14世纪,长期过着流浪生活的吉卜赛人从东方的印度迁到欧洲。很久以来,人们就把吉卜赛人描绘成各种各样的人。在一些人眼里,这些流浪汉似乎已实现了那种浪漫的自由之梦,满足了那种青少年般的对更富激情的生活的渴望。而另外一些人则认为,吉卜赛人不过是些不值得信任的浪子罢了。实际上,吉卜赛是最神秘、最鲜为人知的部族之一。尽管记载他们的资料数不胜数,人们并未因此而对吉卜赛人有更深入的了解。1914年,乔治·布莱克编制的《吉卜赛文献目录》一书中,曾列举了4577种已出版的有关吉卜赛人的文献,而且,此后数量一直稳步增加。 In the 14th century, gypsies who had long lived a vagrant life moved from eastern India to Europe. For a long time people have portrayed the Gypsies as all sorts of people. In the eyes of some, these wanderers seem to have fulfilled that romantic dream of freedom, satisfying the adolescent craving for a more passionate life. Others, however, believe that the Roma are but prodigal creatures. In fact, the Gypsy is one of the most mysterious and little-known tribes. Despite the immense amount of information on their records, people have not gained a deeper understanding of the Roma. In 1914, George Black compiled the Catalog of Gibi Documents, which lists 4,577 published publications on Gypsies and has steadily increased since.