The Flying Dutchman and Other Folktales from the Netherlands

Copyright © 2008 by Theo Meder

On a misty morning, I went out fishing.

The mist was so thick, I could park my bike against it. I cast my fishing line, but of course, I could not see the float. I felt I had something, hauled in my line, and what do you reckon? The bait was on the hook, entirely flat. I just didn't understand it.

After a while, when the mist became thinner, it became clear to me. I wasn't fishing along the canal, but along a cycle path, and a bike had flattened my bait."

This story was sent in in 1991 by Mrs. L. H. Jeurink-Hofsteenge, a saleswoman from Emmen (province of Drente); she heard the tale from her father-in-law, who had told it as a true story. There is no international folktale type available. The translation is based on T. Meder, De magische vlucht (Amsterdam, 2000), p. 196.