The Flying Dutchman and Other Folktales from the Netherlands

Copyright © 2008 by Theo Meder

Three students of noble descent were on their way to a city where they wanted to attend the university. One evening, on their journey through a desolate area, they found shelter at an inn. The innkeeper, who suspected that the students carried along a lot of golden coins, decided to kill them that very night. After he had carried out his sinister plan, he cut the bodies of the students to pieces, and put the pieces of meat in a barrel of salt, like one does with slaughtered pigs.

Warned by an angel, Saint Nicolas knocked at the door of the inn the next day, asked for accommodation, and ordered a meal. Saint Nicolas was offered a plate of human flesh and immediately confronted the innkeeper with his crime and he ordered the innkeeper to show him the barrel of salt, in which the pieces of the youngsters had been put. Standing near the barrel, Saint Nicolas ordered the innkeeper to take the lid off the barrel. Then he folded his hands, prayed to God, and blessed the three students. That way, he revived them. The three students stepped out of the barrel and thanked God. The innkeeper fell to his knees, asked for forgiveness, and converted to a good Christian life.

This West European legend confirms the patronage of Saint Nicolas over children; in the Netherlands, the feast of Saint Nicolas, who brings gifts for all children, is celebrated annually on the eve of his dying day, December 5. The story was sent by e-mail to the Meertens Instituut on December 5, 2005, by storyteller Rens de Vette from Arnhem (province of Gelderland). The translation is based on this (unpublished) tale (archive and Dutch Folktale Database, Meertens Instituut, Amsterdam).