GYPSY. Ye are tired and drooping, poor pilgrims, as I think, seeking a night's lodging. Lady, wilt thou choose to alight? MARY. O sister mine! full of courtesy, God of his infinite goodness reward thee for thy charity. We are come from Nazareth, and we are without a place to lay our heads, arrived in a strange land, all tired and weary with the way! The Zingarella then offers them a resting-place, and straw and fodder for the ass, which being accepted, she asks leave to tell their fortune, but begins by recounting, in about thirty stanzas, all the past history of the Virgin pilgrim; she then asks to see the Child-- Ora tu, Signora mia. Che sei piena di cortesia, Mostramelo per favore Lo tuo Figlio Redentore! And now, O Lady mine, that art full of courtesy, grant me to look upon thy Son, the Redeemer! The Virgin takes him from the arms of Joseph-- Datemi, o caro sposo, Lo mio Figlio grazioso! Quando il vide sta meschina Zingarella, che indovina! Give me, dear husband, my lovely boy, that this poor gypsy, who is a prophetess, may look upon him. The gypsy responds with becoming admiration and humility, praises the beauty of the Child, and then proceeds to examine his palm: which having done, she breaks forth into a prophecy of all the awful future, tells how he would be baptized, and tempted, scourged, and finally hung upon a cross-- Questo Figlio accarezzato Tu lo vedrai ammazzato Sopra d'una dura croce, Figlio bello! Figlio dolce! but consoles the disconsolate Mother, doomed to honour for the sake of us sinners-- Sei arrivata a tanti onori Per noi altri Peccatori! and ends by begging an alms-- Non ti vo' più infastidire, Bella Signora; so chi hai a fare. Dona la limosinella A sta povera Zingarella true repentance and eternal life. Vo' una vera contrizione Per la tua intercezione, Accio st' alma dopo morte Tragga alle celesti porte! And so the story ends. There can be no doubt, I think, that we have here the original theme of Giorgione's picture, and perhaps of others. In the Provençal ballad, there are three gypsies, men, not women, introduced, who tell the fortune of the Virgin and Joseph, as well as that of the Child, and end by begging alms "to wet their thirsty throats." Of this version there is a very spirited and characteristic translation by Mr. Kenyon, under the title of "a Gypsy Carol."[1] [Footnote 1: A Day at Tivoli, with other Verses, by John Kenyon, p. 149.] THE RETURN FROM EGYPT. According to some authorities, the Holy Family sojourned in Egypt during a period of seven years, but others assert that they returned to Judea at the end of two years.