A chalan, who had some knowledge of the Gitano,
related to me the following singular anecdote in connection with
this subject.
He had occasion to go to the convent, having been long in treaty
with the friars for a steed which he had been commissioned by a
nobleman to buy at any reasonable price. The friars, however, were
exorbitant in their demands. On arriving at the gate, he sang to
the friar who opened it a couplet which he had composed in the
Gypsy tongue, in which he stated the highest price which he was
authorised to give for the animal in question; whereupon the friar
instantly answered in the same tongue in an extemporary couplet
full of abuse of him and his employer, and forthwith slammed the
door in the face of the disconcerted jockey.
An Augustine friar of Seville, called, we believe, Father Manso,
who lived some twenty years ago, is still remembered for his
passion for the Gitanos; he seemed to be under the influence of
fascination, and passed every moment that he could steal from his
clerical occupations in their company. His conduct at last became
so notorious that he fell under the censure of the Inquisition,
before which he was summoned; whereupon he alleged, in his defence,
that his sole motive for following the Gitanos was zeal for their
spiritual conversion.
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