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The Zincali-Part27_George Borrow(1803-1881)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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their borricos, their wives and families, and the greatest part of

their household furniture. No one knew whither they directed their



course, nor were they seen in Cordova for some months, when they

again suddenly made their appearance; a few, however, never



returned. So great was the horror of the Gitanos at what had

occurred, that they were in the habit of saying that the place was



cursed for evermore; and when I knew them, there were many amongst

them who, on no account, would enter the Plaza which had witnessed



the disgraceful end of their unfortunate brother.

The position which the Gitanos hold in society in Spain is the



lowest, as might be expected; they are considered at best as

thievish chalans, and the women as half sorceresses, and in every



respect thieves; there is not a wretch, however vile, the outcast

of the prison and the presidio, who calls himself Spaniard, but



would feel insulted by being termed Gitano, and would thank God

that he is not; and yet, strange to say, there are numbers, and



those of the higher classes, who seek their company, and endeavour

to imitate their manners and way of speaking. The connections



which they form with the Spaniards are not many; occasionally some

wealthy Gitano marries a Spanish female, but to find a Gitana



united to a Spaniard is a thing of the rarest occurrence, if it

ever takes place. It is, of course, by intermarriage alone that



the two races will ever commingle, and before that event is brought

about, much modification must take place amongst the Gitanos, in



their manners, in their habits, in their affections, and their

dislikes, and, perhaps, even in their physical peculiarities; much



must be forgotten on both sides, and everything is forgotten in the

course of time.



The number of the Gitano population of Spain at the present day may

be estimated at about forty thousand. At the commencement of the



present century it was said to amount to sixty thousand. There can

be no doubt that the sect is by no means so numerous as it was at



former periods; witness those barrios in various towns still

denominated Gitanerias, but from whence the Gitanos have



disappeared even like the Moors from the Morerias. Whether this

diminution in number has been the result of a partial change of



habits, of pestilence or sickness, of war or famine, or of all

these causes combined, we have no means of determining, and shall



abstain from offering conjectures on the subject.

CHAPTER IV



IN the autumn of the year 1839, I landed at Tarifa, from the coast

of Barbary. I arrived in a small felouk laden with hides for



Cadiz, to which place I was myself going. We stopped at Tarifa in

order to perform quarantine, which, however, turned out a mere



farce, as we were all permitted to come on shore; the master of the

felouk having bribed the port captain with a few fowls. We formed



a motley group. A rich Moor and his son, a child, with their

Jewish servant Yusouf, and myself with my own man Hayim Ben Attar,



a Jew. After passing through the gate, the Moors and their

domestics were conducted by the master to the house of one of his



acquaintance, where he intended they should lodge; whilst a sailor

was despatched with myself and Hayim to the only inn which the



place afforded. I stopped in the street to speak to a person whom

I had known at Seville. Before we had concluded our discourse,



Hayim, who had walked forward, returned, saying that the quarters

were good, and that we were in high luck, for that he knew the



people of the inn were Jews. 'Jews,' said I, 'here in Tarifa, and

keeping an inn, I should be glad to see them.' So I left my



acquaintance, and hastened to the house. We first entered a

stable, of which the ground floor of the building consisted, and



ascending a flight of stairs entered a very large room, and from

thence passed into a kitchen, in which were several people. One of



these was a stout, athletic, burly fellow of about fifty, dressed

in a buff jerkin, and dark cloth pantaloons. His hair was black as



a coal and exceedingly bushy, his face much marked from some

disorder, and his skin as dark as that of a toad. A very tall






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