Te Veel Kaas
or Too Much Cheese
The dinner table was set when Margo and her Opa came in from the other
room. There were wonderful scents in the air. Oma's kitchen always made
everything smell better. She was an amazing cook and no matter
what she made for dinner, it was always delicious. Tonight, they were
taking it easy. The table was laid out with broodjes, or rolls, slices
of turkey, ham, and some other tasty deli meats and, last but certainly
Margo's favorite part, kaas! Gouda was one of the best parts of going
to Oma and Opa's house. Margo sat down next to Opa and Oma placed a
roll on her plate.
"Can I have some more cheese, Oma?"
"Margo, you've got three slices on your plate. That's enough!"
Margo pouted for a minute and then started eating her broodje. When she
finished a few bites, she looked at Opa's plate next to her. He had a
couple of slices and she, very sneakily, reached her tiny hand over and
tried to grab a slice. Oma caught her and said, "Margo! Eat what you
have and THEN you can have more if you're still hungry."
"But I don't want bread! I want more cheese!"
Opa looked at her with a touch of sympathy, "Kindje, you need to eat
more meats and bread. You won't grow up big and strong if you only eat
cheese. Besides, there was a little boy named Klaas Van Bommel who felt
the same way and you know what happened to him..."
"What? Who are you talking about, Opa?" Margo asked, forgetting her
hungry belly for a moment.
"I've never told you that story?" Opa asked, smiling.
"Nope! What happened to Klaas?"
"Well, a long, long time ago, a little boy named Klaas was growing up
on a farm with his three little sisters, Trintje, Anneke and Saartje,
the Dutch names for Katie, Annie and Sallie. Every evening, there was
plenty of food for the family to eat for dinner. There were piles of
delicious rye brood and plenty of melk and kaas."
Margo broke in, "The same kind of cheese we eat here?"
"Yes, kindje lief, the very same kind. And just like you, Margo, he
couldn't get enough!" Oma said, trying to hide her smile by being
stern. She wanted Margo to learn, but it was hard to be serious telling
a sweet story to such a sweet-faced girl.
Opa continued, "At dinner, he was always trying to get his sisters to
share their cheese with him and sometimes, he even tried to sneak it
off their plate, just like you tried to do." He smiled. "When he tried
to do that, his Mama and Papa scolded him and told him how naughty it
was to be so greedy. He would mope and sigh, unhappy and still hungry.
One night, he was enjoying the breeze outside his window, feeling sorry
for himself and his empty tummy. He heard a strange noise that seemed
to be floating on the wind. At first, it sounded like a whisper and
then he heard a real voice saying 'There's plenty of cheese. Come with
us.'"
Margo looked excited, "Who was talking to him? Was the wind talking?"
Opa laughed and pushed Margo's plate toward her, trying to remind her
to eat while he told the story. "No, it was a fairy, calling him into
the forest to join them. They knew that he loved cheese and they knew
he couldn't resist. They were right. He got out of his bed and followed
the mysterious voice. After all, he couldn't turn down cheese!" Margo
laughed a little and Opa tickled her side. Her plate was almost empty.
She had been snacking as she listened. "He went out into the forest,
following the voice, and found himself inside a fairy ring. They asked
him to dance with them and they danced happily all night long, until
the sun started to come up in the morning. Then, he sat down and was
soon fast asleep. But he couldn't tell he was asleep and in his dream,
the fairies, the pretty ones he had danced with all night long, were
using a golden knife to cut him large slices of kaas. Delicious kaas of
all different kinds. They had jonge kaas, jonge belegen kaas, oude
kaas. They kept slicing and slicing. Klaas was so full that he felt his
tummy might burst, but the Dutch fairies never get tired and they kept
feeding him and feeding him. There were wheels and wheels, loaves and
loaves of cheese. They made mountains around him!"
"Where did all the cheeses come from, Opa?"
"The fairies brought them from all over Holland. They came from Leyden
and Edam and Friesland. The fairies piled the cheeses around him,
making tall stacks of cheese, so high that he couldn't see over them
and he felt like he couldn't get out! Then, suddenly, the towers of
cheese around him began to fall and he thought that he would be
crushed!" 
Margo looked frightened, "Oh no, Opa! Did the cheese hurt Klaas?"
Opa gathered her up in his lap. She was genuinely nervous about the
poor little boy in the tale, "No, kindje lief. He woke up! He sat up
and looked around. He didn't see any fairies, but he had a strange
taste in his mouth. He looked at the ground and found that he had been
chewing on the grass!!"
"Ew!!" Margo squealed, laughing.
"He went home and, after that, he was never so hungry for cheese
again."
Opa and Oma chuckled and Margo pushed her plate away.
"I don't think I want anymore cheese, either!"
Oma stood up, beginning to clear the table. "Griet, it's time to get
ready for bed."
Margo looked like she might get upset, but Oma said, "No, no, Margo,
don't throw a fit or you'll end up like the princess with twenty
petticoats..."
Author's Note:
In this story, I thought back to family dinners with
my Oma and Opa. When we went out to dinner, I was a very greedy little
girl. I always sat by my Oma when she got salads so that I could pick
out all her black olives. The waitress always had to put extra cherries
in my Shirley Temples. And chocolate? I could NEVER get enough. I don't
know that my Oma and Opa ever told me any stories like this, but they
might have helped me change my gluttonous ways.
My retelling doesn't differ from the original tale much at all. I
didn't include all the minute details because I only have 1000 words!
The descriptions in the original story were so beautiful and paint such
a great picture, but I thought that the plot points were much more
important. I also think that my frame tale is very integral to my
storytelling style. When an Opa is telling stories to his kleindochter,
she gets excited and passionate and wants to know everything. I know
that I did when I was a little girl. If I had added more of the
detailed descriptions, I wouldn't have had enough room to fit in all
the aspects of the frame tale that I want to incorporate. I am really
enjoying writing these stories. They make me feel like a little kid
again.
Dutch Words:
Te Veel Kaas
- too much cheese, "tuh fail kahs"
broodje - a
roll, usually bread, "brootchuh"
kindje lief -
beloved child, "kintche leef"
jonge kaas -
young cheese, meaning mild, creamy cheese "yonguh kahs"
jonge belegen kaas
- medium aged cheese, firmer, less creamy but still somewhat mild,
"yonguh bellayghen kahs"
oude kaas -
aged cheese, "owd kahs"
Back
to the Coverpage
Back
to the Introduction
Back
to the Homepage
Back
to How Klompen Came to Be
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:
Wheels of Dutch Cheese
Source: Ut
Nieuws