Note 279 — AMERICAN GYPSIES.
Reading edition
Lady, in gypsy rāni. The process of degradation is curiously marked in this language. Rāni (rawnee), in Hindi, is a queen. Rye, or rae, a gentleman, in its native land, is applicable to a nobleman, while rashai, a clergyman, even of the smallest dissenting type, rises in the original rishi to a saint of the highest order.