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The Zincali-Part16_George Borrow(1803-1881)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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only in appearance, that of the people with whom they chance to



sojourn; the Israelites possess the most authentic history of any

people in the world, and are acquainted with and delight to



recapitulate all that has befallen their race, from ages the most

remote; the Romas have no history, they do not even know the name



of their original country; and the only tradition which they

possess, that of their Egyptian origin, is a false one, whether



invented by themselves or others; the Israelites are of all people

the most wealthy, the Romas the most poor - poor as a Gypsy being



proverbial amongst some nations, though both are equallygreedy of

gain; and finally, though both are noted for peculiar craft and



cunning, no people are more ignorant than the Romas, whilst the

Jews have always been a learned people, being in possession of the



oldest literature in the world, and certainly the most important

and interesting.



Sad and weary must have been the path of the mixed rabble of the

Romas, when they left India's sunny land and wended their way to



the West, in comparison with the glorious exodus of the Israelites

from Egypt, whose God went before them in cloud and in fire,



working miracles and astonishing the hearts of their foes.

Even supposing that they worshipped Buddh or Brahmah, neither of



these false deities could have accomplished for them what God

effected for his chosen people, although it is true that the idea



that a Supreme Being was watching over them, in return for the

reverence paid to his image, might have cheered them 'midst storm



and lightning, 'midst mountains and wildernesses, 'midst hunger and

drought; for it is assuredly better to trust even in an idol, in a



tree, or a stone, than to be entirely godless; and the most

superstitious hind of the Himalayan hills, who trusts in the Grand



Foutsa in the hour of peril and danger, is more wise than the most

enlightened atheist, who cherishes no consoling delusion to relieve



his mind, oppressed by the terrible ideas of reality.

But it is evident that they arrived at the confines of Europe



without any certain or rooted faith. Knowing, as we do, with what

tenacity they retain their primitive habits and customs, their sect



being, in all points, the same as it was four hundred years ago, it

appears impossible that they should have forgotten their peculiar



god, if in any peculiar god they trusted.

Though cloudy ideas of the Indian deities might be occasionally



floating in their minds, these ideas, doubtless, quickly passed

away when they ceased to behold the pagodas and temples of Indian



worship, and were no longer in contact with the enthusiastic

adorers of the idols of the East; they passed away even as the dim



and cloudy ideas which they subsequently adopted of the Eternal and

His Son, Mary and the saints, would pass away when they ceased to



be nourished by the sight of churches and crosses; for should it

please the Almighty to reconduct the Romas to Indian climes, who



can doubt that within half a century they would entirely forget all

connected with the religion of the West! Any poor shreds of that



faith which they bore with them they would drop by degrees as they

would relinquish their European garments when they became old, and



as they relinquished their Asiatic ones to adopt those of Europe;

no particular dress makes a part of the things essential to the



sect of Roma, so likewise no particular god and no particular

religion.



Where these people first assumed the name of Egyptians, or where

that title was first bestowed upon them, it is difficult to



determine; perhaps, however, in the eastern parts of Europe, where

it should seem the grand body of this nation of wanderers made a



halt for a considerable time, and where they are still to be found

in greater numbers than in any other part. One thing is certain,



that when they first entered Germany, which they speedily overran,

they appeared under the character of Egyptians, doing penance for



the sin of having refused hospitality to the Virgin and her Son,




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