Belgian Fairy Tales

by William Elliot Griffis

Although fairies do not eat anything, unless, it may be, to sip dew, or taste a drop or two of the honey, which bees make, yet they saw that human creatures loved dearly to eat and drink. In truth, some of them seemed to think more of tickling their palates and filling their stomachs than of anything else.

So the fairies decided that the best way, to please their human friends, was to get up some sort of delicacy. They called up one of the oldest and wisest of their number, who had been in the Belgian kitchens. These fairies had gone to play tricks upon the cooks, in the palaces of the rich, and upon the girls and mothers of the poor people, that lived in cabins. They were only mischievous, however, and did not destroy anything, but only amused themselves, in order to sharpen people’s wits.

There was another very wise fairy, that had learned the language and could understand what men and women meant, when they talked. As often as they opened their mouths and lips, and let sounds come out of their throats, the fairy would listen and could distinguish between what they said, and what the dogs meant, when they barked, or the horses, when they whinnied. This fairy, also, told what would please the humans; [[239]]having heard much talk in the kitchen, the market, the barn and the house yards.

After these two wise fairies had reported, it was agreed that the best way to reach the hearts of both children and grown folks was down through their mouths and throats. One solemn old fairy proposed that the best time, to please the Belgians, would be when they celebrated the birthday of their greatest Friend, who was once a babe in a manger. Besides what the kitchen fairy had described, the other one, that often flew into churches, told what had been heard there.

All the fairies listened very attentively, while this one was giving the whole story, of how wise men from the East, where lay the lands of gold and spices, and perfumes, came to worship the young child. Much to the surprise of these three travelers, they found the royal baby in the hay, and its mother among the cows and sheep, and the hecks, or fodder racks of the animals.

Yet right there, without waiting for the wonderful child to be seen in a palace, they opened their treasures and made presents to the baby’s parents. Their gifts consisted of bright, yellow gold and sweet smelling, costly frankincense. Besides the two royal or rich wise men, there was one of the three who was poor, and could afford only myrrh. Yet this spice, which, when mixed [[240]]with fragrant oil and resin, made the ordinary incense, was as gladly received as was the golden censer, or the more costly compound.

“Now,” said the two wise fairies, almost in the same breath, “why cannot we make a dainty dish, worthy of being set before a king? Let us combine, in one delicious pie, all the elements of the Bethlehem stable scene, and bake it in a dish shaped like a manger, or feed-trough. Thus, in what these good people shall eat, they shall have a picture of the Oriental gifts, gold and the spices, frankincense and myrrh. In this way, people can think of the beautiful lands afar off, without having to travel in ships over oceans, or on horses over mountains, or on camels with caravans over the deserts.

“Besides these treasures of the Orient, we shall blend meat from the oxen, with fruits, herbs and delicious foods, which are products of our own Belgic Land. So shall we unite, in one dish, what is East and West, and present, at every single mouthful, what has been grown under the hands of the Belgic, the Roman, and the Oriental peoples.”

To represent the gold the fairies got together, from the ships, golden oranges, lemons, yellow wine, honey, turmeric powder, and whatever was pleasant to the taste, that would also remind the eater of gold, the most precious of metals, brought from afar, from the wise men. [[241]]

Then, for spices, the fairies collected mace, cinnamon, all-spice, raisins, nutmegs, currants, sugar, dates, and whatever came from Oriental lands that was delightful to taste or smell.