Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas is presented as both a legendary protector of children and the presiding figure of a Dutch winter festival. In the Brinker household, Dame Brinker retells a story in which the saint restores three murdered youths to life; at a celebration in the Van Gleck home, he appears in full ceremonial dress to judge the children’s conduct and bless the family. Together, these appearances make him a figure of wonder and moral instruction, joining religious tradition to domestic life.

Identity and Legend

Dame Brinker describes Saint Nicholas as a saint attentive to sailors but especially concerned for boys and girls. Her story begins with a merchant who sends his three sons to Athens for an education. At an inn, the landlord murders them, cuts up their bodies, and puts the pieces in brine, intending to sell them as pickled pork. The tale gives the saint extraordinary knowledge: a vision shows him what the landlord has done. Because he is a saint, he does not need to hurry; the next morning he confronts the innkeeper, who confesses and begs forgiveness.

The resolution makes mercy and miraculous restoration part of the saint’s identity. The landlord asks Saint Nicholas to bring the young men back to life, and the saint grants the request. Their bodies reassemble, and they emerge from the brine unharmed. The youths thank the saint and receive his blessing. Gretel already knows how the story ends, but she listens with delight nonetheless; Hans, by contrast, is unmoved by the gruesome premise and appears to regard pickling as the best possible outcome for the victims. Dame Brinker’s familiar tale thus accommodates both the children’s enjoyment of marvels and their differing responses to its events.

The Dutch Festival

The book distinguishes the Dutch Saint Nicholas from the familiar American Santa Claus. It notes that Santa Claus was said to have come originally from Holland, while observing that the figure changed after crossing the Atlantic. In the Dutch tradition described here, Saint Nicholas remains a veritable saint, appearing in embroidered robes adorned with gems and gold, a mitre, a crosier, and jeweled gloves. The emphasis falls not on a sleigh or chimney descent, but on a saintly visitor whose presence is solemn as well as festive.

The calendar also separates his festival from Christmas. Saint Nicholas visits on December 5, and early on December 6 he distributes candies, toys, and other treasures before disappearing for another year. Christmas Day, December 25, is reserved for church services and family visits. Saint Nicholas’s Eve, by contrast, brings young people excitement and expectation. The saint may also tell children when they have behaved badly, and the festival can include correction rather than treats alone. His annual return therefore gives family life a recurring occasion for both celebration and moral accounting.

The Visit to the Van Gleck Home

At the Van Gleck household, a slowly opening door reveals Saint Nicholas in full array. The assembled family falls silent. He greets Karel van Gleck and the household, then addresses the children by name, including Hilda van Gleck and Huygens Kleef. His knowledge is specific: he recalls that one boy behaved rudely at a fair but has since tried to make amends; he rebukes a girl for neglecting her lessons, spending too freely on sweets, and giving too little to charity. He also warns Katy about tormenting the household cat, reminding her that even a small, voiceless creature can suffer.

His judgments extend from kindness to animals and generosity to discipline and study. He cautions Broom about a school prank involving snuff and the schoolmistress’s foot stove. He commends Hilda and Lucretia for kindness to the poor, devotion, and cheerful obedience at home, while noting that another child’s boating and racing leave too little time for proper studies. The saint does not present goodness as a single quality: his assessments connect compassion, diligence, thrift, courtesy, and self-control to the responsibilities of daily life.

After finding the family’s conduct generally good, Saint Nicholas gives his blessing and hopes the coming year will be marked by obedience, wisdom, and love. A shower of sugarplums falls onto a linen sheet spread before the doors, and the children scramble to fill their baskets. The saint is nowhere to be found when they rush to search the adjoining room. The family then places a shoe for each child on a linen-covered table, locks the room, hides the key in the mother’s bedroom, and goes upstairs after exchanging goodnight kisses. The ritual ends in secrecy and expectation, with the household’s ordinary rooms temporarily transformed by the promise of his return.

Belief and Narrative Significance

Saint Nicholas’s importance in the book also appears in the Brinkers’ private hopes. On Saint Nicholas’s Eve, Dame Brinker speaks of the family’s stolen money, missing since the day before Raff Brinker was injured. She has prayed that the saint will either trouble the thieves until they return it or help the family discover it themselves. Hans is dismayed by her appeal, but she insists that her Protestant faith does not prevent her from turning sometimes to the saint. Her words present religious custom as lived practice within a family’s hardship, rather than as a simple statement of doctrine. The passage records her prayer, not an intervention by Saint Nicholas or the recovery of the money.

The book’s preface states that it aims to combine travel description with a domestic tale and to offer young readers a fair picture of Dutch life. Saint Nicholas serves that aim through both the fireside legend and the detailed festival scene: one shows how a story is passed between mother and children, while the other makes communal custom visible through clothing, gifts, judgments, and household ritual. In each appearance, wonder is joined to practical moral expectations. The saint’s gifts matter, but so do the conduct that precedes them and the kindness, thrift, and care that his blessing asks the family to carry into the year ahead.