Treatise on the Lore of the Gitany

Over the past years, the Travellers have maintained an extensive collection of oral histories and lore (there is often no distinction made between the two) passed from generation to generation and family to family.

I had the pleasure of spending a good deal of time with one of these storytellers in the summer of the year 218, when the Kalderash family passed through on their way to the Yuasa territories, and in that time Kalderash Phral regaled me with several of his favorite stories. I hope to impose upon the kindness of my publisher to bring forth a collection containing printed versions of all that I heard; this is the first installment of what may be many.

Common themes in Gitany tales are Supernatural beings, death and the dead, and the cleverness of the Gitany as they outwit their neighbors.

The Sone in these stories often come out poorly. It is my suspicion that since our storyteller was in Touraine holdings, he may have 'fit the tale to the place it is told' - this seems to be a commonplace tactic in Gitany loretelling.

The taleteller (or 'Baro Muy') is always very aware of his audience.

Jannikki and the Alphabet

Long long ago, Prince Loreline came to Uncle Jannikki and asked him to build a beautiful castle. And so Jannikki did - a fine, tall, beautiful castle that reached up and held the sky in its hands. The Prince was very very pleased, and told Jannikki that he would give anything Jannikki wished for in payment.

Jannikki thought and thought. Finally he said "Well, Prince, it seems a shame that my people have so many stories, and no way to write them all down. So I think I should like an alphabet."

Well, of course Loreline was quite pleased with this deal, and promptly had his castellan give Jannikki an alphabet.

They wrapped it up in cabbage leaves, so it would keep during the journey back to his family, and he promptly rode off.

It was a hot day, and so a few hours later Jannikki came to a bridge where the road crossed a stream, and he got a nice cool drink. There was a lovely tree, and nice soft grass, so Jannikki thought he would take a quick nap before setting off down the road again. But while he was asleep, a cow came over to investigate, as cows are wont to do, and discovered the alphabet all wrapped up in cabbage and ate it.

And so Jannikki had to go home empty handed, and the Gitany still have no alphabet.

Jitany Porridge

A couple of years ago, or so I am told, Uncle Jannikki had fallen upon hard times. He had no money, and was down to his last little pot f porridge. He glumly stared into it as it boiled away, rolling a bowl absently in his hands.

Just then, he heard the happiest sound in the world. The sound of a Sone Count whistling to himself as he walked down the road with too much money in his pockets. Quickly, Jannikki thought to himself, and just as quickly he came up with an idea.

He scooped out a bowlful of the boiling porridge, and quickly ran out into the middle of the road. Setting the bowl down in the dirt (and rubbing his burned fingers on his trousers) he hunched over and stared intently into its depths.

The Sone looked up and noticed this sight. "How queer," he said to himself, "A dirty Gitany in the middle of the road, no fire, and a bowl of boiling porridge boiling away."

He trotted up and shouted "I say! What are you doing there?"

Jannikki looked up and smiled pleasantly. "Why, your excellency," he replied, "This is the very last of the magic of my family. This is the Jitany bowl. Whatever is set in it will cook itself. It should be nearly done, of you would care for some."

The Sone thought about how impressive he would look at his next party with such a thing. "No, but I should like that bowl. How much?"

Jannikki frowned and pretended to be muchly uncertain about such an arrangement. The Count made an impatient, annoyed sound and threw down a handful of sovereigns before snatching up the bowl, dumping the porridge in the road and storming off.

Chuckling, Jannikki quickly packed up camp and set off in the opposite direction. As soon as he came to a town, he bought himself a good meal and sat down under a tree to enjoy it.

A few weeks later, Jannikki's money was starting to run low again, and he was sitting under a tree watching the leaves fall and thinking about where he could get some more money.

Luckily for him, it was at this moment that the very same Count came bustling up the road. "You there! You thieving Gitany!" he called. But Jannikki just smiled and waved.

The count shook his fist at Uncle Jannikki, in as fierce a manner as he could, and told Jannikki how the bowl had failed him, and he had been humiliated at his party, and if he got his money back then he just might not have Jannikki flayed alive for his insolence.

Jannikki shook his head and said "I hoped I might see you again. You flew off so quickly the first time I didn't get to tell you about the magic stick." The Sone furrowed his brow suspiciously, opening his mouth to speak. But Jannikki snatched up a tree branch sitting next to him. "The Magic Jitany Stick, without which the Magic Bowl is completely useless. I should be glad to sell it to you...."

So Jannikki showed the Sone how to properly magically stir the bowl with the magic stick to make it work properly, and the Sone gave Jannikki another handful of coins and set off down the road again to arrange another party where he would show his guests some real magic.

As soon as the Count was out of sight, Jannikki set off to find someplace to winter, and to keep out of sight. He found a lovely little shed that nobody seemed to be using, some long way from where he had been, and settled in to do some wood carvings.

The snows were thick on the ground when he heard a familiar bellow in the woods around his shed. Quickly, he stripped off his clothes and grabbed one of his horse-hair blankets. Leaping naked into the snow, he began whirling the blanket over his head and complaining loudly about the awful heat.

As the Count hove into view, he stopped and stared in great bemusement at the sight. Jannikki pretended to have just noticed the fellow and waved. "Sorry for my state, but this magic blanket makes me so very warm when I swing it over my head, I cannot bear to wear anything."

Sure enough, it was only a matter of time before the Count left with the Magic Blanket under his arm and Jannikki went back to his shed with another handful of gold.

And Jannikki never saw the Sone Count again. Rumour has it that he froze to death at one of his parties that winter, dancing around the garden naked while swinging a horse-hair blanket over his head. But Uncle Jannikki was not there, and cannot vouch for that story's truthfulness.