Day 84: The Trial of Juan Tamad
Backstage at the town plaza of Baliuag, Bulacan, on the last night of the Buwan ng Wika, Alvin (A), a young lawyer roped in to play the prosecutor in a mock trial of the folk character Juan Tamad, rehearses with Mang Zosimo (B), the town's old balagtasan champion, who will preside as judge and rule in verse.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Tagalog. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio for this lesson is coming soon. For now, read the dialogue and its translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day
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A
Mang Zosimo, sampung minuto na lang po. Puwede po bang ensayuhin natin ang opening ko?
Mang Zosimo, we're on in ten minutes. Could we rehearse my opening?
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B
Sige, iho, pero tandaan mo: ikaw sa batas, ako sa tula.
Go ahead, iho, but remember: you speak in law, I speak in verse.
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A
Your Honor, papatunayan po namin, beyond reasonable doubt, na tatlong araw na nakahiga si Juan Tamad sa ilalim ng bayabas, nakanganga.
Your Honor, we will prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that Juan Tamad lay under a guava tree for three days with his mouth open.
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B
"Tatlong araw itong sa lupa'y nahimlay, ang bibig ay bukas, bayabas ang hintay." Ganiyan, iho, maikli at may tugma.
"Three days he lay stretched upon the ground, mouth open wide for a guava to come down." Like that, iho: short, and it rhymes.
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A
Ebidensiya po namin ang bayabas. Res ipsa loquitur po, ang bagay mismo ang nagsasalita.
Our evidence is the guava. Res ipsa loquitur: the thing speaks for itself.
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B
"Kung bayabas man ay marunong mangusap, sasabihi'y ito: 'Bakit di umakyat?'" Tanggap ang ebidensiya.
"If the guava could speak and have its say, it would ask him: why not climb up anyway?" The evidence is admitted.
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A
Sa totoong korte po, hindi tula ang desisyon. Baka po isipin ng mga estudyante, biro ang batas.
In a real court, a decision isn't a poem. The students might think the law is a joke.
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B
Iho, mas malaking biro ang batas na hindi maintindihan. Ang tula, natatandaan; ang talumpati mo, tinutulugan.
Iho, a law nobody can understand is the bigger joke. A poem, people remember; your speeches, they sleep through.
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A
Sige po, susubukan ko: "Sa ngalan ng bayan, ako'y nagsasakdal, si Juan na tamad, dapat mahatulan."
All right, I'll give it a try: "In the name of the people, I bring my complaint: Juan the lazy must be convicted."
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B
Aba, may tugma! Ito ang hatol: "Kung tamad si Juan, tamad din ang bunga, tatlong araw itong hindi nahulog pa."
Well, it rhymes! Here is my ruling: "If Juan is lazy, then so is the fruit: three days it hung there and never fell."
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A
Objection po! Hindi po nasasakdal ang bayabas. Aapela po ako, at sa tula na rin.
Objection! The guava isn't on trial. I'm appealing, and this time in verse.
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B
Overruled. Pero tanggap ang apela mo: sa susunod na Buwan ng Wika, ikaw ang hukom, ako ang abogado.
Overruled. But your appeal is granted: next Language Month, you're the judge, and I'm the lawyer.
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