The Flying Dutchman and Other Folktales from the Netherlands

Copyright © 2008 by Theo Meder

One Saturday, a man took a cycling tour through his own neighbourhood, and he could not help noticing a neat pile of tiles where a new house was being built. These tiles would come in handy, he thought, since he himself was busy tiling his kitchen. So he cycled home and returned with his car and a small trailer. However, while he was loading the tiles, a policeman approached.

"Allo, what do you think you're doing?"

"I've been tiling my kitchen and there were some tiles left. So when I saw this pile over here, I thought I could dump mine .... "

"No way," the policeman said, "everything back in again, and I'll stay here until the last tile is gone."

This urban legend is a version of what I call TM 6048, Tegels Laden (loading tiles). The story was told to collector Peter Burger on April 1, 1991, by Rinke Berkenbosch. The translation is based on Peter Burger, De wraak van de kangoeroe (Amsterdam, 1993), p. 69.