National Public Radio (USA)

(30 november 1994; met een bijdrage van Hugo Slamat)

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V = vrouwelijke presentator

M = mannelijke presentator

HS = Hugo Slamat

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V: “Too often this program has neglected the topic of dentistry. We hope to correct that omission now with a remarkable story. But first you’ll need a crash course in the Dutch language.”

M: “False teeth.”

HS: “Vals gebit.”

M: “Fisherman.”

HS: “Sportvisser.”

M: “Cod.”

HS: “Kabeljauw.”

M: “And seasick.”

HS: “Zeeziek.”

V: “The story begins in late September.”

M:

Dutchman Cor Stoop went down to sea, to the lonely sea and the sky,
For all that he asked was a steady ship, a wish nature would deny,
For the wheels kick and the wind song and the engines rocky motion
Caused poor Cor’s “vals gebit” to fall into the ocean.

V:

Cor Stoop went home from the sea that day at the end of his adventures,
Sad and soaked and nearly broke, missing 1500 guilder dentures,
And all that he asked was a calmer day with the white clouds flying
And something perhaps to hold down lunch, for being “zeeziek” can be trying.

M:

Three months passed, another “sportvisser” went down to the sea sunday to the vagrant angler life,
Hugo Slamat sought sport and perhaps a perch or pike,
But as he cast out across the ships predigious bow
He hauled on board as his reward an enormous “kabeljauw”.

V:

So Hugo Slamat grabbed his knife and split the fish’s belly, zip zip zing zing,
Powers to guess: “What is that for an incredible thing?”
For there within the cod’s inside, the ocean floor beneath,
Exclaimed Hugo Slamat: “Hey, what’s that here? That’s a false teeth”.

M:

Soon toothless Cor Stoop went down to the seaside again, to the denture-baring sea and fate,
And all he asked Mr. Slamat for was his missing lower plate.
A miracle find of dental bliss, and white anamal again could sound:
“I couldn’t believe it, that the man was found”.

V:

Now Mr. Stoop is chewing his food again, giving thanks to the sea and sky
And all that he needs is a tall glass and a bottle of Heinekens nearby.
Fisherman Slamat, the lucky angler, wants all to know, basking in his glory,
The important fact about this tale: “So this is a story and it’s a true story”.

M: “A true story indeed, told by the help of Dutch fisherman Hugo Slamat, and our apologies to the real poet, John Masefield, and our thanks to CBS’s Charles Osgood for his borrowed story telling trick.”

[N.B.: het originele gedicht van John Masefield (1878-1967) heet Sea-Fever]