He is at present in the hands of a low horse-dealer,
and can be bought for eight pounds, but no one will have him. It is said
that he kills everybody who mounts him. I have been _charming_ him, and
have so far succeeded that he does not fling me more than once in five
minutes. What a contemptible trade is the author's compared with that of
the jockey's!
Mr. Borrow prided himself on being a horse-sorcerer, an art he learned
among the gypsies, with whose secrets he claimed acquaintance. He
whispered some unknown gibberish into their ears, and professed thus to
tame them.
He proceeded with "The Bible in Spain." In the following month he sent
to Mr. Murray the MS. of the first volume. To the general information as
to the contents and interest of the volume, he added these words:
_Mr. George Borrow to John Murray_.
_February_, 1842.
"I spent a day last week with our friend Dawson Turner at Yarmouth. What
capital port he keeps! He gave me some twenty years old, and of nearly
the finest flavour that I ever tasted. There are few better things than
old books, old pictures, and old port, and he seems to have plenty of
all three.
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