Lengua para Diablo: (Excerpt From Banana Heart Summer) by Merlinda Bobis

LENGUA PARA
DIABLO
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[Excerpt from Banana Heart Summer]

by Merlinda Bobis
@nicolegelique
Lengua Para Diablo is an excerpt from the
book “Banana Heart Summer.” Banana
Heart Summer is written by Merinda Bobis.
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Banana Heart Summer is written by
Merinda Bobis. Merlinda Bobis is an
acclaimed Filipino-Australian writer and
performer who has published in three
languages. Her novels, short story and
poetry collections, and plays have received
various awards.
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Lengua Para Diablo means “The Devil Ate
My Words.” “Lengua is a Spanish word
meaning “tounge,” which in the story,
symbolizes the words eaten by the devil.
Lengua (Beef tongue) is also a dish made of

cow’s tongue. Lengua is often seasoned
with onion and other spices, and then
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placed in a pot to boil.

Have you eaten
Lengua?
Would you like to
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try it or eat it
agian? Why or why
not?
LENGUA PARA
DIABLO
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[Excerpt from Banana Heart Summer]

by Merlinda Bobis
I suspected that my father sold
his tongue to the devil. He had
little say in our house. Whenever
he felt like
disagreeing with my mother, he
murmured, ‘The devil ate my
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words.’ This meant he forgot

what he was about
to say and other was often
appeased. There was more need
for appeasement after he lost his
Job.
The devil ate his words, the devil ate
his capacity for words, the devil ate
his tongue. "but perhaps only after
prior negotiation with its owner, what
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with other always complaining, ‘I’m

already taking a peek at hell’
when it got too hot and stuffy in our
tiny house. She seemed to sweat more
that summer, and miserably.
She
made it sound like Father’s fault, so he
cajoled her with kisses and promises of
an electric fan, bigger windows,
a bigger house, but she pushed him
away, saying, ‘Get off me, I’m hot, ay,
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this hellish life’ 'gain he was ready

to pledge relief, but something in my
mother’s eyes made him mutter only
the usual ‘The devil ate my
words,’ before he shut his mouth.
Then he ran to the tap to get her more
water
Lengua para diablo ,tongue for the
devil. Surely he sold his tongue in the
devil (change for those promises to my
mother) comfort, a full stomach, life
without our wretched want . . . But
the devil never delivered his side of
the bargain. The devil was alien to
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want. He lived in a Spanish house and

owned several stores in the city. This
Spanish mestiso was my father’s
employer, but only for a very short
while. He sacked him and our
neighbour Tiyo Anding, also a mason,
after he found a cheaper hand for the
extension of his house
We never knew the devil’s name.
father was incapable of speaking it,
more so after he came home and sat in
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the
darkest corner of the house, and
stared at his hands. It took him two
days of silent staring before he told my
mother about his fate
I wondered how the devil ate my father’s
tongue. Perhaps he cooked it in mushroom
sauce, in that special
Spanish way that they do ox tongue. First, it
was scrupulously cleaned, rubbed with salt
and vinegar, blanched
in boiling water, then scraped of its white
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coating ---- now, imagine words scraped off

the tongue, and even taste,
our capacity for pleasure. In all those two
days of silent staring, father hardly ate. He
said he had lost his taste
for food, he was not hungry. Junior and Nilo
were more than happy to demolish his share
of gruel with fish
sauce
Now after the thorough clean, the tongue
was pricked with a fork to allow the flavours
of all the spices and
condiments to penetrate the flesh. Then it
was browned in olive oil. How I wished we
could prick my father’s
tongue back to speech and even hunger, but
of course we couldn’t, because it had
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disappeared. It had been

served on the devil’s platter with garlic,
onion, tomatoes, bay leaf, clove,
peppercorns, soy sauce, even sherry,
butter, and grated edam cheese, with that
aroma of something rich and foreign.
His silent tongue was already luxuriating in a
multitude of essences, pampered into a
piquant delight
Perhaps, next he should sell his esophagus,
then his stomach. I would if I had the chance
to be that pampered.
To know for once what I would never taste. I
would be soaked, steamed, sauted, basted,
baked, boiled, fried
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and feted with only the perfect seasonings. I

would become an epicure. On a rich man’s
plate, I would be
initiated to flavours of only the finest quality.
In his stomach, I would be inducted to
secrets. I would be ‘the
inside girl’, and I could tell you the true
nature of sated affluence
GUIDE
QUESTIONS
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What does
Lengua
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symbolize
?
What did the
father mean by
“The devil ate
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my words”?
What
happened to
What does this
tell us about
philippine
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society? Do
you think this
is still true
Does the little
girl
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understand
what her
father means?
How does the
girl
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misinterpret
her father's
words?
In the end,
when she is
describing the
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lengua, how do
you think she
feels? Why
Why is it
necessary to
talk about
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spaniards, when
this is a story
that takes place
in the
What does
the girl wish
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for the end?

why does she
wish for it?
What do you
feel toward
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the little girl?

What do you
feel toward
What do you
think the
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story is
trying to say?
THANK YOU
FOR
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LISTENING!

Lengua para Diablo: (Excerpt From Banana Heart Summer) by Merlinda Bobis

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Lengua para Diablo: (Excerpt From Banana Heart Summer) by Merlinda Bobis

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LENGUA PARA

[Excerpt from Banana Heart Summer]

Lengua (Beef tongue) is also a dish made of

placed in a pot to boil.

[Excerpt from Banana Heart Summer]

words.’ This meant he forgot

with other always complaining, ‘I’m

this hellish life’ 'gain he was ready

want. He lived in a Spanish house and

coating ---- now, imagine words scraped off

disappeared. It had been

and feted with only the perfect seasonings. I

for the end?

the little girl?

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