Once there was a little town called Hamelin,
surrounded by green woods and fields, full of fruit and corn.
The people there were happy and quiet,
and as good or as bad as any people anywhere.
One day everything changed.
People began to notice there were rats everywhere,
nobody knew how or why.
Rats!
They fought the dogs, and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
Ate the cheeses out of the vats,
and licked the soup from the cooks own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.
The town summoned the greatest ratcatchers
from all the towns around
but although they caught hundreds of rats
there were always more, squeaking and scuffling.
It was as if they were bewitched.
At last the people in a body
To the town hall came flocking.
"Tis clear", cried they, "our Mayor's a noddy,
And as for our Corporation - shocking
To think we buy gowns lined with ermine
For dolts that can't or won't determine
What's best to rid us of our vermin.
The Mayor and Councillors felt insane,
"It's easy to bid me rack my brain,
I'm sure my poor head aches again,
I've scratched it so, and all in vain.
O for a trap, a trap, a trap."
Just as he said this, what should hap
At the council door but a gentle tap?
"Bless us, cried the Mayor,"What's that?
Only a scraping of shoes on the mat?
Anything like the sound of a rat,
Makes my heart go pit a pat!
"Come in", the Mayor cried, looking bigger,
And in did come the strangest figure!
His queer long coat from heel to head
Was half of yellow and half of red,
And he himself was tall and thin,
With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,
And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,
No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin,
But lips where smiles went out and in,
He advanced to the council table:
And "Please your honours" said he, "I'm able,
By means of a secret charm, to draw
All creatures living beneath the sun,
That creep, or swim, or fly, or run,
After me so as you never saw!
And I c***fly use my charm
On creatures that do people harm,
The mole, and toad, and newt, and viper,
And people call me the Pied Piper,
and here they notices round his neck,
A scarf of red and yellow stripe,
To match with his coat of the selfsame check;
And at the scarf's end hung a pite,
And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying,
As if impatient to be playing.
"If I can rid your town of rats,
Will you give me a thousand guilders?"
"One,...fifty thousand!" was the exclamation
Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation.
Into the street the Piper stepped,
Smiling first a little smile,
As if he knew what magic slept
In his quiet pipe the while:
Then, like a musical adept,
To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled,
And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled,
Like a candle-flame where salt is sprinkled,
And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered,
You heard as if an army muttered,
And the muttering grew to a grumbling,
And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling,
And out of the houses the rats came tumbling,
Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats,
Grave old plodders, gay young friskers,
Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins
c***ing tails and p****ing whiskers,
Families by tens and dozens,
Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives -
Followed the Piper for their lives.
From street to street he piped advancing,
And step by step they followed dancing.
Until they came to the River Weser,
Wherein all plunged and perished.
You should have heard the Hamelin people,
Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple:
"Go," cried the Mayor, "and get long poles!
Poke out the nests and block up the holes!
Consult with carpenters and builders,
And leave in our town not even a trace
Of the rats!" When suddenly up the face
Of the Piper perked in the market-place,
With a "First, if you please, my thousand guilders"!
A thousand guilders! The Mayor looked blue
So did the Corporation too,
To pay this sum to a wandering fellow
With a gypsy coat of red and yellow!
"Beside", said the Mayor, with a knowing wink,
Our business was done at the river's brink,
We saw with our eyes the vermin sink,
And what's dead can't come to live, I think.
O friend, we're not the folks to shrink
From the duty of giving you something for drink.
And a matter of money to put in your poke:
But as for the guilders, what we spoke
Of them, as you very well know, was in joke.
Beside, our losses have made us thrifty,
A thousand guilders! Come, take fifty!"
The Piper's face fell and he criedddddddddddddddddd,
"No trifling! I can wait! Beside
Folk who put me in a passion,
May find me pipe to another fashion".
"Insulted by a lazy ribald
With idle pipe and vesture piebald?
You threaten us, fellow?
Do your worst,
Blow your pipe there till you burst".
The piper drew himself up to his full height and gave the
Mayor a long cold look from his strange green eyes.
Once more he stepped into the street,
And to his lips again
Laid his long piipe of smooth stright cane,
And here he blew three notes,
There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling
of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoess clattering,
Little hands clapping, and little tongues chattering,
And like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering,
Out came the children running.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls
Tipping and skipping, ran merrily after
The wonderful music, with shouting and laughter.
The Mayor was dumb, and the Council stood
As if they were changed into blocks of wood
Unable to move a step, or cry
To the children merrily skipping by-
And could only follow with the eye
That joyous crowd at the Piper's back.
But how the Mayor on the rack,
And the wretched Council's bosoms beat,
As the Piper turned from the High Street,
To where the Weser rolled its waters
Right in the way of their sons and daughters!
However, he turned from south to West,
And to Koppleberg Hill his steps addressed,
And after him the children pressed.
Great was the joy in every breast.
"He never can cross that mighty top!
He's forced to let the piping drop,
And we shall see our children stop!"
When, lo, as they reached the mountain-side,
A wondrous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
And the Piper advanced and the children followed.
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain side shut fast.
Epilogue
Did I say all? No! One was lame,
And could not dance the whole of the way.
And in after years, if you would blame
His sadness, he was used to say,
"It's dull in our town since my playmates left!
I can't forget that I'm bereft
Of all the pleasant sights they see,
Which the Piper also promised me.
For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,
Joining the town and just at hand,
Where waters gushed and fruit trees grew,
And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
And everything was strange and new;
The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,
And the dogs outran our fallow deer,
And honey bees had lost their stings,
And horses were born with eagle's wings.
surrounded by green woods and fields, full of fruit and corn.
The people there were happy and quiet,
and as good or as bad as any people anywhere.
One day everything changed.
People began to notice there were rats everywhere,
nobody knew how or why.
Rats!
They fought the dogs, and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
Ate the cheeses out of the vats,
and licked the soup from the cooks own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.
The town summoned the greatest ratcatchers
from all the towns around
but although they caught hundreds of rats
there were always more, squeaking and scuffling.
It was as if they were bewitched.
At last the people in a body
To the town hall came flocking.
"Tis clear", cried they, "our Mayor's a noddy,
And as for our Corporation - shocking
To think we buy gowns lined with ermine
For dolts that can't or won't determine
What's best to rid us of our vermin.
The Mayor and Councillors felt insane,
"It's easy to bid me rack my brain,
I'm sure my poor head aches again,
I've scratched it so, and all in vain.
O for a trap, a trap, a trap."
Just as he said this, what should hap
At the council door but a gentle tap?
"Bless us, cried the Mayor,"What's that?
Only a scraping of shoes on the mat?
Anything like the sound of a rat,
Makes my heart go pit a pat!
"Come in", the Mayor cried, looking bigger,
And in did come the strangest figure!
His queer long coat from heel to head
Was half of yellow and half of red,
And he himself was tall and thin,
With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,
And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,
No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin,
But lips where smiles went out and in,
He advanced to the council table:
And "Please your honours" said he, "I'm able,
By means of a secret charm, to draw
All creatures living beneath the sun,
That creep, or swim, or fly, or run,
After me so as you never saw!
And I c***fly use my charm
On creatures that do people harm,
The mole, and toad, and newt, and viper,
And people call me the Pied Piper,
and here they notices round his neck,
A scarf of red and yellow stripe,
To match with his coat of the selfsame check;
And at the scarf's end hung a pite,
And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying,
As if impatient to be playing.
"If I can rid your town of rats,
Will you give me a thousand guilders?"
"One,...fifty thousand!" was the exclamation
Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation.
Into the street the Piper stepped,
Smiling first a little smile,
As if he knew what magic slept
In his quiet pipe the while:
Then, like a musical adept,
To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled,
And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled,
Like a candle-flame where salt is sprinkled,
And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered,
You heard as if an army muttered,
And the muttering grew to a grumbling,
And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling,
And out of the houses the rats came tumbling,
Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats,
Grave old plodders, gay young friskers,
Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins
c***ing tails and p****ing whiskers,
Families by tens and dozens,
Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives -
Followed the Piper for their lives.
From street to street he piped advancing,
And step by step they followed dancing.
Until they came to the River Weser,
Wherein all plunged and perished.
You should have heard the Hamelin people,
Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple:
"Go," cried the Mayor, "and get long poles!
Poke out the nests and block up the holes!
Consult with carpenters and builders,
And leave in our town not even a trace
Of the rats!" When suddenly up the face
Of the Piper perked in the market-place,
With a "First, if you please, my thousand guilders"!
A thousand guilders! The Mayor looked blue
So did the Corporation too,
To pay this sum to a wandering fellow
With a gypsy coat of red and yellow!
"Beside", said the Mayor, with a knowing wink,
Our business was done at the river's brink,
We saw with our eyes the vermin sink,
And what's dead can't come to live, I think.
O friend, we're not the folks to shrink
From the duty of giving you something for drink.
And a matter of money to put in your poke:
But as for the guilders, what we spoke
Of them, as you very well know, was in joke.
Beside, our losses have made us thrifty,
A thousand guilders! Come, take fifty!"
The Piper's face fell and he criedddddddddddddddddd,
"No trifling! I can wait! Beside
Folk who put me in a passion,
May find me pipe to another fashion".
"Insulted by a lazy ribald
With idle pipe and vesture piebald?
You threaten us, fellow?
Do your worst,
Blow your pipe there till you burst".
The piper drew himself up to his full height and gave the
Mayor a long cold look from his strange green eyes.
Once more he stepped into the street,
And to his lips again
Laid his long piipe of smooth stright cane,
And here he blew three notes,
There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling
of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoess clattering,
Little hands clapping, and little tongues chattering,
And like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering,
Out came the children running.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls
Tipping and skipping, ran merrily after
The wonderful music, with shouting and laughter.
The Mayor was dumb, and the Council stood
As if they were changed into blocks of wood
Unable to move a step, or cry
To the children merrily skipping by-
And could only follow with the eye
That joyous crowd at the Piper's back.
But how the Mayor on the rack,
And the wretched Council's bosoms beat,
As the Piper turned from the High Street,
To where the Weser rolled its waters
Right in the way of their sons and daughters!
However, he turned from south to West,
And to Koppleberg Hill his steps addressed,
And after him the children pressed.
Great was the joy in every breast.
"He never can cross that mighty top!
He's forced to let the piping drop,
And we shall see our children stop!"
When, lo, as they reached the mountain-side,
A wondrous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
And the Piper advanced and the children followed.
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain side shut fast.
Epilogue
Did I say all? No! One was lame,
And could not dance the whole of the way.
And in after years, if you would blame
His sadness, he was used to say,
"It's dull in our town since my playmates left!
I can't forget that I'm bereft
Of all the pleasant sights they see,
Which the Piper also promised me.
For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,
Joining the town and just at hand,
Where waters gushed and fruit trees grew,
And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
And everything was strange and new;
The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,
And the dogs outran our fallow deer,
And honey bees had lost their stings,
And horses were born with eagle's wings.