A legendary piper

Press, 29 July 1976, Page 5

A legendary piper

In the Middle Ages, towns were often harrassed by hordes of rats and they gave people a dreaded illness known as the plague. There is an interesting legend about a German town called Hamelin w'hich was overrun with rats in 1376. The people who lived there were desperately worried. The rats were so fierce that they fought dogs and killed cats. They ran boldly through the houses, eating huge quantities of food, and, worst of all, savagely biting the babies. The townspeople tried over and over again to rid their town of rats, but they were unsuccessful. One July day a strange man called the Pied Piper arrived in the town. He was dressed half in yellow and half in red, and carried a magic pipe. He offered to drive the rats from the town and the delighted town councillors promised him a reward of money. So, walking through all the streets, the Pied Piper played his magic pipe. And the music was so bewitching that the rats were charmed out of their hiding places and followed the Piper. He led them in a long procession to a river and there they drowned — all except one fat rat which managed to

swim to the other side safely. Then, the Pied Piper returned to the councillors for his reward, but they refused to pay him. The Pied Piper was angry that they had , broken their promise. He walked again through Hamelin, playing his magic pipe. This time the children of the town followed him, running and skipping merrily at his feet. He led them to Koppelberg Hill and there an entrance in its side opened up and the Pied Piper and the children disappeared through it. The hillside door closed once more. Only one small boy in the town was left behind. He was lame and had lagged behind the others. However, he was sad for

the rest of his days as he missed his friends and believed that the Pied Piper had led the children to a wonderful land. Certainly, neither they nor the Pied Piper were seen again.