“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。