2. CHAPTER IX:“ELIAS & SALOME” Missing Chapter of Noli
3. Few people know that there is a missing chapter in the printed Noli Me Tangere, this chapter was included in the original manuscript, written in Rizal’s own handwriting However, it was crossed out in blue pencil so that it was deleted from the printed novel.
4. WHY RIZAL DELETES THE CHAPTER?
5. It should be recalled that Rizal was in dire financial situation in Berlin during the days when he was putting the finishing touches to the Noli.He knew that the cost of printing is in proportion with the number of pages of the manuscript.Accordingly, he rewrote several chapters making them more compact so that he could economize on the number of pages.He deleted one whole chapter without destroying the story of the novel and this chapter was “Elias and Salome”
6. ECONOMIC was the only reason why this particular chapter was deleted.Elias was adversely affected. It seems that Rizal considered Ibarra a more important character although Elias was nobler.He even killed Elias in the novel and let Ibarra live. Later, he repented having killed Elias.He wrote “im sorry i have killed Elias instead of Crisostomo Ibarra .But when Rizal wrote the Noli his health was very bad and he never believe that he could wrote the continuation and talk about revolution.
7. He have preserve the life of Elias a nobler character, a patriot, unselfish and self-sacrificing, the necessary qualities for a man to lead a revolution.Crisostomo Ibarra was an egoist who decided to provoke a rebellion only when he was injured through his property, his person, his love and all that he held sacred. Success cannot be expected for the enterprise of a man like that.
8. SYNOPSIS OF THE MISSING CHAPTER
9. In a nipa hut by the placid lake, Salome a winsome girl in her early teens sat on the bamboo batalan sewing a camesa of bright colors. She was waiting for Elias to arrived. She was beautiful “like the flowerets that