or "eminently humanitarian," to quote Rizal's words
of his own profession, and it made so strong an appeal to him that,
through the new governor-general, for Despujol had been replaced by
Blanco, he volunteered his services. The minister of war of that time,
General Azcarraga, was Philippine born. Blanco considered the time
favorable for granting Rizal's petition and thus lifting the decree of
deportation without the embarrassment of having the popular prisoner
remain in the Islands.

The thought of resuming his travels evidently inspired the following
poem, which was written at about this time. The translation is by
Arthur P. Ferguson:

The Song of the Traveler

Like to a leaf that is fallen and withered,
Tossed by the tempest from pole unto pole;
Thus roams the pilgrim abroad without purpose,
Roams without love, without country or soul.

Following anxiously treacherous fortune,
Fortune which e'en as he grasps at it flees;
Vain though the hopes that his yearning is seeking,
Yet does the pilgrim embark on the seas!

Ever impelled by invisible power,
Destined to roam from the East to the West;
Oft he remembers the faces of loved ones,
Dreams of the day when he, too, was at rest.

Chance may assign him a tomb on the desert,
Grant him a final asylum of peace;
Soon by the world and his country forgotten,
God rest his soul when his wanderings cease!

Often the sorrowful pilgrim is envied,
Circling the globe like a sea-gull above;
Little, ah, little they know what a void
Saddens his soul by the absence of love.

Home may the pilgrim return in the future,
Back to his loved ones his footsteps he bends;
Naught will he find but the snow and the ruins,
Ashes of love and the tomb of his friends.

Pilgrim, begone! Nor return more hereafter.
Stranger thou art in the land of thy birth;
Others may sing of their love while rejoicing,
Thou once again must roam o'er the earth.

Pilgrim, begone! Nor return more hereafter,
Dry are the tears that a while for thee ran;
Pilgrim, begone! And forget thy affliction,
Loud laughs the world at the sorrows of man.

CHAPTER X

"Consummatum Est"

NOTICE of the granting of his request came to Rizal just when
repeated disappointments had caused him to prepare for staying
in Dapitan. Immediately he disposed of his salable possessions,
including a Japanese tea set and large mirror now among the Rizal
relics