"
"Ay, but would not the chi part with the chal for a duke, Jasper?"
"My Pakomovna gave up the duke for me, brother."
"But she occasionally talks of him, Jasper."
"Yes, brother, but Pakomovna was born on a common not far from the
sign of the gammon."
"Gammon of bacon, I suppose."
"Yes, brother; but gammon likewise means--"
"I know it does, Jasper; it means fun, ridicule, jest; it is an
ancient Norse word, and is found in the Edda."
"Lor', brother! how learned in lils you are!"
"Many words of Norse are to be found in our vulgar sayings, Jasper;
for example--in that particularly vulgar saying of ours, 'Your
mother is up,' there's a noble Norse word; mother, there, meaning
not the female who bore us, but rage and choler, as I discovered by
reading the Sagas, Jasper."
"Lor', brother! how book-learned you be."
"Indifferently so, Jasper. Then you think you might trust your
wife with the duke?"
"I think I could, brother, or even with yourself."
"Myself, Jasper! Oh, I never troubled my head about your wife; but
I suppose there have been love affairs between gorgios and Romany
chies. Why, novels are stuffed with such matters; and then even
one of your own songs says so--the song which Ursula was singing
the other afternoon."
"That is somewhat of an old song, brother, and is sung by the chies
as a warning at our solemn festivals.
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