Bad luck sends a poor man further down, but it causes a great man to rise still more.

GUDLO XII.  OF THE GIPSY WOMAN AND THE CHILD.

Pre yeck chairus a chi jalled adree a waver tem, an’ she rikkered a gunno pre laki dumo with a baulo adree.  A rakli who was ladge of her tikno chored the baulo avree the gunno and chivved the chavi adree.  Pasch a waver hora the chi shooned the tikno rov (ruvving), and dicked adree the gunno in boro toob, and penned, “If the baulos in akovo tem puraben into chavos, sa do the chavos puraben adree?”

TRANSLATION.

Once a woman went into a strange land, and she carried a bag on her back with a pig in it.  A girl who was ashamed of her child stole the pig from the bag and put the baby in (its place).  After an hour the woman heard the child cry, and looked into the bag with great amazement, and said, “If the pigs in this country change into children, into what do the children change?”

GUDLO XIII.  OF THE GIRL THAT WAS TO MARRY THE DEVIL.

’Pre yeck divvus a Rommany dye dukkered a rakli, and pookered laki that a kaulo rye kaumed her.  But when the chi putchered her wongur, the rakli penned, “Puri dye, I haven’t got a poshero to del tute.  But pen mandy the nav of the kaulo rye.”  Then the dye shelled avree, very hunnalo, “Beng is the nav of tute’s pirryno, and yuv se kaulo adusta.”

If you chore puri juvas tute’ll lel the beng.

TRANSLATION.

On a day a Gipsy mother told a girl’s fortune, and said to her that a dark (black) gentleman loved her.  But when the woman demanded her money, the girl said, “Old mother, I haven’t got a halfpenny to give you.  But tell me the name of the dark gentleman.”  Then the mother roared out, very angry, “Devil is the name of your sweetheart, and he is black enough.”

If you cheat old women you will catch the devil.

GUDLO XIV.  OF THE GIPSY WHO STOLE THE HORSE.

Yeckorus a mush chored a gry and jalled him avree adree a waver tem, and the gry and the mush jalled kushti bak kettenus.  Penned the gry to his mush, “I kaums your covvas to wearus kushtier than mandy’s, for there’s kek chucknee or mellicus (pusimigree) adree them.”  “Kek,” penned the mush pauli; “the trash I lel when mandy jins of the prastramengro an’ the bitcherin’ mush (krallis mush) is wafrier than any chucknee or busaha, an’ they’d kair mandy to praster my miramon (miraben) avree any divvus.”

TRANSLATION.

Once a man stole a horse and ran him away into another country, and the horse and the man became very intimate.  Said the horse to the man, “I like your things to wear better than I do mine, for there’s no whip or spur among them.”  “No,” replied the man; “the fear I have when I think of the policeman and of the judge (sending or “transporting” man, or king’s man) is worse than any whip or spur, and they would make me run my life away any day.”