It's a reference to the novel "Hans Brinker" (or "The Silver Skates") by American author Mary Mapes Dodge [1]. I haven't read it, but it contains the story of

It's a reference to the novel "Hans Brinker" (or "The Silver Skates") by American author Mary Mapes Dodge [1]. I haven't read it, but it contains the story of the little Dutch boy who plugs a dike with his finger (which I guess is quite obviously "story magic" if you've seen a dike). I wonder if the Dutch then erecting a statue of that boy is an example of trying to mitigate the Paris Syndrome [2] in tourists? Interesting. :) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Brinker,_or_The_Silver_Skates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Brinker,_or_The_Silver_Sk... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome