The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-11-28
THE TRUE GYPSY.
THE ROMANY OF THE BETTER KIND
A HAPPY RACE.
An Assembly of Handsome Faces and
Graceful Figures-Loafins a Real Sub
stantial PIeasure-A Wonderful
Talent for Languages.
LLeland's St Malo France) Letter.I

ILeland's ST. Malo France) letter.
The other day l went to the beautiful
tawn of Oman to see the cathedral, and
ancient houses, and quaint streets, and it
proved to me to be a museum chronological as
we'll IS archaeological. For it was by good
luck the day OF the great fair, and all the
town was filed with Breton peasant women,
in every variety of the curious caps peculiar
to them. IL was really a remarkable sight.
Some of these caps are singularly pretty,
and am very sorry that l had not an op
portunity to sketch one, OF which, of course,
l never saw another example. But il
there We're pretty caps there were no pretty
faces.
THE GYPSTES.
As soon as l had made that remark | saw
one of the most beautiful girls l ever beheld
in my life. There were seven or eight peo-
pie IN group-one girl and the rest mem
lying on the grass under the casle-walls
eating their dinner. Dark almost as In
dians, all of them, with wild. flashing eyes
and an indescribably easy, 1.-the expression
of limb, which belonged to no European
race. AT glance / knew the true, pure
gypsy. Stopping, 1 said in French: "Etes
vous Tsigan:7 care you gypsy?') "Qui,
Monsieur" replied che politely, yet without
moving. Then l said in their own tongue:
Good day, brothers; you not talk
Romany" And then they moved indeed,
quickly enough. and crowded round me.
Inever saw in my life in an assembly of the
same number so many handsome faces,
figures. or so much natural grace. They
were neatly clad anl very clean, and COM
pared with our American English gypsies
as deer leopards would compare with
coarse cattle. L never any people so
entirely and thoroughly delighted they
were, the pleasure being vastly increased
when they found / could talk German, for
they were all natives of the Fatherland.
They were wandering mu.icans, haunting
fairs, and so made themselves as nice-look-
ing as they could 1t is strange thing that
he who can talk R0many should be a
stranger in no land, for the instant he meets
with the wanderers (Romany is possibly
connected with the Hindu ramra, TO
roam) he is regarded as special friend.
! think that our meeting on that grassy
slope IN Ter the cid castle walls would have
made good picture
A HAPPY RACE.
Tho Romany. especially of this better
kind, are really a very happy race, and
what is good for them is that they know it.
Once In q whlle one of them gets into
trouble for obtaining a hen without proper
preparatory negotiation with the owner, or
for "acquisiting' clean shirt a Ia Pc
troleum V Nasty. Then he has to live in
doors for many days, and returning to his
tribe draws fearful picture of existence in
a house. Not being ashamed to beg, they
never want for dinner-no man ever does
in this world who is devoid of shame and
can offer the thinnest shadow OF q pretense
or recompense. The gypsy woman tells for
tunes sings a song; her husband trades
horses, plays the fiddle, and is always on
hand at pig fair or any place where quick
wit helps to a treat.
Loafng, which is to others only a form Of
ennui, is to him a real substantial pleasure
nay, life itself in all its best; and with a
pipe of tobacco he asks for nothing more
Since the prehistoric ages his ancestors
loafed in many lands and laid on the grass,
and begged, and stole, and were hanged or
banished; but they took it all philosophic-
ally and easily. Ethnologists dispute as to
their origin-but of one thing We are GER
tain, that wherever they came from there
they loafel on q stUpendous scale, for as
Mr. Petulengro, vino was one of them, re-
marked, when we ara not engaged in get
ting our victGals we mostly occupied
with our diversions, SO that between the two
we have very little time for improving our
minds. So they don't improve them, but
seem to be none the less healthy, happy, and
handsome
Why such incorrigible heather loafers
should be gifted with every physical per-
perfection, when their betters are ugly and
ailing is a puzzle which to use the words of
Saint Chry sostom, me percutit extempore,
knocks me out of my time" There was
not a scamp in that camp whose face would
not have turned the heads Of an entire
girls boarding school, or, possibly, of
convent. Thesa German gypsies are not
only handsoms. yhey have all that won
derful, innate, spl talent, a talent for
languages which is VERY rare among
Europeans.