Belgian fairy tales

BELGIAN FAIRY TALE: WILLIAM ELLIOT CRIFFIS THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES fit' BOOKS BY WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS BELGIAN FAIRY TALES Just such a book that the youngster will enjoy DUTCH FAIRY TALES "A sheaf of delightful fairy stories from Holland, which abounds in legend and child-lore ' ' THE FIRE-FLY'S LOVERS; and Other Fairy Tales of Old Japan THE UNMANNERLY TIGER ; and Other Korean Stories Each volume 8vo cloth Illustrated in color THOMAS Y CROWELL COMPANY NEW YORK ESITOK THERIVER FAIRY Belgian Fairy Tales By WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS Author of "Belgium: The Land of Art," "Th Firefly's Lovers," "The Unmannerly Tiger," "Dutch Fairy Tales," etc NEW YORK THOMAS Y CROWELL COMPANY PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT, 1919, BT THOMAS Y CROWELL COMPANY BELGIAN FAIRY TALES 242 ing come For, along with the good people that had into the land, and told about the royal baby in the hay, at Bethlehem, had begun the custom of making presents, and of showing love and kindness to each other, and to all people With them, once a year, came a most delightful old gentleman, a kind saint, who went around making presents and filling the stockings of the well behaved and obedient children, with presents of toys and goodies of all sorts His name was Saint Nicholas, which, in FlemThe fairies and the kind ish, is Santa Claas old saint were on good terms, very friendly, and very helpful to each other At that time Santa Claas did not drive reindeer, nor use a sleigh, for he had not yet paid any cold countries, in the far north, where visits to the he had to put on a fur-trimmed cap and red coat Indeed, it was several hundred years later, before the people who lived nearer the north pole, knew about either Santa Claas or the Beth- lehem baby in the hay Saint Nicholas always arrived in Belgium on a ship He had a mitre on his head, held a shepherd's crook or crozier, and was dressed in a long scarlet was so well known to the Belgian in his hand, robe He children, almost every village, even the that smallest one, had verses, chanted its by the special nursery song, or little folks BELGIAN FAIRY TALES 243 In Belgium and Holland, Saint Nicholas' fell on December 6, and was for children But on Christonly, and not for grown folks mas Day, every one, old, young, and in baby Day looked forward with happy expectation priests, who told about the Bethlehem clothes, The good baby, and its mother, and the angels' songs, had introduced the beautiful custom of singing carols, and also of everybody making presents At one to the other Christmas, love and kind- Yet no one ever ness ruled in every heart imagined what a wonder the fairies had provided for them There was a surprise when the good people came down to breakfast, on this joyful festival day of the year, A D 600 Each family found on enough for all in the tables a pie, big It was made in the house the shape of a manger, or feed-trough, for cattle is, a square, or oblong, with four corners Its rich crust was slightly brown, from the bak; that it looked very tempting When father open, and gave each one a slice, and all the family had tasted it, it was declared that noth- ing, cut and it ing more delicious had ever passed their lips! So, ever after, on that day, the mince pie became the symbol of Bethlehem's manger, and of the that baby in the hay, and of all the rich things come from faith in the dear Father above, BELGIAN FAIRY TALES 244 who is the giver of all things Fathers and mothers, over the pie, told again the story of how the baby, to whom the wise men presented their gifts, grew up saviour of all and helper, and more men heard of this to be the friend, And the wonderful story, and learned about who had no this king, and of this governor, who ruled by love only, whose kingdom is ever growing and never ends, the more they believed in him and tried to be like him So Belgium was soon covered with churches for the devout, and hospitals for the sick, and homes for the orphans and the poor and aged It seemed as if every sweet thing in human characarmies, such as love, joy, peace, long suffering, temperance, kindness, gentleness, and brotherly ter, friendship, came from the babe, whose birth was celebrated at Christmas Though born among dumb creatures, cradle, and and laid in a manger, for a hay for a bed, he was greater, and ruled more people, than any king or emperor that ever lived Since his lowly home on earth was brightened, by the visit and gifts of the wise men from the East, it seemed as if every one must try to make his neighbor happier, through love and kindness Of all this, the mince pie, pleasant to see, and delicious to taste, was the welcome symbol So, like a traveler, or a good story, the mince pie has gone round the world and is eaten in every land in the XXVI A SOCIETY TO MAKE FAIRY TALES COME TRUE evening of the fairy congress was devoted to story-telling, in which the fairies ONE competed with each other to see which was the most interesting After one fairy had told the story of the fleuras de-lys, which was only "e pluribus unum" Horace said of a salad that is, one out of many, tale another fairy rose up to tell the story of the This precious stone carries in its bosom opal the colors of the Belgian flag, black, yellow, and red Thus the fairy began: "It was long before Caesar's day, when the first princess of the united Belgian tribes was to be married Then the fairies came to her and asked her what she wished them to do, to adorn her head-dress for the wedding "This was her answer: " 'My desire is for a jewel to wear on my fore- I hope to get one that shall show the three colors the first, to stand for loyalty to my head ; 245 BELGIAN FAIRY TALES 246 king-father; the second, to represent my willing obedience to the law of the commonwealth; and the third, to express the freedom of my countrymen from the slavery of enemies " 'These colors must be first, black to signify ; that the king must face, storm, and whatever is without fear, every dark or difficult The second must be yellow, to show how law protects gold, which is the symbol of property, as the result of human labor the third must be red, ; representing blood, the life of the nation, and which, from their own veins, our brave men must, when necessary, shed for us all " 'Be sure to get body knows, me a perfect black, for every- that, in the heraldry of kings and nobles, sable, or black, denotes constancy, wis- prudence If you can, bring me a stone that contains these three hues precious They are my colors and my people love them dom and Yet, if a gem, and not something else, it must have them all, for I can wear but one stone.' "Three fairies, with strong wings, were immediately sent to fly out over the forests and into the mountains, where the pretty They hunted among the rocks, gems are found and in the beds They called on the kabouters to make search in the dark caves each one was successful beyond the Happily, of streams help them to highest hopes BELGIAN FAIRY TALES 247 "After choice from many fine specimens, the three fairies returned, each one bearing a glistening jewel in her hand "The first black stone meaning proffered the princess a pure, hard, It was well named the diamond, 'the invincible.' Rare indeed is a black, or colored diamond, but there it was "The second stone was the topaz, of a deep It reminded one of the gains of comyellow merce, and the toil of millions, bringing comfort and wealth "The third stone was the ruby, deeply, darkly, Besides being hard, brilliant and permanent in tint, it was not easily scratched or broken beautifully red "Joyfully the princess bound these three upon her forehead and looked into the mirror She was delighted with all the gems, for each was beautiful and spoke its own language "Yet, as each fairy thought the one, which she had found in the mountains, and selected out of many, was that which the princess ought to prefer and to wear, the king's daughter could not decide, by herself at least, lest she be deemed selfish or partial "So she went to her father, and asked his ad- vice "He looked at each jewel, admiring them yet thinking in his heart all all, the while that his BELGIAN FAIRY TALES 248 own daughter excelled made answer: each and every one He then ' 'In the Walloon language, my daughter (unity makes strength) "1'union fait la force" Suppose you ask the fairies to join the three gems in one, making a single stone Then, see what will come of it.' "The princess at once called to her aid the king of kabouters, and bade him make of the three jewels one "Down into the earth among his forges and the master-fairy disappeared spent days and nights over the task In a crucible, over a roaring fire, he fused the three gems into He fires, one Then with a lapidist's skill, and a jeweler's craft, he set the jewel in an exceedingly beauti- ful coronet "Within one week, the kabouter king came back, holding in his hand a velvet-lined box which the three fairies had made with their delicate fingers On the outside, were the three colors, black, yellow and red, in vertical bands "The chief kabouter proffered the casket to the Princess On her opening it, there flashed and sparkled a gem, such before Within its fiery as she had never seen heart, were, not one them, black, yellow, and red "This shining stone was not cut in facets, or little faces, as were most crown jewels, for it did color, but, three of BELGIAN FAIRY TALES not need to be so treated to show its 249 glories ; nor require a foil or glittering metal leaf beneath it, as some stones, to make sure of its did it maintaining its permanent hue; but it was set with a smooth round surface, like a hemisphere, or half a globe This shape helped to reveal the precious stone's full splendor "Right well was it worthy of its general name 'gem,' which means a 'bud'; for it had colors, as varied as are the three in a moss rose, sepal, petal and fringe, while yet in a unity of splendor "No words could justice to the beauty of the gem Some thought of a rainbow; some of the harlequin, who joins many colors in his cos- tume; some named it of volcano fires The Princess 'opal,' after the precious stone in the Sanskrit fairy tale At the wedding, she wore it in the centre of her golden coronet "With even more enthusiasm, the people gathparts of their land, every province sending its delegates to Brussels, the central city of the central province, in which Brabo was the ered from all and whose story was known to all boys From him was named Brabant, whose girls inhabitants had already adopted as their motto hero, and 'La Union fait Force,' that is, 'In union there is strength,' which is struck on all coins "Although there were many provinces, and, notwithstanding, that all the tribes and people BELGIAN FAIRY TALES 250 were not interested each in the same things, yet they saw the wisdom of union for defense and growth So, feeling that they must-have a flag, to express their loyalty to the king, their regard for law, and their fixed resolution to be free, they voted to have one standard, containing the colors of Brabant So, when the tricolor, black, yellow and red, was raised high in the air, before all the freemen, they clanged their swords on their shields and shouted 'Long live the King, forever be law, eternal our independence.' So these became the national colors of Belgium afterwards, when William the Silent, whose statue stands today in Brussels, led the Netherlander against the tyrant, there "Centuries was embroidered, on his banners, the figure of a pelican feeding her young with blood from her own bosom, with the Latin motto, 'Pro rege, pro lege, pro grege (for the king, for the law, for the commonwealth) And when in 1830 the national hymn, The Braban9onne (The Brabanter) was composed, which every Belgian sings, theme and burden of the throbbing was what the tricolor and the precious stone Black was for steadfastness, wisdom suggest and prudence in the king; yellow for law, which protects industry and red, for Belgium's uncon- the three-fold lines ; querable liberty, secured by the blood of her sons Oh how they sang it, and never with more mean! BELGIAN FAIRY TALES 251 ing and spirit than, during the four years of the 'nation's Calvary,' 1914-1918." Forthwith, the people of Belgic Land, having heard the stories of the Fleur-de-lys, and was formed by them a Society Come True, and for genand their children^ have lived up of the opal, there to Make Fairy erations they, name to their The Tales story-teller has often said that nothing that fairies can do, or ever have done, can excel what he has seen in the wonders wrought in the and on the Belgian and Dutch landscapes a youth, he saw many square miles of worthless heath land, as sandy as a desert, on which even rabbits could not find food to live upon Or, two of them might fight for one blade soil, As of grass In went into the same There were villages, later life, the story-teller places What magic! farms, schools, churches, happy homes, barns stored with grain, and many signs of joyous abundance, cows, sheep, orchards and What fields mean? The story of "The Marriage of the explains in part how it came to pass did it Fairies," Water, brought in canals; that is, irrigation, wrought wonders but, most of all, human continuance of toil, in unity of heart and will! Today the in; BELGIAN FAIRY TALES 252 dustry and perseverance of men and women have made Belgium as one of the wonders of the world "By concord little things become great." So, they sing in the national hymn, and under their flag, of black, yellow and red, which stand for king, law and liberty: "Let us work; our labor increases The fruitfulness of our fields And the splendor of our industry crowns Law and Liberty." King, THE END UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY This book DISCHARGE U39 ' is 1)1 I Los Angeles last date stamped below on the 1158 00664 5765 PZ ... ANGELES fit' BOOKS BY WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS BELGIAN FAIRY TALES Just such a book that the youngster will enjoy DUTCH FAIRY TALES "A sheaf of delightful fairy stories from Holland, which abounds... Other Fairy Tales of Old Japan THE UNMANNERLY TIGER ; and Other Korean Stories Each volume 8vo cloth Illustrated in color THOMAS Y CROWELL COMPANY NEW YORK ESITOK THERIVER FAIRY Belgian Fairy Tales. .. His WONDEFUL HORSE BAYARD 215 THE BELGIAN BUNNY 225 THE FAIRIES OF THE KITCHEN 235 A SOCIETY TO MAKE FAIRY TALES COME TRUE 245 Belgian Fairy Tales A STORY FOR A PREFACE OF THE