The Zincali: An Account of the Gypsies of SpainBorrow, George
History
The Zincali: An Account of the Gypsies of Spain
Borrow, George
Romanies -- Languages; Romanies -- Spain
How far the person in question, who sat all the while smoking his pipe,
with the most unperturbed tranquillity, deserved the character bestowed
upon him by his sister, will presently appear. It is not my intention to
describe here all the strange things I both saw and heard in this Gypsy
inn. Several Gypsies arrived from the country during the six days that I
spent within its walls; one of them, a man, from Moron, was received with
particular cordiality, he having a son, whom he was thinking of
betrothing to one of the Gypsy daughters. Some females of quality
likewise visited the house to gossip, like true Andalusians. It was
singular to observe the behaviour of the Gypsies to these people,
especially that of the remarkable woman, some of whose conversation I
have given above. She whined, she canted, she blessed, she talked of
beauty of colour, of eyes, of eyebrows, and pestañas (eyelids), and of
hearts which were aching for such and such a lady. Amongst others, came
a very fine woman, the widow of a colonel lately slain in battle; she
brought with her a beautiful innocent little girl, her daughter, between
three and four years of age. The Gypsy appeared to adore her; she
sobbed, she shed tears, she kissed the child, she blessed it, she fondled
it. I had my eye upon her countenance, and it brought to my recollection
that of a she-wolf, which I had once seen in Russia, playing with her
whelp beneath a birch-tree. ‘You seem to love that child very much, O my
mother,’ said I to her, as the lady was departing.
_Gypsy Hag_.—‘No lo camélo, hijo! I do not love it, O my son, I do not
love it; I love it so much, that I wish it may break its leg as it goes
downstairs, and its mother also.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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