Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XI. The Gypsies
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
XI
THE GYPSIES
RANADA is unique. Many circumstances con-
tribute to make it so: the wonderful natural
surroundings, the pure mountain air, the quite Moorish
imprint still borne by the rising and falling sections of
the city with their staircase thoroughfares, remnants
of arches, bits of battlemented walls, and most marvel-
ous of all the magic castle Alhambra which seems to
the beholder as if light itself had crystallized into color
and substance.
But it is the gypsies who make Granada unique.
No one knows how many gypsies there are in Spain;
there must be hundreds of thousands. They seem to
congregate in Andalusia where the climate and the
peculiar temperament of the inhabitants provide a
more agreeable hunting-ground for these gay, light-
moraled wretches than the cold and sober regions of
northern Spain.
Everywhere you encounter these dry, agile folk with
their cunning glances and greedy miens. In the broad
current of pedestrians on the promenade you will find
these children of fortune, happy in the sun, darting in
and out bare-footed. The men have a long staff in
their hands and a great pair of cattle-shears in the back
of their sashes; the women carry a basket of flowers
over their arms, a child tied to their backs in a scarf,
while another child is hopping about their skirts, clad
only in a frill. They wander hither and thither like
228
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
