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
‘Not far from this place is a Char Seharra, or witch-hamlet, where dwell
those of the Dar-bushi-fal. These are very evil people, and powerful
enchanters; for it is well known that if any traveller stop to sleep in
their Char, they will with their sorceries, if he be a white man, turn
him as black as a coal, and will afterwards sell him as a negro. Horses
and mules they serve in the same manner, for if they are black, they will
turn them red, or any other colour which best may please them; and
although the owners demand justice of the authorities, the sorcerers
always come off best. They have a language which they use among
themselves, very different from all other languages, so much so that it
is impossible to understand them. They are very swarthy, quite as much
so as mulattos, and their faces are exceedingly lean. As for their legs,
they are like reeds; and when they run, the devil himself cannot overtake
them. They tell Dar-bushi-fal with flour; they fill a plate, and then
they are able to tell you anything you ask them. They likewise tell it
with a shoe; they put it in their mouth, and then they will recall to
your memory every action of your life. They likewise tell Dar-bushi-fal
with oil; and indeed are, in every respect, most powerful sorcerers.
‘Two women, once on a time, came to Fez, bringing with them an
exceedingly white donkey, which they placed in the middle of the square
called Faz el Bali; they then killed it, and cut it into upwards of
thirty pieces. Upon the ground there was much of the donkey’s filth and
dung; some of this they took in their hands, when it straight assumed the
appearance of fresh dates. There were some people who were greedy enough
to put these dates into their mouths, and then they found that it was
dung. These women deceived me amongst the rest with a date; when I put
it into my mouth, lo and behold it was the donkey’s dung. After they had
collected much money from the spectators, one of them took a needle, and
ran it into the tail of the donkey, crying “Arrhe li dar” (Get home),
whereupon the donkey instantly rose up, and set off running, kicking
every now and then most furiously; and it was remarked, that not one
single trace of blood remained upon the ground, just as if they had done
nothing to it. Both these women were of the very same Char Seharra which
I have already mentioned. They likewise took paper, and cut it into the
shape of a peseta, and a dollar, and a half-dollar, until they had made
many pesetas and dollars, and then they put them into an earthen pan over
a fire, and when they took them out, they appeared just fresh from the
stamp, and with such money these people buy all they want.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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