This is the story I heard about the Manneken Pis statue. In the 1600s (I believe it was), Belgium was conquered by the Spanish, who arranged a triumphal march through Brussels. The Belgians stood in silent gloom as the Spanish troops and their general passed in review. Suddenly a 6 year old boy, who had been watching the parade from a balcony, began to urinate, throwing a long stream down on the General and his flustered officers. The Belgians erupted in laughter, then applause. The boy became a national hero, and a proud symbol of Belgian independence in the face of the European powers that surrounded them.