The Flying Dutchman and Other Folktales from the Netherlands

Copyright © 2008 by Theo Meder

In the United States there still are orthodox Protestant communities whose ancestors came from the Netherlands. They are still trying to maintain the Dutch language, although it is not used for everyday purposes. The Bible they use is still in Dutch, though. The older adults in these communities regularly tell the same story about times past.

There was an old lady in the United States who categorically refused to learn even a single word of English. She used the Dutch language exclusively, because, as she declared, "otherwise God won't be able to understand me."

This anecdote was told to me on October 31, 1995, by linguist Caroline Smits in Amsterdam (North Holland). I invented a new tale type for it: TM 4701, God spreekt Nederlands (God speaks Dutch). The translation is based on T. Meder, De magische vlucht (Amsterdam, 2000), p. 181.