How a gypsy girl should behave. Under the wolf sun

Shrouded in legends and speculation, gypsies often seem to us like some kind of fairy-tale creatures. They go to gypsy women to tell fortunes, but they scare children with them, they dance the “gypsy girl” and love gypsy music, but they try to stay away when they meet them on the street.

On the eve of International Roma Day, which is celebrated on April 8, we were able to persuade the Roma Olga Ivanova, who lives in Chapaevsk, to tell us about the traditions of her people.

To get to the Vladimirsky village, you need to take a train past the station and get off at the next station 1053 km. If you are lucky enough to be in the first cars, you will be able to get out onto the concrete platform, but the rest have to jump straight onto an embankment of crushed stone and walk through the muddy spring mud.

The village itself appeared at the beginning of the last century; workers from factories producing gunpowder and chemical weapons lived here. Now the houses are occupied mainly by gypsies and immigrants from the former Soviet republics who fled to Chapaevsk in search of a better life.

Because of the spring thaw, it is better to move around the village on a swamp vehicle, but Olga’s small house is very clean and cozy and is not at all similar to the life of the gypsies we met in the camp near the village of Yaitskoye. And there are a lot of differences - from the dialect to the fundamental traditions.

- We are Russian gypsies,- says Olga. — These are not “Russian Roma”, who came up with this? That’s what we call ourselves – “Russian Gypsies”. We have many peoples, we cannot even communicate with each other in our own language, we speak Russian.

- For example, we bury people like Russians. Only the table is not cleared, people come day and night. They bury them on the third day, or on the fourth or fifth, if they are expecting a relative. But our son-in-law died and it was surprising that the coffin lay on the carpet, and not on the benches. And with us it’s the same as with the Russians. Just a little richer! And our earth does not fall on a person. With you, as much soil will be dug up as it will be filled in, but we have a canopy. The coffin turns out to be under the table, you understand, no?

In each room Olga has a corner with icons. Russian gypsies mostly profess Orthodoxy - at least as they understand it. Their own traditions and Christianity became intertwined in such a tangle that their own legends were born.

- We are Orthodox, I believe in God. Although I have experienced a lot of grief - my brother drowned, my daughter was killed, but I still believe in God.We celebrate Christmas too. Let's come to each other and sit. We go according to seniority - first we go to the older ones, and then to the younger ones.

Christmas, Easter, Parent's Day - we celebrate everything. But we don’t have our own holidays, only Orthodox ones. We don’t recognize Russian holidays, we don’t celebrate the New Year.

Yes, there is a conversation that when Jesus was crucified, the gypsy hid the fifth nail, which is for the heart. Therefore, God favors the gypsies. He said that they steal, and tell fortunes, and sell - and this is their responsibility! But this all happened before.Previously, they lived poorly, the woman carried everything on herself. She was around the house, and to the cattle, and... she got the whole piece. And now the men are working!

I will even speak for my brothers. Here in the Ulyanovsk region, where they lived, Petro, Platon, who drowned - they were generally cherished there in this Smalkovka. They didn’t even want to let them go from there; they moved here because of me.

Before a woman worked? They asked. They were guessing. And they stole, what can I say.That's how it was. Even such scientists, graduates from institutes, approach (tell fortunes) the gypsy woman. Then the gypsy takes something - and she (the scientist) screams. Yes, you are a scientist, but a gypsy is nothing!

Even me - do you think I don’t have cards? I have cards. There was one who lost all her documents, and I told her that everything would be done through the state house. And rightly so, through the traffic police they found all her documents. Here's what I'll say for you. You are a simple person and you trust people, how many times have you been deceived?

I'm trying to bring the conversation back to traditions and relationships between Roma and other peoples. But Olga talks about grievances reluctantly. The main value of the Roma is family, and everything is perceived through personal and neighborly relationships.

- I don’t want to offend, but the Russian people... they will eat and drink with you, but walk down the street and won’t say “hello.” I have a neighbor, we make water every year, he walks down the street with his wife - what are you, afraid to say “hello”?

This is a part of the people that has lost its traditions. Here we are friends, but we went out into the city, met a gypsy woman - and passed by.

Or they are coming towards you with a child, a boy about 6 years old at most. And I’m not dressed like a gypsy at all, well, I have a long skirt and all that. And he says: “Oh, grandma, look, the gypsy is coming!” I’ll go to her and tell my fortune!” This is how they set it up. And before, kids collected stones and threw.

One gypsy stole - the rest think that everyone is like that. You ask what to ask - this is a tradition. Yes, as need forces. None of us, seven of us, no one except me and my sister, knew how the police opened up. They were never involved in anything, they worked and continue to work.

I'll tell you for my mother. She was a very simple woman, she could neither tell fortunes nor steal. My father stole our horses, but she couldn’t do that. We stood at the church. She only knew numbers and letters. But she still taught all seven of us. We finished two or three classes each. But no parent would send their child to steal.

The topic of women becomes the main topic in our conversation, and I ask about marriage.

- Well, what can I say, it’s different for everyone. In Stromilov, people get married at the age of 13-14. I had one daughter at 21, another at 18, Rada at 17. I left when I was 16; my parents gave me away in 1976.They gave it away and we lived like that until he died. The parents understood where their child could live better and sent him to a richer family. Every parent wants their child to be settled.

The Stromilovskys (gypsies from Yaitsky), they get married once and that’s it. But there the parents still take the bride price.And with us, if possible, have a bachelorette party. The groom does or does something together. They consider us to be Russians.

To marry someone other than a gypsy, you need to break your law, although people marry and leave. And they live differently, of course. But even the fact that you and I are sitting and talking can lead to conversations.You know, I already want to step over all this. Come out in defense of your people and say: well, do at least something for our children.

Olga, on the one hand, admits that changes in the way of life are necessary, and without “exit to the outside world” the gypsies will get deeper and deeper into their problems. But when it comes to young people who do not want to live in the old way, they begin to frown.

- Girls started wearing pants, this time. This phone - “hello, hello” all night, laptop. Little ones pick it up quickly. What the Russians do, ours do too.They are moving away from traditions. They might just take it and not come. I’ll say this even for my granddaughter. Before the army, I talked to a gypsy woman, but when I came, I took the Tatar woman. He got a job as a cash collector and lives there. Maybe he’s already signed, I don’t know, they live far away.

- Is it good or bad?

- Of course it’s bad! He fought off his people.

Olga, like many other gypsies, sees the solution to the problem in external influence. It seems to her that the state should force the Roma to study and work - then everything will work out.

— The main thing is school. Previously, even when they came, they were scared by the police: “Go to school!” But now this is not the case. There is only one school in the city, the eighth. It accepts all peoples without distinction. Very good teachers, amazing.Go to the thirteenth - they won’t take the gypsy. It is difficult for an ordinary person to get into such a place. Although our school shows good results in the Unified State Exam.

There are a lot of Gypsy children going to school, but they learn the same way - they go for a day, they are sick for two, and they have a day off on the third. And if they had a little effect on the parents... If your child doesn’t come tomorrow, I’ll call the police, and that’s it.I understand that due to family circumstances, anything can happen. There were five people after me, I would have learned. But “Olya, why didn’t you go to school? “Mom went to the village to ask because there was no one to leave the children with.”

On the one hand, this sounds childishly naive. But the gypsies measure things by themselves. Suddenly the front door opens and a Russian guy appears on the threshold, timidly shifting from foot to foot. Olga collects a bowl of cutlets and hands them to him.

- Come in, Andryush. Why didn't you bring a glass? Do you have any bread there?

Andrey nods, takes the bowl and leaves, closing the door tightly behind him.

- Here, a Russian boy. Released in October. I have a diploma, a passport, but no registration. That's it, he lives all winter in a house nearby. Well, he helps around the house, sometimes accompanies you to work, and removes the snow. Well, he lives poorly and suffers. We don’t have a section; what we eat ourselves, so does he. He had a house, but when he was in prison, the house was demolished. And now we need to do something. But the guy doesn’t drink.

Olga does not call such help a purely gypsy tradition, but gypsies try to support not only each other, but also their neighbors and their acquaintances. Community traditions, on the one hand, keep them isolated, but on the other, help them survive.

We raise the topic of hierarchy in gypsy society, and Olga laughs:

“I’ll tell you honestly, even if you take me to be shot, I’ll say this - the gypsies have never had a baron!” There was a smart man who had a piece of paper (identity card). For example, a policeman stopped a camp and asked the women:

- Where is the husband?
- Divorced!

And there are plenty of kids. So they fluttered around in their bright clothes, and the police were already leaving from the screaming. And the rest ran into the forest. There was only one left who had a piece of paper and spoke with the police.

-Are you leading a camp?
- Yes I!

But no one chooses him. It just so happens that people themselves go to an intelligent person. Anyone who knows the literacy and laws can help draw up some kind of certificate. But he doesn’t have much power either. For example, I trade, but he cannot prohibit me. He won't do anything to me.

They showed me on TV once, and they immediately came to me for help - “get me a job!” What can I do? We have no service, no help.

You need to write a direct announcement: “Gypsy people, whoever wants to go to work! Your issue will be resolved! "

Perhaps Olga is right in such a naive appeal. The situation of the Roma cannot change for the better on its own, and the problems of one people create problems for others. It is almost impossible for a person with two or three years of education to socialize; he does not know his rights and does not understand his responsibilities. In Chapaevsk, where it is difficult for even an educated person to find a job, illiterate gypsies find themselves in dire straits.

Gypsies often recall the decree on settlement of October 26, 1956 - “On the introduction to work of gypsies engaged in vagrancy.” And if previously the measures against the Roma were considered cruel, now the Roma themselves are increasingly saying that now they would agree to such help.

Partnership material prepared within the framework of the state program of the Samara region “Strengthening the unity of the Russian nation and the ethnocultural development of the peoples of the Samara region”

Sometimes it’s a pity that we don’t have a big extended family where everyone helps each other, always supports and stands up for each other. However, it’s nice to gather with a large family around the table for the holidays, see your family and friends and know that they will come to your aid at any time.

Gypsies by their essence are nomads, but in the modern world it is very rare to find such nomadic camps from one place to another. It is not customary for them to live separately and often all members of a huge gypsy family live in one place: grandmothers, grandfathers, sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles.

In past times, when gypsies gathered in camps, weddings were arranged even when the children were just starting to walk. Parents completely decided the fate of their children, and the wedding was already a simple formality, a general magnificent celebration.

The gypsies had a custom of kidnapping the bride, but it was a very dangerous activity, because if the groom could take his beloved so far away without being caught, then after some time they would be recognized as husband and wife. If the gypsy thief is caught, then cruel reprisals against the daredevil cannot be avoided.

Currently, this custom has been preserved, but it is carried out only with the consent of relatives and is considered only an additional game, although everything looks quite serious. The bride is put on a fast horse and taken away in an unknown direction.

In some gypsy families, parents still decide the fate of their children, and it often happens that the bride and groom see each other only on their own wedding day. The choice of a gypsy bride is determined by the position of her family, wealth, as well as the beauty of the bride herself and her ability to manage a household.

However, love also exists among gypsies, and gypsies can love passionately and for a long time. Modern gypsies naturally get to know each other, like all ordinary people, there may be mixed marriages, but the family traditions and traditions of the gypsy people have been preserved to this day.

Matchmaking is mandatory, when the bride's parents are paid a substantial ransom. However, part of this ransom is then still returned to the newlyweds as wedding gifts.

Gypsies are accustomed to giving a lot of gifts, and if we also take into account the insanely huge number of different relatives, then we can say that the newlyweds will be practically provided with everything necessary for family life. During matchmaking, all that is required from the bride is her consent; nothing else is needed from her at that moment; everything else is decided by the parents.

The most grandiose event is the gypsy wedding. All relatives come to the wedding, congratulate the newlyweds and give gifts. The feast is the final part of the wedding, after which the newlyweds officially become husband and wife.

For a gypsy girl, the main thing is to marry a virgin. This fact is established after the wedding night, when the bride's mother defiantly brings out sheets stained with blood for the whole family to see. Until now, not a single gypsy girl has disgraced her family by having a close relationship with another man.

In a gypsy family, both spouses are equal, all responsibilities are always distributed equally, and usually gypsy families are very strong. Mutual respect arises between the spouses, they live in perfect harmony and raise their many children with love and respect for their parents and the older generation.

If a gypsy wife fails to cope with her responsibilities as a housewife and mother, the husband has the right to kick such a woman out of the house, since she is not capable of maintaining the house. In turn, the wife can complain about her husband to the head of the family if the husband raises his hand against her or behaves unworthily.

In any case, a wedding for gypsies is a very important moment in life. After the wedding, the newlyweds can live with their parents for some time, but over time they acquire their own housing. However, all expenses associated with paying for the purchase of housing for young people are borne by the parents, as well as the complete furnishing of the house.

Gypsies are always happy to have a child in the family, even though with the appearance of each new baby the family's expenses increase. This never stopped the gypsies, because they treat children with love and very rarely punish their children. From early childhood, children begin to be taught to work and to the harsh truths of life. They are instilled with love and respect for the traditions of the family and the traditions of the people.

The man usually deals with financial issues among the gypsies, trying by any means to earn enough money so that the family does not need anything. However, women also try to be useful and earn a living with what they can, namely with their abilities, which are passed on from generation to generation - the secret of fortune telling.

Gypsies have helped many people find their way in life or improve their lives, and those who encountered a real Gypsy will never forget the help she provided.

In addition to weddings, gypsy families always get together on holidays, and all relatives always gather at the table, including even the smallest children. All family celebrations, anniversaries, birthdays, as well as all traditional holidays are celebrated. They are celebrated in the place where the gypsies live. Despite the fact that feasts are held quite often, gypsies drink very little, and it is very rare to see a drunken gypsy.

In addition to holidays, troubles and accidents also happen. At such moments, the whole family comes to the aid of the victim, and everyone makes their contribution in case of illness of a child, one of the relatives, and also in the event of death.

Funerals for gypsies are also a kind of ritual, when you can observe very interesting traditions. At funerals, men and women always sit separately at the table, and in a funeral procession they cannot go in pairs, because it was believed that one death could lead to a second. On the way back, you must not look back, so that the soul of the deceased cannot take the person looking back with it.

(Using the example of nomadic Russian gypsies and Kotlyarov XIX - XX centuries).

To begin with, there are two facts that are known to those who read the yellow press and are indeed facts.

1) The woman is responsible for daily feeding in a traditional gypsy family.

2) The husband in a traditional gypsy family has the right to do nothing.

“The woman spins around all day, and the man lies down, smokes and scratches his belly and sometimes gives stars to those who abuse his wife, and this is an ancient nomadic custom.”

As in any patriarchal society, the Gypsies had a clear division of responsibilities depending on age category, marital status and gender. The kids had no responsibilities; After them, in terms of unloading, came children 7-12 years old and old people, who did not seem to be idle at all and did not work particularly hard. Already more work was given to teenagers. Most of the housework fell on the young woman (the status of women, like men, depended not on age, but on marital status), as a rule, the younger daughter-in-law, and more demands for “prey” were placed on mature women who were already well trained in the craft of fortune telling (read - the ability to quickly identify a client’s problem and give accurate, good advice or a positive “attitude”). Before we move on to the man, a short digression about women.

Kotlyarka with children in the city. 1940s.

What do you have Kotlyarov, that among Russian gypsies the main female income was fortune telling and begging. In this way, “pieces” were mined, i.e. simple food, such as slices of bread, vegetables, cereals, eggs, dairy products, as well as used clothes, which were altered, used for rags and rags (rags differed from rags in that they were used in the manufacture and repair of clothing, bed linen (!), towels and fabric parts of the tent). In the city, they mostly gave money for fortune telling, usually “copper”, i.e. small change - pennies, which were used to buy daily provisions on the way back to the camp. But they visited the cities more often kotlyarki than Russian gypsies. Sometimes women were also asked to dance, but unlike the city choir gypsies, for simple nomads such income was casual, rare, and was considered rather childish. This was not considered serious permanent work by nomadic gypsies; although the ability to dance was mandatory - but not because of professional, so to speak, orientation. A semi-mocking attitude towards artists, as people who do something “childish” on a regular basis, remains to this day. In addition, like Russians, Gypsies believe that the “creative intelligentsia,” or simply “bohemians,” lead a more dissolute lifestyle than other Gypsies. I won’t say anything about the validity of the opinion.

Before leaving and upon returning, the woman was busy with the housework: carrying water, making the inevitable tea (for Russian gypsies - in a samovar), feeding the children, preparing dinner (adult gypsies and teenagers ate practically once a day, in the evening), washing, sewing, sweeping. In short, as they write in Soviet reference books, the position is humiliated, you are up to your ears in trouble all day, and I personally feel sorry for the simple camp woman. However, I can’t say that Russian peasant women weren’t just as up to their necks in trouble.

Another lyrical digression: every evening after dinner the woman rested. It was a custom for everyone to prepare dinner together (if the camp was not too large), to eat it together, and then to sit and lie around the fire together, having conversations, singing, playing and dancing. General relaxation, a release of tension, allowing those same women not to go crazy from constant worries. Maybe that’s why young married gypsies were more cheerful than their Russian village friends. Or maybe this is a gypsy and Russian stereotype - I can’t guarantee.

Russian gypsies having tea. Documentary film from 1931.

Now let's return to the simple and harsh camp life.

Tea and sugar (and they liked to eat tea with sugar) were not served to gypsies in the villages; it cost money. After a successful “job” in the city, of course, a simple gypsy could buy them, but still, usually there was nothing to hope for from a woman’s earnings. And they drank tea at least twice a day: morning and evening. In addition, in the evening the men liked to drink a glass of vodka. Moreover, village moonshine was not highly rated; the attitude towards it was wary. That is, they bought vodka in a tavern - money again. The man wore boots, despite the fact that the gypsies themselves did not know how to make them, and from the peasants - for people with a particularly wild imagination - you can’t steal good boots of your size. In the winter, Russian gypsies stopped in the villages, because it was cold, and you couldn’t pay for it with fortune telling. It is customary to bring gifts to christenings and weddings - “pieces” and “copper” will not do! Then, if you are the father of the groom, then you generally pay for the entire wedding, and there are food, wine, meat - the woman will not spoil so much. Chests, carpets, feather beds, without which nomadic life is difficult, will also not be handed to you through the window. And, finally, it is a matter of honor for the family that women in the family wear earrings and rings, which at the same time bring good luck to the family. This is where the gypsy man comes onto the stage.

Brief information: a man is an already married male gypsy. Old people (who have a grandson from their son) can also be classified as one of them, but this is a higher social level. An honorary, so to speak, “man.”

Kotlyary solved this problem simply. Beginners, don't faint - they actually had a full-time job. They walked around the cities and villages shouting “tin and solder”, and also made basins, pots, kettles, troughs and sold this useful crap for the household, personally walking around the courtyards and streets with it. In the summer they reached relatively northern cities, in the winter they wandered more and more around the south of the Russian Empire, since they were not used to renting a room in Romania, where their roots grow, and there was no custom of staying in Romania. Need to say, Kotlyarsky business flourished well under the USSR, taking into account the constant shortage of various types of non-public household items. Moreover, the gypsy artels have also mastered working with collective farms and factories, producing for them, under contract, garbage and kitchen bins, dining trays, cylinders and other simple but necessary crap. Some craftsmen, if you believe the stories, even managed to make lids for rolling up cans (unlike Vlachs, which these lids were first bought in bulk somewhere, and then resold at exorbitant prices) to the delight of the housewives.

Kotlyar at work. Late 1980s. Photo from the book by E. Druts and A. Gessler.

Russian gypsies, as is known, did not have a permanent universal craft (we do not take into account various types of choirs, military personnel and workers, with them, it seems, everything is clear without special explanations, and besides, these were not particularly common professions at that time) .

Russian gypsy farrier. Ethnographic sketch of the 19th century.

How, you ask, did the gypsy men earn money? And you will tense up and remember Russian folklore. No, I'm not talking about kidnapping. So, and merry widows, this is already obscene and in general “hussars don’t take money!” Well? Well well well?!?! Right! The gypsies were selling horses!!! Even to the nobles and the state (for the army). And these were precisely Russian gypsies.

And in order to trade horses, they need to be kept and bred. Stealing is also, of course, funny, I will reveal this in a separate post, but the Russian people, in general a good people, actually killed for a stolen horse, because if you don’t have a horse, you will die of hunger. So if the gypsies, who constantly live side by side with the Russians, were mainly engaged in horse stealing, and moreover, mainly from the peasants, then they wouldn't be left by now. So somehow they bred more... Even if the family was too poor, or the man was lazy, and there were no horses to breed, then for nomadism, horses were still needed to pull a cart with belongings, so they are in the family anyway were. They cleaned, washed, and grazed them (and the good owners jumped up to see how the horses grazed there, even at night, several times) , respectively, men. And they were treated by men. If you think that horses rarely have to be treated, then you simply don’t know that in the summer huge flies like to bite them, which is why sores appear on the skin. These sores had to be treated every day (or so it was believed that it was necessary), and cleaned - also every day. And it was also necessary to repair the horse harness and, from time to time, the cart, without which it would be impossible to move or set up a tent. Teenagers brought brushwood, but larger “logs” for fires or poles were chopped by men, and they processed the poles, polishing them. The men put up a tent and folded the tent (and for Russian gypsies it’s not just sticking two sticks in, but a cunning and complex structure based on a cart), and if there were widows or teenage orphans in the camp, not only for themselves, but also for them. And by the way, pigs were often kept in camps, their maintenance was also for teenagers - but when it was time to slaughter the pig, they called a man. When killing an animal for meat, it was considered a great sin to torture it, so they tried to do everything quickly and carefully, and cows bought for the holiday - I don’t know about pigs - were deafened before killing.

Russian gypsy with a collar. Documentary film from 1931.

Still from the film “The Last Camp”. 1935

From time to time, gypsy men also had to earn extra money by carrying firewood and plowing. Why are you fainting here? Plowing, I say. This was the real reason why the gypsies settled mainly with widows - so that they could not pay with money. Widows lack a man's hand - I'm not talking about fixing the barn and sowing bread, but we need to plow, life in the villages depended on agriculture. So the barter was concluded: a gypsy family lodged with a widow, and in return, in the spring, the peasant woman received horse manure (don’t frown, this is actually a fertilizer, it has value in agriculture) and a plowed field and vegetable garden. It was from the tradition of standing that Russian gypsies adopted the habit of towels, bed linen, samovars and baths, as well as, in some cases, skills such as knitting and embroidery. And they-there-in-Europe asked - how to teach, how to accustom?! By personal example, guys, by personal example, pedagogy does not know a more effective way.

And don’t let them throw slippers at me kotlyary- but their ancestors, due to the lack of a tradition of standing, adopted all the same habits much later. That does not negate their general respect on my part.

Gypsies at the market in Volgograd. 1967

By the way, the clothes of women and children did not particularly affect the image of the family. Rags on children were considered the norm of life, because “everything burns on them” (who knows the gypsies will confirm that everything is on fire on them even now), and women’s clothes wore out very quickly from frequent use (after all, the whole day in the dust on the roads and streets ) rough washing with ash, there was often no way to patch everything up. At the same time, women still tried to maintain their brand, and during production they always tried to decorate clothes: with buttons, frills, bows, and ribbons. The tent was also decorated, and even cooler than in TV series and films, because filmmakers try to repeat the true appearance - it’s too theatrical, the viewer will say: “sweet!” Russian gypsies decorated their tents not only with bright borders and canopy ruffles, but also with the same bows, ribbons, festoons, tassels, like this. And you say - “The Camp Goes to Heaven” is too colorful, yeah!

Still from the film “The Last Camp” (1935).
The film is fictional, but the tent, decorated with festoons, is real.

Further, the duties of a gypsy man included preparation for winter. This included not only the search for a place to stay, but also the extraction of hay (usually begged for, or in exchange for something), the urgent sale of “extra” horses (you can’t put more than three or four in a peasant stable, but there could be seven of them) , and eight from one owner) and the purchase of fur coats and sheepskin coats for the whole family (for ease of movement in the spring, these extra things were sold during the hike).

In addition to poles, the gypsies themselves only made whips, but they did it the way they did: patterned, complex, from the whip to the belt. The whip was a sacred male object; a woman could not even touch it. He was the pride and adornment of a man, he was an expensive gift from an older gypsy to a younger one, he could be given in addition to a horse - and such an “addition” greatly raised the price of the horse. Moreover, the whip was a container of trading luck, a kind of talisman!

And throughout the remaining time from the above, let me remind you, the gypsy actually exercised his right to rest and do nothing.

How did the life of a man in gypsy society change after settling?

And in very different ways.

U Kotlyarov she hasn't changed much. Many of them continue to work with “tin”, others have expanded traditional professions to tinkering with cars and recycling scrap metal (collected on the streets or decommissioned from factories and further sale, repair, delivery). In this regard, I remember a phrase I really liked from Kotlyarov:

In vain Ruska Roma they make a face, scrap metal is a good thing, they the pioneers were engaged.

It has become considered special chic for a family to live entirely at the expense of a man; now it is considered a sign of special cool and professional success. A fortune-teller wife is now a sign of a poor family, with men who are not willing. At the same time, at an outside glance, it seems that the men are just drones, because they don’t work anywhere, and they don’t go shopping for scrap metal or carrying bins every day.

Among Russian gypsies, the change in the role of men followed two different scenarios. When there was no need to make poles and there was no one to clean the skin, in some families the men found analogues to these occupations and became the “male hand in the house”, and also continued to earn money for the family, only in new ways (now the range of professions of Russian gypsies is very wide, as a rule , these are jobs that require no more than secondary education, but since gypsies with higher education also appeared in the 20th century, you can meet engineers, sculptors, doctors and Tede and Tepe). In such families, the man is currently the main breadwinner, although women often work. As a rule, they do not work for businessmen (who have a history of ancestors who were big money dealers... a family streak).

Gypsies. 1984 Photo: Boris Muzhamedzyanov.

In other families, the men calmly said:

“There are no tents, no horses, so I have nothing to do, I can lie with my belly up all day!”

And they lie there, and what do you think? And sons are raised that way. What is characteristic is that it is in these families that the issues of domestic violence are extremely acute (having no other way to realize themselves, to demonstrate their superiority over a woman, wives are beaten to death and kept under a tight rein much more tightly than in families of the first type, women’s needs and desires are not considered that they don’t), and it was precisely these families that were criminalized or marginalized in the wild 90s,

Fortunately, in our time, young women have begun to realize that this way of family life is not the only possible one, and they are leaving citizens of hooligans, alcoholics and parasites in large numbers in favor of men of the first type or even simple women's freedom.

With that, let me take my leave. Hope you enjoyed it!

p.s. If someone starts asking, “And the blacksmiths, where are the blacksmiths?” - and they were engaged in blacksmithing in Russia servs And Vlachs, but I didn’t talk about them because I haven’t come across their grandmothers yet. But there are more Russian gypsies in Russia.

2. Gypsies consider tea their national non-alcoholic drink. Various herbs and berries are added to black tea

3. Roma prefer strong alcoholic drinks. For men, vodka is preferable, for women - cognac. Grape wines, as a rule, are not consumed. It is considered honorable to drink a lot, but not to get drunk

4. Young people are usually prohibited from drinking alcoholic beverages in front of older people or are required to ask their permission

5. The cult of age among gypsies is expressed not just by respect for older people, but by respect for those who are older in general. The opinion of elders is perceived as authoritative. It is considered a terrible crime to raise a hand against an old person, even if he is physically strong

6. Many gypsies have a disrespectful attitude towards a young woman until she gives birth to a child. But the status of the mother is surrounded by honor

7. Traditionally, gypsies smoke a lot. The first reason is mystical. According to ancient beliefs, fire and smoke scare away demons and the restless dead. To ensure that they do not reach a person, one must smoke continuously. The second reason is aesthetic. It is believed that smoking makes the voice correct for singing.

8. The most popular type of gypsy fairy tales are horror stories. Common characters in such horror stories are the living dead and ghouls, which seem to be an echo of the folklore of Indian ancestors, as well as small spirits like goblins and brownies

9. Some gypsies believe that a person in the next world needs everything the same as in ordinary life. If a person dies, then, depending on his gender, relatives or friends are given 3 items through the coffin: an icon (a man died - male, a woman - female), a bed and a carpet symbolizing the road

10. As for jewelry, rings made of gold are popular among gypsies. Among the Eastern European representatives of this nationality, sets of eight rings of approximately the same thickness are in great fashion, one ring for each finger of the hand, except for the large ones, which necessarily differ in pattern

11. An earring in one ear of a gypsy means that he is the only son in the family

12. It is considered impolite for a woman to walk in front of a man if he can go around behind him, and to stand with his back to the man if he is sitting

13. Short hair among gypsies is a symbol of dishonor. The hair of the exiled and isolated was cut. Until now, gypsies avoid very short haircuts

14. Gypsies have “undesirable” professions that are usually hidden so as not to “fall out” of their society. These are, for example, factory work, street cleaning and journalism.

15. Gypsies understand many simple phrases spoken in Hindi. That's why they love some Indian films so much

16. It’s not customary for gypsies to talk out loud about love; you can’t touch a stranger’s woman, even while dancing.

17. Most often, these are very talented, cheerful and friendly people, rich in song traditions that have had a great influence on the culture of Russia

We continue to introduce readers to the life, traditions and customs of different peoples of Crimea. Today we will talk about gypsies. There are many stereotypes about this freedom-loving people. They say that gypsies wander around the cities and towns, telling fortunes, dancing and stealing... To separate truth from fiction and find out how the Roma live in Crimea, Gazeta met with a gypsy baron, who is also the head of the public organization "Roma Cultural and Educational Union" German Filippov.

- German Petrovich, who is the gypsy baron? What are your responsibilities?

A baron is the leader of a group of people or a tribe (as it used to be). I got this title from my father, and he got it from his father. Baron is like a supreme judge. I can punish violators according to our laws. There are Russian laws, and there are also our internal ones - the laws of our ancestors, the laws of the Roma. The most terrible punishment is the expulsion of a person from the gypsy society. But there are others. For example, it used to be like this: a person did something wrong and stole something - they beat him with a whip. Yes, this is still practiced, just very rarely. They have already stopped stealing, robbing, and doing bad things. And before, I remember how my grandfather took a whip and, in public, beat a person with it until he lost consciousness, and he never did this again in his life.

Everyone must fulfill the baron’s word unquestioningly. If anyone disobeys, then other gypsies will look at him askance and stop communicating with him, to the point of expelling him from our community. Well, if I pass a sentence to expel a person, then this will spread throughout the whole world - not only in Russia, but also in America, France, Italy, Yugoslavia... This is a very cruel punishment. A gypsy would rather agree to serve 10 years in prison than accept this sentence.

- Is it true that there are “non-gypsy” professions that are prohibited for Roma?

No, there is no such thing. There are simply professions that are historically familiar to most people of Roma ethnicity. This is blacksmithing, for example. You could say they were born blacksmiths - they forged horses, made horseshoes, swords... And modern people do anything: some with scrap metal, some with equipment, there are journalists, doctors of sciences, and writers... There was even one president. Nicolas Sarkozy. He is a purebred gypsy, although he has been in exile for a long time. That is why he took revenge on the gypsies until their deportation from France. There were many famous gypsies, take for example the actor Charlie Chaplin.

- Is there any special tradition that unites all gypsies?

If a gypsy whom I don’t know comes, say, from Romania or from Moscow, and he is poor - he has no money, no food, no roof over his head - we are obliged to help him. Both morally and materially - with money, food, and housing.

- And how often do such “guests” come?

Lately often. When the war began in Ukraine, refugees left the Donetsk region. We help them as much as possible - we collect money, food, clothes. Our public organization has been doing this for more than a year. And we collect money for apartments; someone provides them with their own housing if they go somewhere. We help everyone - not only the Roma, but also the Russians. For us there is not much difference in nationality. If a person feels bad, if he is poor and asks for help, we simply have to help him.

- Everyone has heard about “gypsy magic” - is it just a way to make money or some kind of special gift?

This is by no means a way to make money. It really is in the genes. But some unscrupulous people use their magic for profit. This cannot be done; after some time such a person will lose his gift. Trust only those people who can predict the future or help you without money, who will not name prices. If you decide to show your gratitude yourself, then, of course, you can bring food or give two or three rubles. And if they tell you a specific price, don’t believe it, these are charlatans, scammers and swindlers.

I’ll tell you more, there is also gypsy hypnosis. People who possess magic also master hypnosis. Sometimes a person with a bad soul uses hypnosis. There are many of these among our nation. She will meet you on the street, look you in the eye and say: “Take off the chain, take off the ring!” And you will do it. This is a scammer. If we see such people, we immediately expel them. If they don’t listen, we contact the police. We have been living in Crimea for 52 years, we are known on the good side as a respectable family. They knew my father, my grandfather. We don’t do anything illegal, we live our lives, we do a little business... But stealing is not something we do.

- I heard that the gypsies are loyal to thefts and even believe that God himself allowed them to steal...

It's just a beautiful legend. They say that when Jesus Christ was executed, a gypsy woman stole the fifth nail and hid it in her hair. Therefore, Jesus was not beaten to death, and God, as a reward for this, allowed the gypsies to steal. I don’t believe in this and condemn theft. But in every nation - not only the gypsies - there are thieves and swindlers.

- How are responsibilities distributed in a gypsy family?

A woman should be the keeper of the hearth, and a man should be the earner. Of course, a woman should not remain on the sidelines if she is young. You've probably seen that there are gypsy girls standing at the Central Market, selling shoes, clothes... This is their business, this is how they make money. Someone works as a saleswoman, someone as a hairdresser, someone picks apples.

A woman, of course, must listen to a man. She cannot go anywhere without her husband’s permission, even to her friend’s. Even if the husband cheats and the woman finds out about it, she must remain silent and not contradict. That is, men can do everything, but women can do nothing.

- Doesn’t this seem unfair to your women?

They think this is very fair and condemn those who do whatever they want. Our women reason like this: I have a husband, I have a family. So why should anyone look at me? Why should I be in such a place or in such a society where someone will look at me? Our women feel uneasy just from such thoughts. They are very faithful and do not cheat on us. And we change.

- And you talk about it so calmly?

Yes, but what's wrong with that? I can say this to the press and to anyone, even to my wife. This is normal for us; you can even have two wives. But this is only with my permission. I don't know many such cases. Maybe he allowed one or two. But only those who are able to provide for a family, give knowledge to children... Not everyone will do this. Nowadays it’s hard to feed one wife, let alone two.

- How many children are there in an ordinary gypsy family?

It varies, sometimes one or two, but more often there are five, seven, eight... There are even twelve. But having children is not enough. We need to give them knowledge, culture, education, life lessons... There are families who cannot cope with this. We are fighting this. Our public organization (and myself) travels around Crimea. Sometimes we go to a family with many children, but they are all illiterate - they can neither read nor write. Sometimes there is no money to get the child ready for school, sometimes their classmates bully them. If there is no money, we dress these children, buy them notebooks and textbooks. We communicate with school directors so that they can provide a class where they will not call people names and offend them... It happens that parents themselves do not want to send their children to school. We used to live our nomadic life - so we got used to the fact that even an illiterate person can live in the world. Like, when a child grows up, he’ll go sell potatoes, and he doesn’t need to know anything except these potatoes and money... But this is nonsense! We have to explain to people that now is a different time, that children need to be educated.

■ About 17 thousand Roma live in Crimea.

■ In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Many gypsies moved from the Czech region of Bohemia to France. The French began to call them Bohemians. Since the creative part of French high society led the same noisy, eccentric and riotous lifestyle as the gypsies, they were dubbed bohemians.

■ It is believed that it was the gypsies who invented belly dancing and spread it to Arab countries. Scientists still can neither confirm nor refute this theory.

■ An inexplicable but very interesting fact: Gypsies never get leprosy. Modern medicine has not yet established the cause of this mysterious phenomenon.

Photo: oldro.me; personal archive of German Filippov