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The Zincali-Part2_George Borrow(1803-1881)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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vast majority reject this manner of life, and traverse the country

in bands, like the ancient Hamaxobioi; the immensegrassy plains of



Russia affording pasturage for their herds of cattle, on which, and

the produce of the chase, they chiefly depend for subsistence.



They are, however, not destitute of money, which they obtain by

various means, but principally by curing diseases amongst the



cattle of the mujiks or peasantry, and by telling fortunes, and not

unfrequently by theft and brigandage.



Their power of resisting cold is truly wonderful, as it is not

uncommon to find them encamped in the midst of the snow, in slight



canvas tents, when the temperature is twenty-five or thirty degrees

below the freezing-point according to Reaumur; but in the winter



they generally seek the shelter of the forests, which afford fuel

for their fires, and abound in game.



The race of the Rommany is by nature perhaps the most beautiful in

the world; and amongst the children of the Russian Zigani are



frequently to be found countenances to do justice to which would

require the pencil of a second Murillo; but exposure to the rays of



the burning sun, the biting of the frost, and the pelting of the

pitiless sleet and snow, destroys their beauty at a very early age;



and if in infancy their personal advantages are remarkable, their

ugliness at an advanced age is no less so, for then it is



loathsome, and even appalling.

A hundred years, could I live so long, would not efface from my



mind the appearance of an aged Ziganskie Attaman, or Captain of

Zigani, and his grandson, who approached me on the meadow before



Novo Gorod, where stood the encampment of a numerous horde. The

boy was of a form and face which might have entitled him to



represent Astyanax, and Hector of Troy might have pressed him to

his bosom, and called him his pride; but the old man was, perhaps,



such a shape as Milton has alluded to, but could only describe as

execrable - he wanted but the dart and kingly crown to have



represented the monster who opposed the progress of Lucifer, whilst

careering in burning arms and infernal glory to the outlet of his



hellish prison.

But in speaking of the Russian Gypsies, those of Moscow must not be



passed over in silence. The station to which they have attained in

society in that most remarkable of cities is so far above the



sphere in which the remainder of their race pass their lives, that

it may be considered as a phenomenon in Gypsy history, and on that



account is entitled to particular notice.

Those who have been accustomed to consider the Gypsy as a wandering



outcast, incapable of appreciating the blessings of a settled and

civilised life, or - if abandoning vagabond propensities, and



becoming stationary - as one who never ascends higher than the

condition of a low trafficker, will be surprised to learn, that



amongst the Gypsies of Moscow there are not a few who inhabit

stately houses, go abroad in elegant equipages, and are behind the



higher orders of the Russians neither in appearance nor mental

acquirements. To the power of song alone this phenomenon is to be



attributed. From time immemorial the female Gypsies of Moscow have

been much addicted to the vocal art, and bands or quires of them



have sung for pay in the halls of the nobility or upon the boards

of the theatre. Some first-rate songsters have been produced among



them, whose merits have been acknowledged, not only by the Russian

public, but by the most fastidious foreign critics. Perhaps the



highest compliment ever paid to a songster was paid by Catalani

herself to one of these daughters of Roma. It is well known



throughout Russia that the celebrated Italian was so enchanted with

the voice of a Moscow Gypsy (who, after the former had displayed



her noble talent before a splendid audience in the old Russian

capital, stepped forward and poured forth one of her national



strains), that she tore from her own shoulders a shawl of cashmire,




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