“Goodwoman,“sayshe,“what’sthatyouaretalking?Isitbrokenlanguage?““Ofcourse,yourreverence,“saysI,“wearebrokenpeople;giveashilling,yourreverence,tothepoorbrokenwoman。“
  Oh,thesegorgios!theygrudgeusourverylanguage!’
  ’Shecalledyouherson,Jasper?’
  ’Iamherson,brother。’
  ’Ithoughtyousaidyourparentswere-’
  ’Bitchadeypawdel;youthoughtright,brother。Thisismywife’smother。’
  ’Thenyouaremarried,Jasper?’
  ’Ay,truly;Iamhusbandandfather。Youwillseewifeandchaboanon。’
  ’Wherearetheynow?’
  ’Inthegav,penningdukkerin。’
  ’Weweretalkingoflanguage,Jasper?’
  ’True,brother。’
  ’Yoursmustbearumone?’
  ’’TiscalledRommany。’
  ’Iwouldgladlyknowit。’
  ’Youneeditsorely。’
  ’Wouldyouteachitme?’
  ’Nonesooner。’
  ’Supposewebeginnow?’
  ’Supposewedo,brother。’
  ’NotwhilstIamhere,’saidthewoman,flingingherknittingdown,andstartinguponherfeet;’notwhilstIamhereshallthisgorgiolearnRommany。Aprettymanoeuvre,truly;andwhatwouldbetheendofit?Igoestothefarmingkerwithmysister,totellafortune,andearnafewsixpencesforthechabes。Iseesajollypigintheyard,andIsaystomysister,speakingRommany,“Dosoandso,“saysI;whichthefarmingmanhearing,askswhatwearetalkingabout。“Nothingatall,master,“saysI;“somethingabouttheweather“;whenwhoshouldstartupfrombehindapale,wherehehasbeenlistening,butthisuglygorgio,cryingout,“Theyareafterpoisoningyourpigs,neighbour!“sothatwearegladtorun,Iandmysister,withperhapsthefarm-engroshoutingafterus。
  Saysmysistertome,whenwehavegotfairlyoff,“Howcamethatuglyonetoknowwhatyousaidtome?“WhereuponIanswers,“ItallcomesofmysonJasper,whobringsthegorgiotoourfire,andmustneedsbeteachinghim。““Whowasfoolthere?“saysmysister。
  “Who,indeed,butmysonJasper,“Ianswers。AndhereshouldIbeagreaterfooltositstillandsufferit;whichIwillnotdo。I
  donotlikethelookofhim;helooksover-gorgeous。AnilldaytotheRomanswhenhemastersRommany;and,whenIsaysthat,Ipensatruedukkerin。’
  ’WhatdoyoucallGod,Jasper?’
  ’Youhadbetterbejawing,’saidthewoman,raisinghervoicetoaterriblescream;’youhadbetterbemovingoff,mygorgio;hangyouforakeenone,sittingtherebythefire,andstealingmylanguagebeforemyface。Doyouknowwhomyouhavetodealwith?DoyouknowthatIamdangerous?MynameisHerne,andIcomesofthehairyones!’
  Andahairyoneshelooked!Sheworeherhairclubbeduponherhead,fastenedwithmanystringsandligatures;butnow,tearingtheseoff,herlocks,originallyjetblack,butnowpartiallygrizzledwithage,felldownoneverysideofher,coveringherfaceandbackasfardownasherknees。Noshe-bearofLaplandeverlookedmorefierceandhairythandidthatwoman,asstandingintheopenpartofthetent,withherheadbentdown,andhershouldersdrawnup,seeminglyabouttoprecipitateherselfuponme,sherepeated,againandagain,-
  ’MynameisHerne,andIcomesofthehairyones!-’
  ’IcallGodDuvel,brother。’
  ’ItsoundsverylikeDevil。’
  ’Itdoth,brother,itdoth。’
  ’Andwhatdoyoucalldivine,Imeangodly?’
  ’Oh!Icallthatduvelskoe。’
  ’Iamthinkingofsomething,Jasper。’
  ’Whatareyouthinkingof,brother?’
  ’Woulditnotbearumthingifdivineanddevilishwereoriginallyoneandthesameword?’
  ’Itwould,brother,itwould-’……
  FromthistimeIhadfrequentinterviewswithJasper,sometimesinhistent,sometimesontheheath,aboutwhichwewouldroamforhours,discoursingonvariousmatters。Sometimes,mountedononeofhishorses,ofwhichhehadseveral,Iwouldaccompanyhimtovariousfairsandmarketsintheneighbourhood,towhichhewentonhisownaffairs,orthoseofhistribe。IsoonfoundthatIhadbecomeacquaintedwithamostsingularpeople,whosehabitsandpursuitsawakenedwithinmethehighestinterest。Ofallconnectedwiththem,however,theirlanguagewasdoubtlessthatwhichexercisedthegreatestinfluenceovermyimagination。Ihadatfirstsomesuspicionthatitwouldproveameremade-upgibberish;
  butIwassoonundeceived。Broken,corrupted,andhalfinruinsasitwas,itwasnotlongbeforeIfoundthatitwasanoriginalspeech,farmoreso,indeed,thanoneortwoothersofhighnameandcelebrity,which,uptothattime,Ihadbeeninthehabitofregardingwithrespectandveneration。Indeedmanyobscurepointsconnectedwiththevocabularyoftheselanguages,andtowhichneitherclassicnormodernloreaffordedanyclue,IthoughtI
  couldnowclearupbymeansofthisstrangebrokentongue,spokenbypeoplewhodweltamongstthicketsandfurzebushes,intentsastawnyastheirfaces,andwhomthegeneralityofmankinddesignated,andwithmuchsemblanceofjustice,asthievesandvagabonds。Butwheredidthisspeechcomefrom,andwhoweretheywhospokeit?ThesewerequestionswhichIcouldnotsolve,andwhichJasperhimself,whenpressed,confessedhisinabilitytoanswer。’But,whoeverwebe,brother,’saidhe,’weareanoldpeople,andnotwhatfolksingeneralimagine,brokengorgios;and,ifwearenotEgyptians,weareatanyrateRommanyChals!’
  ’RommanyChals!Ishouldnotwonderafterall,’saidI,’thatthesepeoplehadsomethingtodowiththefoundingofRome。Rome,itissaid,wasbuiltbyvagabonds,whoknowsbutthatsometribeofthekindsettleddownthereabouts,andcalledthetownwhichtheybuiltaftertheirname;butwhencedidtheycomeoriginally?
  ah!thereisthedifficulty。’
  Butabandoningthesequestions,whichatthattimewerefartooprofoundforme,Iwentonstudyingthelanguage,andatthesametimethecharactersandmannersofthesestrangepeople。Myrapidprogressintheformerastonished,whileitdelighted,Jasper。
  ’We’llnolongercallyouSap-engro,brother,’saidhe;butratherLav-engro,whichinthelanguageofthegorgiosmeanethWord-
  master。’’Nay,brother,’saidTawnoChikno,withwhomIhadbecomeveryintimate,’youhadbettercallhimCooro-mengro,IhaveputonTHEGLOVESwithhim,andfindhimapurefist-master;Ilikehimforthat,forIamaCooro-mengromyself,andwasbornatBrummagem。’
  ’Ilikeshimforhismodesty,’saidMrs。Chikno;’Ineverhearsanyillwordscomefromhismouth,but,onthecontrary,muchsweetlanguage。Histalkisgolden,andhehastaughtmyeldesttosayhisprayersinRommany,whichmyroverhadneverthegracetodo。’
  ’Heisthepalofmyrom,’saidMrs。Petulengro,whowasaveryhandsomewoman,’andthereforeIlikeshim,andnotthelessforhisbeingarye;folkscallsmehigh-minded,andperhapsIhavereasontobeso;beforeImarriedPharaohIhadanofferfromalord-Ilikestheyoungrye,and,ifhechoosestofollowus,heshallhavemysister。Whatsayyou,mother?shouldnottheyoungryehavemysisterUrsula?’
  ’Iamgoingtomypeople,’saidMrs。Herne,placingabundleuponadonkey,whichwasherownpeculiarproperty;’IamgoingtoYorkshire,forIcanstandthisnolonger。Yousayyoulikehim:
  inthatwediffers;Ihatesthegorgio,andwouldlike,speakingRomanly,tomixalittlepoisonwithhiswaters。AndnowgotoLundra,mychildren,IgoestoYorkshire。Takemyblessingwithye,andalittlebitofagillietocheeryourheartswithwhenyeareweary。Inallkindsofweatherhavewelivedtogether;butnowweareparted。Igoesbroken-hearted-Ican’tkeepyoucompany;
  yearenolongerRommany。Togainabadbrother,yehavelostagoodmother。’
  CHAPTERXVIII
  Whatprofession?-NotfittedforaChurchman-Erraticcourse-
  Thebitterdraught-Principleofwoe-Thouwouldstbejoyous-
  Whatailsyou?-Poorchildofclay。