Dutch · Beginner
Read Fulco de minstreel in Dutchwith every sentence explained
English title: Fulco the Minstrel
C. Joh. Kieviet · 1892
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About the book
Fulco de minstreel by C. Joh. Kieviet was first published in 1892. In Passage you read the full text in the original Dutch, marked beginner and filed under children and historical fiction. It runs to about 50,400 words.
Holland, 1297. A loyal servant with a golden voice. A proud knight who never forgives.
On a sweltering August evening, three riders head for the castle of Heukelom: the young Lord Gijsbrecht of IJsselstein, a hero of the war to avenge the murdered Count Floris V; his squire Jan van Asperen; and, eating their dust at the back, Fulco — a cheerful lad of twenty, nicknamed “the Minstrel” for his fine voice and his songs, who once saved his master's life in battle.
Gijsbrecht is to marry the spirited Bertha van Arkel, and the celebrations include a grand tournament. But when the arrogant, never-defeated knight Hendrik van Vianen is humbled and his servant is exposed as a scoundrel, Gijsbrecht gains a dangerous enemy. Soon IJsselstein itself is under threat — and quick-witted Fulco will need every trick he knows.
C. Joh. Kieviet's lively tale of knights, sieges and disguises brings medieval Holland to life for young readers.
- Author
- C. Joh. Kieviet
- First published
- 1892
- Language
- Dutch
- Level
- Beginner
- Genre
- Children, Historical Fiction
- Length
- About 50,400 words
How it opens
’t Was op een schoonen Augustusavond van het jaar onzes Heeren 1297, dat drie ruiters in gestrekten draf langs den heirweg reden, die naar het slot van den Heer van Heukelom voerde. Ongetwijfeld hadden zij een warmen rit achter den rug, want een wit schuim liep den edelen dieren langs de zijden, en de kleederen der ruiters waren met stof bedekt. Het was een heete dag geweest, zoo heet als het in de hondsdagen maar zijn kan. Het zonnetje had den ganschen dag als een gloeiende bol aan den wolkenloozen hemel geschitterd en hare verzengende stralen naar het aardrijk geschoten.
Reading Fulco de minstreel in Passage
Passage sets the book as a quiet, paginated reader in Dutch. Read at your own pace, and when a sentence stops you, tap it. You get:
- a natural translation of that exact sentence,
- a short note on the grammar, in plain words,
- the key words, which you can save with the sentence they came from,
- all of it in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Turkish or Portuguese, whichever you read best.
It's marked beginner, so it's a good first whole book if you know the basics of Dutch and want something you can finish. The words you save come back later in short review games, so the book keeps teaching after you close it.
