"Look at this, kindje. Aren't these tulips beautiful?" Opa asked Margo as they were looking through a book of photos from Holland.
Margo smiled up at her Opa, "I like tulips. My favorite ones are the yellow ones. Which ones are your favorite?"
Opa smiled back, "My favorites are orange."
"Why do you like the orange ones?"
"Because orange is the national color of Holland."
"That's where we're from, right?"
"That's right. I was born there and your daddy was born there." Opa turned the page and the next image was of farmers working in the fields. "Do you see the shoes they're wearing?"
"Yeah." Margo looked confused, "What are they made out of?"
"They're made from wood. They help keep their feet dry when they're walking on the wet dirt and grass."
"Who made them?"
"Well, I'll tell you." Opa pulled little Margo up into his lap. "Before I was born, before my Opa and his Opa and his Opa were born, Holland was even smaller. It was covered in beautiful oak trees. There was a man, a carpenter, who loved the beautiful oak trees so much that he named his family Eyck which is the Dutch word for Oak. But the people had to clear away the trees, so the carpenter was very sad because the trees were being cut down."
"Why were they being cut down, Opa?" Margo asked.
"Because they needed to make room for houses and farms and cities. And they needed to use the wood to make things.
"Now, one day, while Van Eyck was sitting down, thinking sadly about the trees, a Moss Maiden and a Trintje came skipping up to him."
"What's a Trintje?"
"A sweet little Tree Elf," Opa answered with a grin. The Moss Maiden and the Trintje told Van Eyck that an old oak tree wanted to talk to him."
"The oak tree could talk!?" Margo asked very excited.
"Strange things happen sometimes, Margo. Magic happens." Opa smiled for a moment and continued, "The oak tree told him that he shouldn't be sad about the trees being cut down because cities were going to grow and people were going to use the wood from the trees to build strong houses and buildings. 'When the trees are gone,' the old oak said, 'the sun will be able to warm and dry the land. Newer and better foods will be planted, so that you don't have to eat the nuts that fall from the trees.' So the tree promised Van Eyck that when the trees were cut down, houses would be made that were as sturdy as the trees to keep them safe and dry. He said, 'We will turn ourselves upside down for you.' Then, the Trintje and the Moss Maiden appeared and told Van Eyck to saw off two pieces of wood and to leave them on his kitchen table."
"Why did they do that, Opa?" Margo looked up at him. The book of pictures had long since been pushed aside and Margo was fully immersed in the world of Elves and Trintjes.
"You'll see, griet," Opa said chuckling. "Do you want to hear the rest of the story?"
"Yes!! Yes, Opa keep going! What happened to the wood? And the elf? What happened? What happened?"
Opa laughed a hearty laugh and continued, "When Van Eyck woke up the next morning, he ran downstairs and found two perfectly neat shoes made of wood. There was no sign that they had been carved and shaped, no dust or shavings from the wood, no tools left behind... just two perfect shoes with the lovely scent of the oak tree's wood. He slipped them on his feet and found that they did not work very well inside his house. Do you know why he couldn't walk in them inside?"
"Was it some kind of magic?"
"No, kindje, they were too slippery on the tile floor inside his kitchen." Opa smiled. Margo was so inventive. "But when he went outdoors, he found out that they kept his feet warm and dry, even when he was walking in the mushy, muddy fields and roads. When his little kindjes saw their daddy's new shoes, they all wanted some. Thankfully, that night, in his dream, the elves let him watch them make the wooden shoes, so he knew just what to do. He called them 'Klompen' and decided that he could easily make and sell them to all the people of Holland who worked in the fields and needed comfortable shoes that kept their feet warm and dry. Van Eyck even opened up his own klomp-winkel, or a store where he sold klompen, and soon, every village in Holland had a klomp-winkel and Van Eyck and his family were rich beyond their wildest dreams."
Margo looked amazed. "Is that really what happened, Opa? Did a man named Mr. Van Eyck really see elves make shoes?"
"Do you think we should find him and ask?"
"No, Opa! He's in Holland! We can't go find him there!"
"Oh, okay, griet. I guess you just have to decide for yourself if it's true or not."
She nodded her head with a smile, deciding it was true. "Tell me another one, Opa! Another story about Holland!"
"Dinner!" Oma called from the kitchen.
"Not right now, kindje, it's time to eat some dinner. Maybe later tonight."
Author's Note:
To be honest, I changed very little about the story that I told. Obviously, I worded it dramatically differently and left out details that I didn't think were important (such as descriptions of the forests and homes and information that was irrelevant to the particular story I was trying to tell), but as far as the content is concerned, the biggest changes I made were just trimming it down. The original story is written in a much more formal, story-book type of way. The descriptions of scenery and characters are very long and, while interesting to me, would probably not be very interesting to a five year old, who is the audience for these fairy tales.
I did make one very large change, though, and that is that I left out the second half of the story when Van Eyck takes the advice of the Moss Maiden and Tree Elf again and creates pile drivers. Because my story was about the wooden shoes, I felt that it could stop there and not lose any of the importance and history of my retelling. The advent and use of pile drivers is very important in the development of Holland as a nation, but it has more historical significance than cultural. My goal in retelling these stories is to give my readers a glimpse into the wonderful world I grew up loving.
Dutch Words:
kindje - kid, sort of like "kiddo" in English, pronounced like "keenchuh"
griet - girl, slang for little girl (It's what my Opa calls me), pronounced "ghreet"
klompen - wooden clogs, "klompen" because they clomp around
klompen-winkel - store where wooden shoes are sold, pronounced "klompen-vinkel"
Trintje - tree elf, pronounced "trinchuh"
Back to the Coverpage
Back to the Introduction
Back to the Homepage
Second Story: Te Veel Kaas
Third Story: What's a Petticoat?
Fourth Story: Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet
Bibliography:
Griffis, William E. (1919). Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks.
Image Information:
Klompen Maken
Source: Dutch Website with photos of Shoe Makers