Oh my poor sins, my poor sins, that brought me to live
amongst them! -
"'Ave Maris stella,
Dei Mater alma,
Atque semper virgo,
Felix coeli porta!'"
He was proceeding in this manner when I was startled by the sound
of a musket.
"That is the retreat," said Pascual Fava. "It is fired every night
in the soc at half-past eight, and it is the signal for suspending
all business, and shutting up. I am now going to close the doors,
and whosoever knocks, I shall not admit them till I know their
voice. Since the murder of the poor Genoese last year, we have all
been particularly cautious."
Thus had passed Friday, the sacred day of the Moslems, and the
first which I had spent in Tangier. I observed that the Moors
followed their occupations as if the day had nothing particular in
it. Between twelve and one, the hour of prayer in the mosque, the
gates of the town were closed, and no one permitted either to enter
or go out. There is a tradition, current amongst them, that on
this day, and at this hour, their eternal enemies, the Nazarenes,
will arrive to take possession of their country; on which account
they hold themselves prepared against a surprisal.
Footnote:
{0} "Om Frands Gonzales, og Rodrik Cid.
End siunges i Sierra Murene!"
Kronike Riim. By Severin Grundtvig. Copenhagen, 1829.
{1} Doing business, doing business - he has much business to do.
{2} The Gypsy word for Antonio.
{3} Devil.
{4} "Say nothing to him, my lad, he is a hog of an alguazil."
{5} El Serrador, a Carlist partisan, who about this period was
much talked of in Spain.
{6} At the last attack on Warsaw, when the loss of the Russians
amounted to upwards of twenty thousand men, the soldiery mounted
the breach, repeating in measured chant, one of their popular
songs: "Come, let us cut the cabbage," &c.
{7} Twelve ounces of bread, small pound, as given in the prison.
{8} Witch. Ger. Hexe.
{9} A compound of the modern Greek [Greek text], and the Sanskrit
kara, the literal meaning being Lord of the horse-shoe (i.e.
maker); it is one of the private cognominations of "The Smiths," an
English Gypsy clan.
{10} Of these lines the following translation, in the style of the
old English ballad, will, perhaps, not be unacceptable:-
{11} "The king arrived, the king arrived, and disembarked at
Belem." - Miguelite song.
{12} "How should I know?"
{13} Qu. The Epistle to the Romans.
{14} This was possibly the period when Admiral Duckworth attempted
to force the passage of the Dardanelles.
{15} "See the crossing! see what devilish crossing!"
{16} The ancient Lethe.
{17} Inha, when affixed to words, serves as a diminutive. It is
much in use amongst the Gallegans.
{18} Perhaps Waterloo.
{19} About thirty pounds.
{20} [Greek text], as Antonio said.
