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
all the world; because the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and
then they shall see the Son of Man coming upon a cloud with great power
and glory: when these things begin to happen, look ye, and raise your
heads, for your redemption is near.
THE ENGLISH DIALECT OF THE ROMMANY
‘TACHIPEN if I jaw ‘doi, I can lel a bit of tan to hatch: N’etist I
shan’t puch kekomi wafu gorgies.’
The above sentence, dear reader, I heard from the mouth of Mr.
Petulengro, the last time that he did me the honour to visit me at my
poor house, which was the day after Mol-divvus, {428a} 1842: he stayed
with me during the greatest part of the morning, discoursing on the
affairs of Egypt, the aspect of which, he assured me, was becoming daily
worse and worse. ‘There is no living for the poor people, brother,’ said
he, ‘the chok-engres (police) pursue us from place to place, and the
gorgios are become either so poor or miserly, that they grudge our cattle
a bite of grass by the way side, and ourselves a yard of ground to light
a fire upon. Unless times alter, brother, and of that I see no
probability, unless you are made either poknees or mecralliskoe geiro
(justice of the peace or prime minister), I am afraid the poor persons
will have to give up wandering altogether, and then what will become of
them?
‘However, brother,’ he continued, in a more cheerful tone, ‘I am no
hindity mush, {428b} as you well know. I suppose you have not forgot
how, fifteen years ago, when you made horse-shoes in the little dingle by
the side of the great north road, I lent you fifty cottors {428c} to
purchase the wonderful trotting cob of the innkeeper with the green
Newmarket coat, which three days after you sold for two hundred.
‘Well, brother, if you had wanted the two hundred, instead of the fifty,
I could have lent them to you, and would have done so, for I knew you
would not be long pazorrhus to me. I am no hindity mush, brother, no
Irishman; I laid out the other day twenty pounds in buying rupenoe
peam-engries; {429a} and in the Chong-gav, {429b} have a house of my own
with a yard behind it.
‘_And_, _forsooth_, _if I go thither_, _I can choose a place to light a
fire upon_, _and shall have no necessity to ask leave of these here
Gentiles_.’
Well, dear reader, this last is the translation of the Gypsy sentence
which heads the chapter, and which is a very characteristic specimen of
the general way of speaking of the English Gypsies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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