How is Rizka described in the novel, Gypsy Rizka?

"The only blot on the town's reputation was the girl Rizka," notes the narrator: She was skinny as a smoked herring; longshanked, bright-eyed, with cheekbones sharp enough to whittle a stick. She had nothing, but was generous with it. She preferred laughing to crying; she could whistle every birdsong, and the birds whistled back at her. She lived by her wits and, since they were very quick wits, she lived not too badly.