Found on a blog about Groningen in ancient times.
DE : Von dem Otter
Der fette Otter gut Fisch frisst,
Wie ein Biber er gformiert ist.
Beim Wasser er sein Wesen hat,
Sein Haar is wie ein Feder glat.
Sein Höl er künstlich machen thut,
Wie der Biber mit Ast und Ruth.
Darinn er sitst mit guter ruh,
Die Fisch lauffen ihm selber zu.
Als viel daß er nicht selber kan
Fressen, als dan ein gstanck komt von
Der faulen Fisch, den Luft vergifft,
Die Fischer geben diesen bericht.
NL : Over de otter
De otter vreet zich vet aan vis
Als een bever hij uiterlijk is.
Hij voelt zich helemaal thuis in ‘t nat
Zijn pels is als fluweel zo glad.
Met tak en twijg bouwt hij zijn nest,
Als een bever verstaat hij die kunst heel best.
In dat hol wordt hij zeker niet moe,
De vis komt immers vanzelf naar hem toe.
Zoveel dat hij lang niet alles verorberen kan,
zodat de restanten erg stinken gaan dan.
De rottende vis vergiftigt de lucht,
Daarom is de otter bij vissers berucht.
the otter is berated in two languages for the practice of building a nest that the fish swim into, and only eating some and leaving the rest to rot, creating a bad smell, and thus is unpopular with fishermen (although they mention its sleek skin).
In reality it catches the fish by its own effort and quick reactions, the zoological reason is like all mustelids, it emits a nasty smell when threatened, and is smart enough to realise that in an area full of men who go bald often in their 20s, that its skin is good material for lining a hat with.
But if these men wanted to court the meisjes/wichter/mädchen (who are strong minded and very nature aware) they must take off their hats out of politeness, and also find some way of explaining to these young women a good reason for clouting a cute furry creature with a stick to make a hat out of its skin. Otherwise the young women would only say “nee!/nein!” as they would fear their house pets would similarly end up as headgear, and decide to become nuns/decoanesses instead (a deaconess is a Protestant nun, I didn’t realise those existed) and the men could even get slapped on their bald heads like the old dude in the Benny Hill show, and end up having to wander the woods or go to sea alone.
Hence this explanation, so these guys didn’t come across as so barbaric (which actually means someone who has a beard, perhaps to make up for less hair on top).
Today there is central heating available to most of Northern Europe (some of the bits are made in Groningen) and you can get eco friendly vegan hats if you want to wear one, lack of hair isn’t seen as such a problem for men (it does means that Geert Wilders is seen as a kutidioot who flaunts his hair in the land of the bald) and the otter is a protected species…
original:
they probably mocked the fishermen for being bald, and unearthed secret hoards of contraband that would otherwise be freely trafficked across Europe…
(during the Roman Empire one part of Northern Europe and France was actually ruled by Charles the Bald, and the eastern bit was ruled by Louis the German) :laugh_at:
