The Flying Dutchman and Other Folktales from the Netherlands

Copyright © 2008 by Theo Meder

Once upon a time there was a skipper, and when he sailed his ship along a certain spot, he heard a voice saying, "Here is the time, where is the man?"

The skipper had heard this voice several times. One day he told this to the minister, who became curious and wanted to learn more about it. He asked the skipper if he could come along for once. So it happened. When the ship approached the place where the skipper used to hear the voice, the skipper called the minister. The minister came to the deck, and because of a sudden squall he fell overboard and drowned. After this, the skipper heard the voice nevermore ....

This very common traditional Dutch legend about fate is a version of SINSAG 1, "Hier ist die Zeit, wo ist der Mann? Stimme ausden Wasser: Mann ertrinkt ("Here is the time, where is the man?" Voice from the water: a man drowns). The story was told in the summer of 1972 to collector Ype Poortinga by the Frisian storyteller Mrs. Neeke Kossen-Bakker. The translation is based on Y. Poortinga, De foet fan de reinbôge (Baarn, 1979), p. 92.