Belgian Fairy Tales

by William Elliot Griffis

On the contrary, as the young ladies say, the men “adored” the tulip because of its bright colors. Every man, who had been a crusader, planted it in his garden, to remind him of the Saracens, whose heads he had cut off in battle; or, to tell, his sons and neighbors about the terrible warriors he had met and fought with.

This was necessary, for all the small boys were disappointed, whose fathers did not bring back [[172]]a scimeter, a spear, a shield, a javelin, a real turban, a pair of turkish slippers, a harem shawl, or some other trophy, to show that they had really been to the wars. In fact, some of them expected their daddies to return with a string of Turks’ heads at the saddle.

So the tulip was called a man’s flower, and Taff got rich, by selling the bulbs. Then he cultivated many varieties, with new shapes and colors. It got to be the fashion to buy these, for every one wanted to show off the new hues and tints, the streaks and spots, and the flaming colors, and hoped to beat his neighbor with the most astonishingly big blooms.

At one time, it seemed as if the whole world had gone crazy over tulips. Thousands of dollars were paid for a single bulb, or even for a tulip in flower, which would lose its petals in a few hours. Every day the Bourse, or money market, was crowded with merchants and brokers; who were buying bulbs and plants, without ever seeing one of them. Prices were announced from distant markets, by means of signals given on the windmills. Some men had tulips on the brain. They sold all they had, chairs, tables, beds, dishes and even clothes, to buy tulips, red, yellow, blue, or black.

But wise men called all this madness, and even talked of “wind trade.” Soon the excitement [[173]]died down, and the market fell as flat as a ship’s sails on the mast, when there is not enough breeze to flap them.

There was another Fleming, a returned crusader, whose first name was Isaac; but they called him Nyken for short. This man was a potter by trade. He was so pestered by the small boys who wondered why he hadn’t brought back two or three Turks’ heads, that he was at his wit’s end to explain and answer their questions. So Nyken hid himself away, resolving to get rich from what he had learned about turbans. Not having any garden, he could not raise flowers, so he made up his mind he would make tulips out of clay, and get rich, even faster than his neighbor Taff, who was an old bachelor; while Nyken had a wife, and three daughters, all highly accomplished.

So Nyken mixed his clay, got his potter’s wheel ready, loaded his palette with paints, and then set to work, with his “vrouw en kinderen”; that is, his wife Bab (or Barbara) and his daughters three, Beck, Beff, and Jin (that is Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Joanna). These fine girls had all been well educated in the public schools, which were, even then, the glory of the Netherlands. They kept everything secret until the market day.

Then, to the surprise of the whole town of [[174]]Ghent, Nyken’s stall and shelves blossomed out like a bed of tulips. There was his fat wife, whom he called Bulb, for a pet name, and his three blooming daughters, whom he called his Tulip blossoms.

First in demand, was the turban-dish, or “Turk’s Head,” for baking apples, and pot pies, and cakes, and macaroni. This was made of earthenware.

Then there was hard, shining glazed ware, in many forms and for many uses, cups, saucers, vases and flower-holders. These were made into the form of the flowers themselves, or were decorated with tulips of many tints; besides those which were black, yellow, and red, the colors of the Duke of Brabant and of the Belgian flag.