The Festival - The Gypsy Song - Piramus of Rome - The Scotchman - Gypsy Names.
ON the following day there was much feasting amongst the Romany chals of Mr.Petulengro's party.Throughout the forenoon the Romany chies did scarcely anything but cook flesh, and the flesh which they cooked was swine's flesh.
About two o'clock, the chals dividing themselves into various parties, sat down and partook of the fare, which was partly roasted, partly sodden.I dined that day with Mr.Petulengro and his wife and family, Ursula, Mr.and Mrs.Chikno, and Sylvester and his two children.Sylvester, it will be as well to say, was a widower, and had consequently no one to cook his victuals for him, supposing he had any, which was not always the case, Sylvester's affairs being seldom in a prosperous state.He was noted for his bad success in trafficking, notwithstanding the many hints which he received from Jasper, under whose protection he had placed himself, even as Tawno Chikno had done, who himself, as the reader has heard on a former occasion, was anything but a wealthy subject, though he was at all times better off than Sylvester, the Lazarus of the Romany tribe.
All our party ate with a good appetite, except myself, who, feeling rather melancholy that day, had little desire to eat.
I did not, like the others, partake of the pork, but got my dinner entirely off the body of a squirrel which had been shot the day before by a chal of the name of Piramus, who, besides being a good shot, was celebrated for his skill in playing on the fiddle.During the dinner a horn filled with ale passed frequently around; I drank of it more than once, and felt inspirited by the draughts.The repast concluded, Sylvester and his children departed to their tent, and Mr.
Petulengro, Tawno, and myself, getting up, went and lay down under a shady hedge, where Mr.Petulengro, lighting his pipe, began to smoke, and where Tawno presently fell asleep.I was about to fall asleep also, when I heard the sound of music and song.Piramus was playing on the fiddle, whilst Mrs.
Chikno, who had a voice of her own, was singing in tones sharp enough, but of great power, a gypsy song:-POISONING THE PORKER
BY MRS.CHIKNO
To mande shoon ye Romany chals Who besh in the pus about the yag, I'll pen how we drab the baulo, I'll pen how we drab the baulo.
We jaws to the drab-engro ker, Trin horsworth there of drab we lels, And when to the swety back we wels We pens we'll drab the baulo, We'll have a drab at a baulo.
And then we kairs the drab opre, And then we jaws to the farming ker, To mang a beti habben, A beti poggado habben.
A rinkeno baulo there we dick, And then we pens in Romano jib;Wust lis odoi opre ye chick, And the baulo he will lel lis, The baulo he will lel lis.
Coliko, coliko saulo we Apopli to the farming ker Will wel and mang him mullo, Will wel and mang his truppo.
And so we kairs, and so we kairs;
The baulo in the rarde mers;
We mang him on the saulo, And rig to the tan the baulo.
And then we toves the wendror well Till sore the wendror iuziou se, Till kekkeno drab's adrey lis, Till drab there's kek adrey lis.
And then his truppo well we hatch, Kin levinor at the kitchema, And have a kosko habben, A kosko Romano habben.
The boshom engro kils, he kils, The tawnie juva gils, she gils A puro Romano gillie, Now shoon the Romano gillie.
Which song I had translated in the following manner, in my younger days, for a lady's album:
Listen to me ye Romanlads, who are seated in the straw about the fire, and I will tell how we poison the porker, I will tell how we poison the porker.
We go to the house of the poison-monger, where we buy three pennies' worth of bane, and when we return to our people we say, we will poison the porker; we will try and poison the porker.
We then make up the poison, and then we take our way to the house of the farmer, as if to beg a bit of victuals, a little broken victuals.
We see a jolly porker, and then we say in Roman language, "Fling the bane yonder amongst the dirt, and the porker soon will find it, the porker soon will find it."Early on the morrow, we will return to the farm-house, and beg the dead porker, the body of the dead porker.
And so we do, even so we do; the porker dieth during the night; on the morrow we beg the porker, and carry to the tent the porker.
And then we wash the inside well, till all the inside is perfectly clean, till there's no bane within it, not a poison grain within it.
And then we roast the body well, send for ale to the alehouse, and have a merry banquet, a merry Roman banquet.
The fellow with the fiddle plays, he plays; the little lassie sings, she sings an ancient Roman ditty; now hear the Roman ditty.
SONG OF THE BROKEN CHASTITY
BY URSULA
Penn'd the Romany chi ke laki dye "Miry dearie dye mi shom cambri!""And coin kerdo tute cambri, Miry dearie chi, miry Romany chi?""O miry dye a boro rye, A bovalo rye, a gorgiko rye, Sos kistur pre a pellengo grye, 'Twas yov sos kerdo man cambri.""Tu tawnie vassavie lubbeny, Tu chal from miry tan abri;Had a Romany cwal kair'd tute cambri, Then I had penn'd ke tute chie, But tu shan a vassavie lubbeny With gorgikie rat to be cambri.""There's some kernel in those songs, brother," said Mr.
Petulengro, when the songs and music were over.
"Yes," said I; "they are certainly very remarkable songs.Isay, Jasper, I hope you have not been drabbing baulor lately.""And suppose we have, brother, what then?""Why, it is a very dangerous practice, to say nothing of the wickedness of it.""Necessity has no law, brother."
