carmen-第12章

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n　you　love　to…morrow！〃　The　gipsy　departed　alone　for　the　Campo　Santo；　since　my　Spanish　friend　was　too　much　afraid　of　witchcraft　to　go　there　with　her。　I　leave　my　readers　to　guess　whether　my　poor　forsaken　lady　ever　saw　her　lover；　or　her　scarf；　again。

In　spite　of　their　poverty　and　the　sort　of　aversion　they　inspire；　the　gipsies　are　treated　with　a　certain　amount　of　consideration　by　the　more　ignorant　folk；　and　they　are　very　proud　of　it。　They　feel　themselves　to　be　a　superior　race　as　regards　intelligence；　and　they　heartily　despise　the　people　whose　hospitality　they　enjoy。　〃These　Gentiles　are　so　stupid；〃　said　one　of　the　Vosges　gipsies　to　me；　〃that　there　is　no　credit　in　taking　them　in。　The　other　day　a　peasant　woman　called　out　to　me　in　the　street。　I　went　into　her　house。　Her　stove　smoked　and　she　asked　me　to　give　her　a　charm　to　cure　it。　First　of　all　I　made　her　give　me　a　good　bit　of　bacon；　and　then　I　began　to　mumble　a　few　words　in　/Romany/。　'You're　a　fool；'　I　said；　'you　were　born　a　fool；　and　you'll　die　a　fool！'　When　I　had　got　near　the　door　I　said　to　her；　in　good　German；　'The　most　certain　way　of　keeping　your　stove　from　smoking　is　not　to　light　any　fire　in　it！'　and　then　I　took　to　my　heels。〃

The　history　of　the　gipsies　is　still　a　problem。　We　know；　indeed；　that　their　first　bands；　which　were　few　and　far　between；　appeared　in　Eastern　Europe　towards　the　beginning　of　the　fifteenth　century。　But　nobody　can　tell　whence　they　started；　or　why　they　came　to　Europe；　and；　what　is　still　more　extraordinary；　no　one　knows　how　they　multiplied；　within　a　short　time；　and　in　so　prodigious　a　fashion；　and　in　several　countries；　all　very　remote　from　each　other。　The　gipsies　themselves　have　preserved　no　tradition　whatsoever　as　to　their　origin；　and　though　most　of　them　do　speak　of　Egypt　as　their　original　fatherland；　that　is　only　because　they　have　adopted　a　very　ancient　fable　respecting　their　race。

Most　of　the　Orientalists　who　have　studied　the　gipsy　language　believe　that　the　cradle　of　the　race　was　in　India。　It　appears；　in　fact；　that　many　of　the　roots　and　grammatical　forms　of　the　/Romany/　tongue　are　to　be　found　in　idioms　derived　from　the　Sanskrit。　As　may　be　imagined；　the　gipsies；　during　their　long　wanderings；　have　adopted　many　foreign　words。　In　every　/Romany/　dialect　a　number　of　Greek　words　appear。

At　the　present　day　the　gipsies　have　almost　as　many　dialects　as　there　are　separate　hordes　of　their　race。　Everywhere；　they　speak　the　language　of　the　country　they　inhabit　more　easily　than　their　own　idiom；　which　they　seldom　use；　except　with　the　object　of　conversing　freely　before　strangers。　A　comparison　of　the　dialect　of　the　German　gipsies　with　that　used　by　the　Spanish　gipsies；　who　have　held　no　communication　with　each　other　for　several　centuries；　reveals　the　existence　of　a　great　number　of　words　common　to　both。　But　everywhere　the　original　language　is　notably　affected；　though　in　different　degrees；　by　its　contact　with　the　more　cultivated　languages　into　the　use　of　which　the　nomads　have　been　forced。　German　in　one　case　and　Spanish　in　the　other　have　so　modified　the　/Romany/　groundwork　that　it　would　not　be　possible　for　a　gipsy　from　the　Black　Forest　to　converse　with　one　of　his　Andalusian　brothers；　although　a　few　sentences　on　each　side　would　suffice　to　convince　them　that　each　was　speaking　a　dialect　of　the　same　language。　Certain　words　in　very　frequent　use　are；　I　believe；　common　to　every　dialect。　Thus；　in　every　vocabulary　which　I　have　been　able　to　consult；　/pani/　means　water；　/manro/　means　bread；　/mas/　stands　for　meat；　and　/lon/　for　salt。

The　nouns　of　number　are　almost　the　same　in　every　case。　The　German　dialect　seems　to　me　much　purer　than　the　Spanish；　for　it　has　preserved　numbers　of　the　primitive　grammatical　forms；　whereas　the　Gitanos　have　adopted　those　of　the　Castilian　tongue。　Nevertheless；　some　words　are　an　exception；　as　though　to　prove　that　the　language　was　originally　common　to　all。　The　preterite　of　the　German　dialect　is　formed　by　adding　/ium/　to　the　imperative；　which　is　always　the　root　of　the　verb。　In　the　Spanish　/Romany/　the　verbs　are　all　conjugated　on　the　model　of　the　first　conjugation　of　the　Castilian　verbs。　From　/jamar/；　the　infinitive　of　〃to　eat；〃　the　regular　conjugation　should　be　/jame/；　〃I　have　eaten。〃　From　/lillar/；　〃to　take；〃　/lille/；　〃I　have　taken。〃　Yet；　some　old　gipsies　say；　as　an　exception；　/jayon/　and　/lillon/。　I　am　not　acquainted　with　any　other　verbs　which　have　preserved　this　ancient　form。

While　I　am　thus　showing　off　my　small　acquaintance　with　the　/Romany/　language；　I　must　notice　a　few　words　of　French　slang　which　our　thieves　have　borrowed　from　the　gipsies。　From　/Les　Mysteres　de　Paris/　honest　folk　have　learned　that　the　word　/chourin/　means　〃a　knife。〃　This　is　pure　/Romany//tchouri/　is　one　of　the　words　which　is　common　to　every　dialect。　Monsieur　Vidocq　calls　a　horse　/gres/this　again　is　a　gipsy　word/gras/；　/gre/；　/graste/；　and　/gris/。　Add　to　this　the　word　/romanichel/；　by　which　the　gipsies　are　described　in　Parisian　slang。　This　is　a　corruption　of　/romane　tchave/〃gipsy　lads。〃　But　a　piece　of　etymology　of　which　I　am　really　proud　is　that　of　the　word　/frimousse/；　〃face；〃　〃countenance〃a　word　which　every　schoolboy　uses；　or　did　use；　in　my　time。　Note；　in　the　first　place；　the　Oudin；　in　his　curious　dictionary；　published　in　1640；　wrote　the　word　/firlimouse/。　Now　in　/Romany/；　/firla/；　or　/fila/；　stands　for　〃face；〃　and　has　the　same　meaningit　is　exactly　the　/os/　of　the　Latins。　The　combination　of　/firlamui/　was　instantly　understood　by　a　genuine　gipsy；　and　I　believe　it　to　be　true　to　the　spirit　of　the　gipsy　language。

I　have　surely　said　enough　to　give　the　readers　of　Carmen　a　favourable　idea　of　my　/Romany/　studies。　I　will　conclude　with　the　following　proverb；　which　comes　in　very　appropriately：　/En　retudi　panda　nasti　abela　macha/。　〃Between　closed　lips　no　fly　can　pass。〃





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