At Norman Cross George made the acquaintance of an old snake-catcher
and herbalist, a circumstance which, insignificant in itself, was to
exercise a considerable influence over his whole life. Frequently
this curious pair were to be seen tramping the countryside together;
a tall, quaint figure with fur cap and gaiters carrying a leathern
bag of wriggling venom, and an eager child with eyes that now burned
with interest and intelligence--and the talk of the two was the lore
of the viper. When the snake-catcher passed out of the life of his
young disciple, he left behind him as a present a tame and fangless
viper, which George often carried with him on his walks. It was this
well-meaning and inoffensive viper that turned aside the wrath of
Gypsy Smith, {12a} and awakened in his heart a superstitious awe and
veneration for the child, the Sap-engro, who might be a goblin, but
who certainly would make a most admirable "clergyman and God
Almighty," who read from a book that contained the kind of prayers
particularly to his taste--perhaps the greatest encomium ever
bestowed upon the immortal Robinson Crusoe. Thus it came about that
George Borrow was proclaimed brother to the gypsy's son Ambrose,
{12b} who as Jasper Petulengro figures so largely in Lavengro and The
Romany Rye, and is credited with that exquisitely phrased pagan
glorification of mere existence:


"Life is sweet, brother . . . There's night and day, brother, both
sweet things; sun, moon and stars, brother, all sweet things; there's
likewise the wind on the heath. Life is very sweet, brother; who
would wish to die?" {13a}


The Borrows were nomads, permitted by God and the king to tarry not