It occurs to me that very little Dutch has found its way into these
pages. Let me therefore give the first stanza of the national song,
"Voor Vaderland en Vorst":--
Wien Neerlandsch bloed in de aderen vloeit,
Van vreemde smetten vrij,
Wiens hart voor land en Koning gloeit,
Verhef den sang als wij:
Hij stel met ons, vereend van zin,
Met onbeklemde borst,
Het godgevallig feestlied in
Voor Vaderland en Vorst.
These are brave words. A very pedestrian translation runs thus:--
Who Ne'erland's blood feel nobly flow,
From foreign tainture free,
Whose hearts for king and country glow,
Come, raise the song as we:
With breasts serene, and spirits gay,
In holy union sing
The soul-inspiring festal lay,
For Fatherland and King.
And now a specimen of really mellifluous Dutch. "How
would you like," is the timely question of a daily paper
this morning, as I finish this chapter, "to be hit by a
'snellpaardelooszoondeerspoorwegpitroolrijtung?' That is what would
happen to you if you were run down by a motor-car in Holland. The name
comes from 'snell,' rapid; 'paardeloos,' horseless; 'zoondeerspoorweg,'
without rails; 'pitroolrijtung,' driven by petroleum.
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