This is something I have picked up in a library some time ago on a whim - the idea behind my membership was to find some material for my language lessons but eventually I got overwhelmed with the sheer quantity of material and decided to stick to my course book. However, I did took several books about the history of the place where I live now, thinking it might be interesting to comprehend little of the culture and tradition. Besides, I was planning to enjoy some fairy tales for a long time so this came handy.
As I expected, it is a very mellow, nice and comforting read.
Most of the stories here are only few pages long so there is a feel of "reading before sleep" and this makes for a very warm-hearted atmosphere, almost makes you forget about the life around you. Adele De Leeun dedicated the book to her father who was her "friend, companion and delightful teller of tales" - it is a very moving and affectionate dedication, so naturally the collection itself lives across time and space, it is really wonderful how in a way we can make ourselves immortal trough art. Since I knew absolutely nothing about Dutch fairy tales, traditions and customs, while my knowledge of local history is fairly vague, this actually came as a nice surprise - there are lots of magic creatures behind some natural disasters (for example, imprisoned mermaid is responsible for flood that destroyed the whole town) and almost every single story is actually moral fable, where greed and cold-heartedness are eventually punished. There is also a very touching story about the besieged Leiden (here written as old-fashioned Leyden) where starving inhabitants must sacrifices their animals and Barend must give up his beloved horse just at the brink of victory - when Leiden finally was liberated and church bells rang victoriously, everybody was celebrating but poor Barend who cried for his horse. Another interesting story was about shoemaker who dreamt that he must leave his village and travel to Amsterdam where he will find his fortune at certain bridge - after many complications, he finds the place and naturally there is nothing on the bridge but a beggar who tells him HIS dream that a shoemaker in a small village has a fortune buried in a backyard. To be honest, I approached this collection a bit skeptically (because I am grown up?) but before you know it, ended up really drawn into it and time just flew before I realised that pages were turning by themselves. It is very easy read and quite enchanting, must admit.
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