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
In Hungary, as in all parts, they are addicted to horse-dealing; they are
likewise tinkers, and smiths in a small way. The women are
fortune-tellers, of course—both sexes thieves of the first water. They
roam where they list—in a country where all other people are held under
strict surveillance, no one seems to care about these Parias. The most
remarkable feature, however, connected with the habits of the Czigány,
consists in their foreign excursions, having plunder in view, which
frequently endure for three or four years, when, if no mischance has
befallen them, they return to their native land—rich; where they squander
the proceeds of their dexterity in mad festivals. They wander in bands
of twelve and fourteen through France, even to Rome. Once, during my own
wanderings in Italy, I rested at nightfall by the side of a kiln, the air
being piercingly cold; it was about four leagues from Genoa. Presently
arrived three individuals to take advantage of the warmth—a man, a woman,
and a lad. They soon began to discourse—and I found that they were
Hungarian Gypsies; they spoke of what they had been doing, and what they
had amassed—I think they mentioned nine hundred crowns. They had
companions in the neighbourhood, some of whom they were expecting; they
took no notice of me, and conversed in their own dialect; I did not
approve of their propinquity, and rising, hastened away.
When Napoleon invaded Spain there were not a few Hungarian Gypsies in his
armies; some strange encounters occurred on the field of battle between
these people and the Spanish Gitános, one of which is related in the
second part of the present work. When quartered in the Spanish towns,
the Czigány invariably sought out their peninsular brethren, to whom they
revealed themselves, kissing and embracing most affectionately; the
Gitános were astonished at the proficiency of the strangers in thievish
arts, and looked upon them almost in the light of superior beings: ‘They
knew the whole reckoning,’ is still a common expression amongst them.
There was a Czigánian soldier for some time at Cordoba, of whom the
Gitános of the place still frequently discourse, whilst smoking their
cigars during winter nights over their braséros.
The Hungarian Gypsies have a peculiar accent when speaking the language
of the country, by which they can be instantly distinguished; the same
thing is applicable to the Gitános of Spain when speaking Spanish. In no
part of the world is the Gypsy language preserved better than in Hungary.
The following short prayer to the Virgin, which I have frequently heard
amongst the Gypsies of Hungary and Transylvania, will serve as a specimen
of their language:—
Gula Devla, da me saschipo. Swuntuna Devla, da me bacht t’ aldaschis
cari me jav; te ferin man, Devla, sila ta niapaschiata, chungalé
manuschendar, ke me jav andé drom ca hin man traba; ferin man, Devia;
ma mek man Devla, ke manga man tre Devies-key.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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