It would almost seem that the Gitanos and Gitanas, or male and female gipsies, had been sent into the world for the sole purpose of thieving. Born of parents who are thieves, reared among thieves, and educated as thieves, they finally go forth perfected in their vocation, accomplished at all points, and ready for every species of roguery. In them the love of thieving, and the ability to exercise it, are qualities inseparable from their existence, and never lost until the hour of their death.

Now it chanced that an old woman of this race, one who had merited retirement on full pay as a veteran in the ranks of Cacus, brought up a girl whom she called Preciosa, and declared to be her granddaughter. To this child she imparted all her own acquirements, all the various tricks of her art. Little Preciosa became the most admired dancer in all the tribes of Gipsydom; she was the most beautiful and discreet of all their maidens; nay she shone conspicuous not only among the gipsies, but even as compared with the most lovely and accomplished damsels whose praises were at that time sounded forth by the voice of fame. Neither sun, nor wind, nor all those vicissitudes of weather, to which the gipsies are more constantly exposed than any other people, could impair the bloom of her complexion or embrown her hands; and what is more remarkable, the rude manner in which she was reared only served to reveal that she must have sprung from something better than the Gitano stock; for she was extremely pleasing and courteous in conversation, and lively though she was, yet in no wise did she display the least unseemly levity; on the contrary, amidst all her sprightliness, there was at the same time so much genuine decorum in her manner, that in the presence of Preciosa no gitana, old or young, ever dared to sing lascivious songs, or utter unbecoming words. The grandmother fully perceived what a treasure she had in her grandchild; and the old eagle determined to set her young eaglet flying, having been careful to teach her how to live by her talons. 

Preciosa was rich in hymns, ballads, seguidillas, sarabands, and other ditties, especially romances, which she sang with peculiar grace; for the cunning grandmother knew by experience that such accomplishments, added to the youth and beauty of her granddaughter, were the best means of increasing her capital, and therefore she failed not to promote their cultivation in every way she could. Nor was the aid of poets wanting; for some there are who do not disdain to write for the gipsies, as there are those who invent miracles for the pretended blind, and go snacks with them in what they gain from charitable believers.

During her childhood, Preciosa lived in different parts of Castile; but in her sixteenth year her grandmother brought her to Madrid, to the usual camping-ground of the gipsies, in the fields of Santa Barbara. Madrid seemed to her the most likely place to find customers; for there everything is bought and sold. Preciosa made her first appearance in the capital on the festival of Santa Anna, the patroness of the city, when she took part in a dance performed by eight gitanas, with one gitano, an excellent dancer, to lead them. The others were all very well, but such was the elegance of Preciosa, that she fascinated the eyes of all the spectators. Amidst the sound of the tambourine and castanets, in the heat of the dance, a murmur of admiration arose for the beauty and grace of Preciosa; but when they heard her sing—for the dance was accompanied with song—the fame of the gitana reached its highest point; and by common consent the jewel offered as the prize of the best dancer in that festival was adjudged to her. After the usual dance in the church of Santa Maria, before the image of the glorious Santa Anna, Preciosa caught up a tambourine, well furnished with bells, and having cleared a wide circle around her with pirouettes of exceeding lightness, she sang a hymn to the patroness of the day.

Precious tree
that took time to bear fruit
years that they could
cover him with mourning,
and make wishes
of the pure consort,
against the hope of him
not very safe; 
from which delay
that disgust was born
which throw out of the temple
to the most just man;
holy barren land,
which in the end produced
all abundance
that sustains the world;
currency house,
where the stamp was forged 
which gave God the shape
that as a man he had;
mother of a daughter
in whom she wanted and could
God greatness show
about human course.
For you and for her
you are, Ana, the refuge
where do they go for a remedy
our misfortunes.
In a way,
you have, I don't doubt it,
about the Nieto,
empirepious and just.
For being a commoner
from the sumo fortress,
there were a thousand relatives
with you together
What a daughter, and what a grandson,
and what a son-in-law!Ready, 
to be just cause, 
will you sing them triumphs for.
But you, humble,
you were the study
where your daughter
took humble courses; 
and now next to her,
to God the most together,
you enjoy the highness
that I hardly suspect.

It was the admiration of all who heard her. Some said, "God bless the girl!" Others, "'Tis a pity that this maiden is a gitana: truly she deserves to be the daughter of some great lord!" Others more coarsely observed, "Let the wench grow up, and she will show you pretty tricks; she is closing the meshes of a very nice net to fish for hearts." Another more good-natured but ill-bred and stupid, seeing her foot it so lightly, "Keep it up! keep it up! Courage, darling! Grind the dust to atoms!" "Never fear," she answered, without losing a step; "I'll grind it to atoms."

At the vespers and feast of Santa Anna Preciosa was somewhat fatigued; but so celebrated had she become for beauty, wit, and discretion, as well as for her dancing, that nothing else was talked of throughout the capital. A fortnight afterwards, she returned to Madrid, with three other girls, provided with their tambourines and a new dance, besides a new stock of romances and songs, but all of a moral character; for Preciosa would never permit those in her company to sing immodest songs, nor would she ever sing them herself. 

The old gitana came with her, for she now watched her as closely as Argus, and never left her side, lest some one should carry her off. She called her granddaughter, and the girl believed herself to be her grandchild. The young gitanas began their dance in the shade, in the Calle de Toledo, and were soon encircled by a crowd of spectators. Whilst they danced, the old woman gathered money among the bystanders, and they showered it down like stones on the highway; for beauty has such power that it can awaken slumbering charity. 

The dance over, Preciosa said, 

"If you will give me four quartos, I will sing by myself a beautiful romance about the churching of our lady the Queen Doña Margarita. It is a famous composition, by a poet of renown, one who may be called a captain in the battalion of poets." 

No sooner had she said this, than almost every one in the ring cried out, 

"Sing it, Preciosa; here are my four quartos;" 

and so many quartos were thrown down for her, that the old gitana had not hands enough to pick them up. When the gathering was ended, Preciosa resumed her tambourine, and sang the promised romance, 

*The greatest queen of Europe
 went out to mass after giving birth,
in her worth and in her name
a rich and admirable jewel.
As she takes the eyes,
she takes the souls
of all those who look and admire
her devotion and her pomp.
And, to show that she is part
of heaven on earth,
on one side she carries  the sun of Austria,
on the other, the tender Aurora.
Behind her follows
a Morning Star that at an untimely
rise, the night of the day
that heaven and earth weep.
And if in heaven there are stars
that form shining chariots,
in other chariots her sky
living stars adorn.
Here old Saturn
polishes and rejuvenates the beard,
and, although he is slow, he goes quickly;
for pleasure cures gout.
The talkative god goes
in flattering  and loving tongues,
and Cupid in various numbers,
that embroider rubies and pearls.
There goes furious Mars
in the curious person
of more than one gallant young man,
who is astonished by his shadow.
Next to the house of the Sun
goes Jupiter; for there is nothing
difficult to the privilege
founded on prudent works.
The Moon goes on the cheeks
of one and another human goddess;
chaste Venus, in the beauty
of those who form this sky.
Little Ganymedes
cross, go, return and return
through the studded belt
of this miraculous sphere.
And, so that all may admire
and all may be amazed, there is nothing
that does not pass from liberal
to the extreme of prodigal.
Milan with its rich fabrics
goes there in curious sight;
the Indies with their diamonds,
and Arabia with their aromas.
With the ill-intentioned
goes the biting envy,
and the goodness in the breasts
of Spanish loyalty.
Universal joy,
fleeing from anguish,
runs through the streets and squares,
discomposed and almost mad.
Silence opens its mouth
to a thousand silent blessings,
and the boys repeat
what the men sing.
One says: “Fertile vine,
grow, climb, embrace and touch
your happy elm
that a thousand centuries will shade you
for your own glory,
for the good of Spain and honor,
for the support of the Church,
for the astonishment of Mohammed.”
Another tongue cries out and says:
“Long live, oh white dove!
that you will give us as offspring
two-crowned eagles,
to drive away from the air
those of furious predators;
to cover with its wings
the fearful virtues.”
Another, more discreet and serious,
sharper and more curious
says, pouring joy
from her eyes and mouth:
“This pearl that you gave us,
mother of pearl from Austria, unique and alone,
what machines it breaks!
what designs it cuts!
what hopes it inspires!
what desires it miscarries!
what fears it increases!
what pregnancies it aborts!”
In this, she arrived at the temple
of the holy Phoenix that in Rome
was burned, and remained alive
in fame and glory.
To the image of life,
to that of heavenly Lady,
who for being humble
the stars treads now,
to the Mother and Virgin together,
to the Daughter and the Wife
of God, kneeling,
Margaret reasons thus:
“What you have given me I give you,
always generous hand;
For where your favor is lacking,
misery is always in excess.
The first fruits of my fruits
I offer you, beautiful Virgin:
such as they are, see,
receive, protect and improve them.
I commend you to your father,
who, human Atlantean, is bent
under the weight of so many kingdoms
and such remote climates.
I know that the heart of the King
dwells in the hands of God,
and I know that you can do with God
whatever you mercifully wish.''
This prayer finished,
another similar one is sung
by hymns and voices that show
that Glory is on earth.
The offices finished
with royal ceremonies,
this heaven and marvelous sphere
returned to its place.

which was loudly encored, the whole audience crying out with one voice, 

"Sing again, Preciosa, sing again, and dance for us, girl: thou shalt not want quartos, whilst thou hast the ground beneath thy feet."

Whilst more than two hundred persons were thus looking on at the dance, and listening to the singing of the gitana, one of the lieutenants of the city passed by; and seeing so many people together, he asked what was the occasion of the crowd. Being told that the handsome gitana was singing there, the lieutenant, who was not without curiosity, drew near also to listen, but in consideration of his dignity, he did not wait for the end of the romance. The gitanilla, however, pleased him so much, that he sent his page to tell the old crone to come to his house that evening with her troop, as he wished his wife Doña Clara to hear them. The page delivered the message, and the old gitana promised to attend.