...also known as "Gypsies".

A wonderful Queen of Hungary -- in fact, some people call her a saint -- decided that the children of the Romany should be taken from their parents because being raised by thieves, forgers and swindlers was imperilling their immortal souls.

Now, to the Romany, the children are their only treasure, and their culture is their most prized belonging, so there was grief in the caravans, for the parents knew they could not oppose the armed might of the Queen's soldiers.

So when the soldiers came to take the children away, they watched as their parents tied each other to the wagon wheels of the caravans and then killed themselves rather than live without their children.

The Queen put the Romany children in fine schools and give them clothing and toys such as they would never have had in the caravans.

When they grew up, they left the Queen, built caravans, and took up the lives that their parents had led. The Queen despaired of the Gypsies, and said that they were creatures of the Devil because, though she had tried to save them, they preferred to remain thieves, forgers and swindlers. She cursed them, and in Hungary they are cursed until this day.

The lesson: You cannot reform someone by force. In fact, sometimes they will become exactly what you have worked against because, though they accept your gifts, they hate you for the way you give them.

Regards--
Mary Anne