The Flying Dutchman and Other Folktales from the Netherlands

Copyright © 2008 by Theo Meder

In a house in a small town there used to live a man. He was the ricehest farmer in the entire neighbourhood, and he had a lot of farmhands and maids. One of these maids had already reached a certain age ... but no young man desired her for a bride, because her ability to curse and raise hell scared them all.

One day, when there was a fair, she said to herself, "If I can't get a boyfriend tonight, I will go out with the devil."

Truly, that evening she met a handsome young man. They had a lot of fun together, and later that night the young man escorted his girlfriend home. He came inside as well. However, he stayed so long that the maid became frightened. She warned the owner, and he quickly sent someone out with a message for the minister.

When the minister arrived, he tried to convince the man to leave. Despite friendly words, the stranger refused to go. Everything they tried was in vain. At his wit's end, the minister started to pray the Lord's Prayer. As he reached the verse "release us from all evil," the stranger disappeared all of a sudden.

People say, it must have been the devil.

The tale is a version of SINSAG 902, Teufel tantzt mit Mädchen, das tanzen will, wenn es auch mit dem Teufel wäre (Devil dances with girl who wants to dance, even if he were the devil). The legend was sent to collector G. J. Boekenoogen at the end of the nineteenth century by C. W. Pisuisse, who lived in Lutten (province of Overijssel). The translation is based on T. Meder and C. Hendriks, Vertelcultuur in Nederland (Amsterdam, 2005), p. 252.