Once upon a time, there was a small German
town named Hamelin.
Hamelin had a big problem with rats.
It started off with only one rat that called
the town home, but more and more came every
day.
Soon there were five rats… then fifty rats…
then five hundred rats!
They were in every house and every shop, running
through the streets and into people’s bedrooms.
It was a menace, and the problem needed to
be solved.
The Mayor held a town meeting in the city
hall to talk to his townsfolk and see what
could be done about the rats.
“We can use the cats!” someone spoke up,
but the Mayor shook his head.
“All of the cats have become to fat to hunt,”
he said.
“Besides, we have thousands of rats now,
but less than fifty cats.
They couldn’t eat this many rats, not even
in a year.”
The door to the city hall opened, and in walked
a tall man.
He was very thin, and wore and red and yellow
striped outfit with a belled hat.
His shoes were long and curly, one yellow
and one red.
In his hand, he held a long, gold pipe.
He shouted across the hall, “I have heard
about your problem with rats, Mayor!
I have come to help you.”
The Mayor was puzzled.
“How might you do that?” he asked.
“I will show you, Sir.
But first, you must promise that if I free
you from your terrible troubles, I will be
handsomely rewarded!”
Hamelin was a wealthy little town, but the
Mayor was miserly and didn’t like to part
with money.
“Alright stranger,” he said cautiously,
“If you can rid us of the rats, we will
pay you one thousand pieces of gold.”
The Piper agreed and led the town out into
the main square.
Rats were darting in and out of street corners
and up from the sewers.
He put his pipe into his mouth and began to
blow.
The townsfolk couldn’t hear a thing!
They were very puzzled.
Then, the ground began to rumble and shake.
Doors wobbled open, and windows creaked.
First, one rat scurried towards the Piper
and waited at his feet.
Then ten rats… then fifty… then the whole
square was filled with them!
The Piper began to walk out of the square
and towards the beach, with all the rats following
him.
They danced around behind him in little circles,
to the sound of music that only they could
hear.
Their tails wiggled and their little paws
were raised to the sky.
Onwards the rats and the Piper danced, over
cobblestones onto the sand.
The rats followed him right into the waves
and were washed away into the sea.
The Piper had kept his promise and got rid
of all the rats!
He returned to the city hall to accept his
payment of one thousand pieces of gold.
"Well, it’s wonderful that you got rid of
the rats for us,” said the Mayor, “but
it only took you half a day!
Don’t you think one thousand pieces of gold
is too much for half a day?
I’ll offer you ten instead.”
The Piper was furious.
“Pay what you promised, Mayor, or this town
will deeply regret it,” he said.
The Mayor simply handed him ten gold coins.
The Piper was so angry that his face was redder
than his suit!
Back in the square, he put his lips to his
pipe again.
This time, it was not rats that came to him.
Instead, all the children who could walk got
up from their beds, left behind their toys,
and stopped eating their dinners.
They rose slowly, in a trance, and all wandered
towards the main square.
Just like the rats, the Piper led them from
the town and out towards the mountains.
The mayor and all the townspeople wept.
For days, they all wore black and flew black
flags from their church tower.
A town without the laughter of children was
truly the saddest place on Earth.
The Piper watched the town from the mountains
and saw their sorrow.
After some weeks, he returned to the mayor’s
office and said, “I see the pain your people
are in.
Would you reconsider your decision?”
At once, the mayor pulled one thousand pieces
of gold from his safe and shoved them into
the Piper’s hands.
“Anything!” he cried, “I will do anything
to bring our children back!”
Finally satisfied with his fair payment, the
Piper blew soundlessly on his instrument again.
From high in the mountains there came the
sound of laughter and singing.
The children were dancing back to the town!
The Pied Piper went to the roof of the Mayor’s
office and shouted over the city.
“Let this be a lesson to you, Hamelin!
Never let your miserly Mayor try to weasel
out of a bill again!
Now you can understand that when you don’t
pay those who provide you with a good service,
their children will go hungry because of you.”
The Mayor listened and remembered the Piper’s
words, as now he had known the pain of paying
the highest price of all.
Never again did a bill go unpaid in the town
of Hamelin.
