Gypsies

  

                                 Gypsies!

 If you remember my last post, I said I was starting a new book. It is set in the 1800s in Europe, and the Swedish, Jewish, and Gypsie cultures would meet. So, I have started my research into the Romani gypsies. Their culture is complex for me to understand, and I wonder if I can write it in a fiction novel in a way the reader will understand.

I came across this story, which I will share with you. Let me know what you think.

                                           The Sevenfold Liar

A traveler meets a deaf and dumb man on the road and asks him how far it is to the next village. The deaf and dumb man replies, "Quite a way. Perhaps three to four miles." The traveler moves on, meeting a blind man and asking him what the time is. The blind man looks at his watch and says, "Ten to three." The traveler moves on again, next meeting a naked man, whom he asks for a smoke. The naked man obliges by producing from his pocket a pouch of tobacco. The traveler moves on again and next meets a man with no arms wheeling a sack of potatoes along whilst being chased by a man with no legs who is crying, "Stop, thief, stop!" The traveler soon arrives at the village, where he meets a man over 100 years old. The old man is sobbing. "I was living with my grandfather," he weeps,  "and he has just thrown me out because he's getting married again and doesn't want me around." The traveler finally reaches the center of the village, and as he passes the church, a coffin moves past, and the lid of the coffin is lifted, and a face looks out and recognizes the traveler. "Would you like a pint of beer?" the body in the coffin asks.

The story ends with the storyteller saying, "That's the truth. No truer words have ever been spoken!"

I am told this story is all about telling the truth while it seems to mock the physical laws. It is part of the Romani belief in the Otherworld, which comprises the Upperworld, Middleworld, and Lowerworld. It is an example of Romani humor. It shows life turned upside-down.

This story is on pages 170 and 171 of We Borrow the Earth by Patrick Jasper Lee. 

If you understand this story from the Romani Gypsies' point of view or if you have any information on Romani Gypsies of the 1800's in Europe other than what is on Google, please let me know.