primarily spoken in the province of Pampanga, southern Tarlac, and northeastern Bataan. Kapampangan is also spoken in some municipalities of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, by various Aeta groups of Central Luzon, and in scattered communities within the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. The language is known honorifically as Amánung Sísuan (“breastfed, or nurtured, language”)
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Harcee Sarmiento
Inspired by the Mr. Brown myths.
Mr. Brown Illustration by Leandro Geniston fromAklat ng mga Anito
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