Pied Piper of HamelinReading Text

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Reading Text

* * * 1 * * *

Once upon a time, there was a small town called Hamelin in the west of Germany. This was a lovely place where people walked with smiles on their faces. However, recently men and women walked home with heavy steps after a day of hard work and their children seldom got out of their houses to play. And what was the cause of this change? The whole town lived in fear of… rats.

Rats, as big as dogs, with pointed teeth and sharp claws were everywhere in Hamelin. In the daytime, they ran across the streets, scrambled over the roofs and played in the gutters; at night, they slept in the kitchens or under people’s beds. Some of them even made nests in men’s hats, hid under women’s skirts, and jumped in and out of children’s school bags and even bit the children. Some climbed down chimneys to keep warm near the fireplace. They made holes in the cupboards in the kitchens and ate all the food inside. They ate the bread in the bakery, the meat in the butcher’s shop and the vegetables in the farm. Very soon this became a serious problem for the whole town. The people of Hamelin were all very unhappy. One morning the people complained to one another outside the Town Hall.

“Those rats are terrible!”

“They are frightening!”

“They eat up our food!”

“They make our homes dirty and make us sick!”

“They are everywhere.”

“They even bite our babies. We must do something about this!”

“Yes, we must get rid of those awful rats.”

“But we have tried many methods, and none of them has worked.”

“Let’s see the Mayor. Let’s ask him to do something!”

* * * 2 * * *

So they went to see the Mayor in the Town Hall. The Mayor was a clever man.

He said to the crowd, “People of Hamelin, we are facing the biggest problem that we have ever met before! We have rats everywhere. We must solve this problem as soon as possible!”

“What can we do?” said the crowd.

“We have used poison, but the poison also killed our dogs and cats,” said the butcher.

“We have used fire, but the fire also burnt down our houses,” said the farmer.

“We have brought cats to catch the rats, but the rats are so big and the cats are frightened of them,” said the baker.

“What can we do? We must think of a way to get rid of the rats,” said the crowd.

As they were talking, the Mayor’s wife ran to the hall carrying her son. “Look. Look. The rats have bitten our son’s fingers. See where his fingers are bleeding.”

The Mayor was very angry. He announced, “We must kill all these terrible rats! If any of you can get rid of the rats, I will give you one thousand gold coins!”

* * * 3 * * *

Just then a strange young man stepped forward. He was wearing brightly coloured clothes in red, green and yellow and carried a rucksack on his back. No one had ever seen him before.

“I can get rid of your rats,” the young man said calmly.

“What’s that? What did he say? He can get rid of our rats?” The crowd turned to one another in surprise.

“You say you can get rid of our rats”, said the Mayor. “How will you do that?”

“Many people have tried but no one has ever succeeded. Are you going to use poison? We have tried but it didn’t work. The poison also killed our cats and dogs,” said the butcher.

“I’m not going to use poison.”

“Are you going to burn the rats? We have tried but it was too dangerous. We burnt down some of our houses,” said the farmer.

“I’m not going to burn the rats.”

“Are you going to bring in some cats? We have tried but that wasn’t useful. The rats are stronger than the cats,” said the baker.

“I’m not going to bring in the cats,” the stranger replied.

“Then how are you going to kill the rats?” the crowd asked.

“I’m not going to kill them, but I’ll make them disappear from Hamelin,” the stranger said confidently.

“Okay, young man. I will give you a thousand gold coins if you can make the rats disappear. Can you tell me how you are going to do this?” the Mayor said.

The Stranger replied, “Sir, this is my secret. But do you promise to give me a thousand gold coins if I get rid of the rats?”

The Mayor said, “Very well, young man.” The Mayor laid his hand on his heart. “Cross my heart and hope to die!”

Then, the stranger left the room with a smile on his face.

* * * 4 * * *

That night, the stranger took a pipe out of his bag and started to play a soft tune on it. Very soon, more and more rats came out of the houses, barns and shops. The stranger continued the tune as he danced on the streets. All of the rats followed him. The stranger went to the river and the rats ran into the river, where they were drowned!

* * * 5 * * *

On the next morning, the Piper came to see the Mayor. He said to the Mayor, “Sir, all the rats are gone now. Give me the thousand gold coins you promised.”

But the Mayor said, “A thousand gold coins? What a crazy idea! This is not a rich town. Where can I find a thousand gold coins? After all, you only played a little tune on a pipe. Anyone can do that! But I’m a generous man. I’ll give you fifty gold coins instead.”

“Yes, don’t be so greedy? Who do you think you are?” the crowd agreed. “You’d better get out of town before you get hurt. Go on. Get out of town before we beat you.”

The Piper was very angry, “If you do not keep your promise you will be sorry! I will play my pipe again, and this time you will not like the tune so well.”

“Is he threatening us? Who does he think he is?”

“Get out of town before we beat you.”

* * * 6 * * *

On the next morning before anyone was awake, the Piper returned to the town. Again he took his pipe out of his bag and started to play a tune on it. This time, all the children came out of their houses and yards and followed him one by one, as he walked out of the gate to the mountains. The children were skipping, dancing, singing and laughing. The adults wanted to stop them, but their feet were stuck to the ground.

After walking across the fields and rivers, the children reached a mountain which was several miles away from the town. The Piper stopped there and suddenly a cave opened up in front of him. The Piper walked into the mountain, followed by the children, and the cave closed again.

Only one child did not go into the mountain. He was little Jimmy, who had a bad leg and could not walk fast enough to follow the other children. He cried on the road to the mountain. “Please wait for me. Please let me go with you.”

He cried and told the people of the town that he was very happy when he heard the Piper’s tune and wanted to follow the Piper: “I couldn’t keep up with the others because of my bad leg. They ran on ahead, chattering and singing as they ran after the Piper. I felt so happy when I heard the sound of the pipe. It made me think of the wind in the trees, the singing of birds, and children laughing and playing in the sun. But now I am all alone. I have no friends.”


Since then, the children and the Piper were never seen again in Hamelin. Afterwards, there was a rumour that when you came near to the mountains, you would hear children’s laughter coming from inside.

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