Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not)

The town leaders hold a conference to discuss the upcoming festival in honor of the patron saint, San Diego. Deputy mayor Don Filipo, the leader of the liberal party in San Diego, proposes a political trick suggested by Tasio. Filipo proposes an agreeable idea to the conservative party, but they disagree with it because they dislike Filipo. When another liberal member meekly proposes an idea more in line with the liberal party, the conservative party goes along with the plan, except one. The mayor adheres to what the priests want, making the meeting pointless.

An anxious Sisa is visited by military police, and they escort her to the village. When she arrives in town, she is identified by a woman exiting church as the mother of “two thieves”—Basilio (who is missing as well) and Crispin. She feels embarrassed. She is taken to the prison where she is eventually released by the ensign, who feels the theft doesn’t matter. Sisa makes the trek back home, feeling an increasing sense of dread that something bad has happened to her sons.

Ibarra and María-Clara discuss their impending engagement. María-Clara asks Ibarra not to invite Father Salví because he acts strange around her. Ibarra says that it is the custom to invite a priest, so he has to. Father Salví has grown despondent and lost weight. As the chapter ends, Ibarra is confronted by a man who pleads for mercy. The man is not explicitly identified by the narrator, but he is Sisa’s husband and the father of Basilio and Crispin.

Ibarra and some of his friends join María-Clara and her friends on a boat ride (navigated by two boatmen) to a secluded fishing spot. The fishing spot is a pen where the fish are locked in upon entering; however, the group realizes that nothing is biting and they catch nothing. They sense that something is off and spot a crocodile caught in the pen. The younger of the two boatmen, who is later revealed to be a man named Elías, jumps into the water and lassoes the crocodile. As he returns to the boat, the crocodile drags him back into the water. Ibarra dives in to help Elías and eventually stabs the crocodile. At first, the blood that rises to the surface misleads the group into thinking one of the men was killed—but they both surface. Elías is thankful to Ibarra but remains solemn and somewhat mysterious, disappearing without a word.

The celebration of Ibarra and María-Clara’s engagement continues. Father Salví heads to the celebration and while in the woods, overhears María-Clara and her friends insulting him. When he finally arrives at the ceremony, he asks the ensign for any news on the man who attacked Father Dámaso. Sisa wanders into the ceremony, and this instigates an argument between Salví and the ensign about Basilio and Crispin’s unresolved situation. Ibarra receives a telegram which states that his proposal to build a school has been approved.