[Alberta's Child]

Americans are surprised when I tell them that a famous symbol of the country of Belgium is "Mannekin Pis," a 17th century statue of a naked boy urinating into a fountain.

That's an amazing story. The "Mannekin Pis" statue actually commemorates an event in Belgian history where a young child helped to avert a major disaster by peeing on a small fire before it could spread.

I learned that from the Belgian owner of a restaurant in the small town of St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.

The restaurant is named "Mannekin Pis," by the way, and it has a replica of that statue prominently displayed out on the front lawn.

[Martin Tell]

There are several stories about the inspiration for the statue. When I lived in Brussels, I took my (then 5 year old) daughter to a puppet show about Mannekin Pis. In this story, he was the rightful duke of the region (though only a very young boy - toddler size). During a battle, he was present to encourage the troops. Things were going bad for the Brusseloises (as they always do in battle). The boy-duke stood up in a wagon, whipped it out and relieved himself. Encouraged by the young duke's elan, sang froid, and puissance, the Belgians rallied to win the day. Regardless of the origins of the statue, the Brusseloises love it. In the 1600s, Loius XIV sacked and burned the town. The townsfolk were willing to forgive and forget, but they could not abide the fact that his soldiers stole Mannekin Pis as well. Louis sent it back dressed in his royal livery. This gave rise to the custom of heads of state, when they arrive in Brussels, giving a suit of clothes (uniforms, etc.) to MP. He now has an extensive wardrobe and is changed daily (BTW the statue is actually very small and visitors are often disappointed, but I understand Clinton was fascinated during his Brussels visit). Salut!