The Gipsy woman
Götz: Gipsy woman
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Kruspe: Gypsy
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A ragged gypsy woman, along with her equally ragged son, is reading the palm of a fancy woman
in a shepherdess dress.
The boy has got a coin in his palm in Götz's watercolour (above).
In Kruspe's drawing (right) Death has a kind of scarf on his head.
Either it's the same scarf as the boy's, or Death is a woman in this case,
just as for
the king.
Death derides the fortune-teller, who makes money from prophesying others,
but could not foresee her own death.
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Der Tod zur Zigeunerin:
Komm mit, Egypterin, dein Lebensschluss ist da,
Du weisst ja selber nicht, dass dir der Tod so nah,
Und willst doch andern viel von Glück und Leben sagen.
Komm, schau in meine Hand, mir pflegt nichts fehlzuschlagen.
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Death to the gypsy:
Come with me, Egyptian, your life's end is here.
You don't know yourself that Death is so close to you,
and yet you want to tell others a lot about fortune and life.
Come, look into my hand, nothing goes wrong for me.
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Die Zigeunerin:
Viel Tausenden hab ich schon etwas prophezeit,
Allein nur bei mir fehlt die Geschicklichkeit.
Crystall und Kunst betrügt, sie lassen mich jetzt stecken,
Ich muss, eh ich's gedacht, mich in die Erde strecken.
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The Gypsy:
I have already prophesied to many thousands,
but just I lack the skill.
Crystal and art deceive, they have forsaken me now,
I must, sooner that I had thought, stretch myself into the ground.
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Death calls her "Egypterin". The English word "Gypsy" stems from an old belief
that Gypsies originally came out of Egypt.
Dances of death
Erfurt
Gipsy woman