[The Romany Rye by George Borrow]@TWC D-Link book
The Romany Rye

CHAPTER X
11/19

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with you ?' and were he to say 'Yes,' she would crack his head before the eyes of all." "Well," said I, "Ursula, I was bred an apprentice to gorgio law, and of course ought to stand up for it, whenever I conscientiously can, but I must say the gypsy manner of bringing an action for defamation is much less tedious, and far more satisfactory, than the gorgiko one.

I wish you now to clear up a certain point which is rather mysterious to me.

You say that for a Romany chi to do what is unseemly with a gorgio is quite out of the question, yet only the other day I heard you singing a song in which a Romany chi confesses herself to be cambri by a grand gorgious gentleman." "A sad let down," said Ursula.
"Well," said I, "sad or not, there's the song that speaks of the thing, which you give me to understand is not." "Well, if the thing ever was," said Ursula, "it was a long time ago, and perhaps, after all, not true." "Then why do you sing the song ?" "I'll tell you, brother: we sings the song now and then to be a warning to ourselves to have as little to do as possible in the way of acquaintance with the gorgios; and a warning it is.


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