erudition has been wasted in
pursuing this philological _ignis fatuus_. That there are
leather-working and saddle-working gypsies in Persia who call themselves
Zingan is a fair basis for an origin of the word; but then there are
Tchangar gypsies of Jat affinity in the Punjab. Wonderful it is that in
this war of words no philologist has paid any attention to what the
gypsies themselves say about it. What they do say is sufficiently
interesting, as it is told in the form of a legend which is intrinsically
curious and probably ancient. It is given as follows in "The People of
Turkey," by a Consul's Daughter and Wife, edited by Mr. Stanley Lane
Poole, London, 1878: "Although the gypsies are not persecuted in Turkey,
the antipathy and disdain felt for them evinces itself in many ways, and
appears to be founded upon a strange legend current in the country. This
legend says that when the gypsy nation were driven out of their country
(India), and arrived at Mekran, they constructed a wonderful machine to
which a wheel was attached." From the context of this imperfectly told
story, it would appear as if the gypsies could not travel farther until
this wheel should revolve:--

"Nobody appeared to be able to turn it, till in the midst of their vain
efforts some evil spirit presented himself under the disguise of a sage,
and informed the chief, whose name was Chen, that the wheel would be made
to turn only when he had married his sister Guin. The chief accepted the
advice, the wheel turned round, and the name of the tribe after this
incident became that of the combined names of the brother and sister,
Chenguin, the appellation of all the gypsies of Turkey at the present
day."

The legend goes on to state that in consequence of this unnatural
marriage the gypsies were cursed and condemned by a Mahometan saint to
wander forever on the face of the earth. The real meaning of the
myth--for myth it is--is very apparent. _Chen_ is a Romany word,
generally pronounced _chone_, meaning the moon; {341a} while _guin_ is
almost universally given as _gan_ or _kan_. That is to say, Chen-gan or
-kan, or Zin-kan, is much commoner than Chen-guin. Now _kan_ is a common
gypsy word for the sun. George Borrow gives it as such, and I myself
have heard Romanys call the sun _kan_, though _kam_ is commoner, and is
usually assumed to be right. Chen-kan means, therefore, moon-sun. And
it may be remarked in this connection, that the neighboring