But I saw him not when morning shone,
For the Gypsies ate him, flesh and bone."
By drao, also, they could avenge themselves on their enemies by destroying their cattle, without incurring a shadow of suspicion. Revenge for injuries, real or imaginary, is sweet to all unconverted minds—to no one more than the Gypsy, who, in all parts of the world, is, perhaps, the most revengeful of human beings.
But if the Gitános are addicted to any one superstition above others, it is in respect to the loadstone, to which they attribute all kinds of miraculous powers. They believe that he who is in possession of it has nothing to fear from steel or lead, from fire or water, and that death itself has no power over him. The Gypsy contrabandists are particularly anxious to procure this stone, which they carry upon their persons in their expeditions. They say, that in the event of their being pursued by the revenue officers, whirlwinds of dust will arise and conceal them from the view of their enemies; the horse stealers say much the same thing, and assert that they are uniformly successful when they bear about them the precious stone. But it is said by them to effect much more. It is extraordinary in exciting the amorous propensities, and on this account it is in great request among the Gypsy hags. All these women are procuresses, and find persons of both sexes weak and wicked enough to make use of their pretended knowledge in the composition of love draughts and decoctions.
In the Museum of Natural Curiosities at Madrid, there is a large piece of loadstone, originally extracted from the American mines. There is scarcely a Gitána in Madrid who is not acquainted with this circumstance, and who does not long to obtain the stone, or a part of it. Several attempts have been made to steal it, all of which, however, have been unsuccessful.
A translation of the Gospel of St. Luke was printed in the Gypsy language, at Madrid, in 1838. The chapters were read over and explained to some of these strange people, by the late agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in Spain. They said it was lachō, and jucāl, and mistō, all of which words express approval of the quality of a thing; and they purchased copies of the Gypsy Luke freely. The women were particularly anxious to obtain copies, though unable to read; but each wished to have one in her pocket, especially when engaged in thieving expeditions, for they all looked upon it in the light of a charm, which would preserve them from all danger and mischance; some even went so far as to say, that in this respect it was equally as efficacious as the Bar Lachi, or loadstone, which they are generally so eager to possess. Of this Gospel, five hundred copies were printed, the greatest part of which were circulated among the Gypsies; but it was speedily prohibited by a royal ordinance, which appeared in the Gazette of Madrid, in August, 1838.
Before closing, under this head, we will remark that, although the Gypsies in general are a kind of wandering outcasts, incapable of appreciating the blessings of a settled and civilized life, yet among the Gypsies of Moscow there are not a few who inhabit stately houses, go abroad in elegant equipages, and are not a whit behind the higher order of Russians in appearance, nor in mental acquirements. To the female part of the Gypsy colony of Moscow is to be attributed the merit of this partial rise from abjectness and degradation, having from time immemorial so successfully cultivated the vocal art, that, though in the midst of a nation by whom song is more cherished and cultivated, and its principles better understood, than by any other of the civilized globe, the Gypsy choirs of Moscow are, by the general voice of the Russian public, admitted to be unrivalled in that most amiable of all accomplishments. It is a fact, notorious in Russia, that the celebrated Catalini was so enchanted with the voice of one of these Gypsy songsters, who, after the former had displayed her noble Italian talent before a splendid audience at Moscow, stepped forward, and with an astonishing burst of almost angelic melody, so enraptured every ear, that even applause forgot its duty, and the noble Catalini immediately tore from her own shoulders a shawl of Cashmere, which had been presented to her by the Father of Rome, and embracing the Gypsy, insisted on her acceptance of the splendid gift, saying, that it had been intended for the matchless songster which she now perceived she herself was not.
CHAPTER X.
OMENS, CHARMS, AND DIVINATION.
Many books have been published, having a tendency to deceive the credulous, who suffer themselves to be guided by any thing but reason and experience. Hence the encouragement bestowed on works of enchantment, dreams, omens, and fate. Mankind have always discovered a propensity to peep behind the veil of futurity, and have been lavish of money in consulting persons and books that make a pretension of unravelling the decrees of Fate, which lie hidden in the labyrinths of darkness. From these sources have arisen the following superstitions, as a sample of the many that have disturbed the peace of individuals, families, and sometimes of whole communities.
"A coal in the shape of a coffin, flying out of the fire to any particular person, denotes his death is not far off. A collection of tallow rising up against the wick of a candle is called a winding-sheet, and deemed an omen of mortality. If, in eating, you miss your mouth, and the food falls, it is very unlucky, and denotes sickness. To dream you are dressed in black is an unlucky omen. Some quarrel is about to happen between you and a friend or relative. Sickness is about to attend your family. Death will deprive you of some friend or relation. Lawsuits will perplex and harass you. If you undertake a journey, it will be unsuccessful. If you are in love, it denotes that your sweetheart is very unhappy, and that sickness will attend her. If you are a farmer, your crops will fail, the murrain will attack your cattle, and some dreadful accident will happen by the overturning of one of your wagons. If you are in business, some one will arrest you, and you will have great difficulty in settling the matter. To dream of hen and chickens is the forerunner of ill luck. Your sweetheart will betray you and marry another. If you go to law, the case will be decided against you. If you go to sea, you will lose your goods, and narrowly escape shipwreck. To dream of coals denotes much affliction and trouble. If you are in love, your sweetheart will prove false, and do every thing to injure you. To dream you see the coals extinguished, and reduced to cinders, denotes the death of yourself, or some near friend or relation. It also indicates great losses, and forewarns you of beggary and a prison. To dream you are married is ominous of death. It also denotes poverty, a prison, and misfortunes. To dream of lying with your newly-married husband or wife denotes danger and sudden misfortunes."