We are barbarians. . . . We are ruffians of the sun . . . and we must be forgiven everything. It is easy to forgive in the sun, Domini said. Madame, it is impossible to be anything but ienient in the sun. That is my experience. . . . But, as I was saying, the sun reaches one a lesson of charity. When I first came to live in Africa in the midst of the sand-rascals-eh, Madame, I suppose as a priest I ought to have been shocked by their goings-on. And, indeed I tried to be, I conscientiously did my best, but it was no good. I ...
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We are barbarians. . . . We are ruffians of the sun . . . and we must be forgiven everything. It is easy to forgive in the sun, Domini said. Madame, it is impossible to be anything but ienient in the sun. That is my experience. . . . But, as I was saying, the sun reaches one a lesson of charity. When I first came to live in Africa in the midst of the sand-rascals-eh, Madame, I suppose as a priest I ought to have been shocked by their goings-on. And, indeed I tried to be, I conscientiously did my best, but it was no good. I couldnt be shocked. The sunshine drove it all out of me. I could only say, It is not for me to question le bon Dieu, and le ban Dieu has created these people and set them here in the sand to behave as they do. what is my business I cant convert them. -I cant change their morals-I must just be a friend to them, cheer them up in their sorrows, give them a bit if theyre starving, doctor them a little-Im a first-rate hand at making an Arab take a pill or a powder-when they are ill, and I make them at home with the white marabout. Thats what the sun has taught me, and every sand-rascal and sand-rascals child in Amara is a friend of mine. You are fond of the Arabs, then she said. Of come I am, Madame. I can speak their language, and Im as much at home in their tents, and more, than I ever should be at the Vatican-with all respect to the Holy Father. Conversation between Domini and Father Beret in Thc Gardrn pj Allah, quoted here by the kind permission of Mr. Robert Hichens a few writers have essayed to study the Gypsies in dusty libraries. I have companioned with them on fell and common, . racecourse and fairground, on the turfy wayside and in the citys heart. In my book, which is a record of actual experiences, I have tried to present the Gypsies just as I have found them, without minimising their faults or magnifying their virtues. Most of the Gypsies mentioned in the following pages have now passed away, and of those who remain, many have, for obvious reasons, been renamed. For the majority of the pictures adorning my book, I owe a profound debt of gratitude to my friend, Mr. Fred Shaw also, for their kind permission to include several pictures in my Romany Gallery, my cordial thanks are due to Mrs. Johnson, of Yatton, Rev. H. H. Malleson, Mr. WilIiam Ferguson, Mr. T. J. Lewis, Mr. H. Stimpson, and Mr. F. Wilkinson. The phonetics contained in this work are based upon a system invented by my friend, Mr. R. A. Scott Macfie, of the Gypsy Lore Society, whose innumerable kindnesses I most gratefully acknowledg
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