Remember that story where a man dressed in colorful clothes and hat played a magical tune that made all the rats follow him to their death?
Turns out that story isn’t as innocent as told in children stories.
The Pied Piper in the books goes on to play his magical tune when the mayor refuses to pay him for his service. Only this time, his hypnotic tune is played for the children in the town who follow him into a cave. The mayor pays the Pied Piper who then returns the children to their parents.
Even with all the colorful pictures and funny faces of the characters in the children’s book, one cannot stop but see an obvious kidnapping crime depicted in the story. The Pied Piper abducted children because the Mayor didn’t pay? The kids are returned once the ransom is paid?
Doesn’t seem much like a story you want to tell kids once you begin to analyze.
Anyway, that’s barely the tip of the iceberg of the story that is supposed to be based on real events.
Sometimes in 1284 in the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany, there was a serious rat infestation problem no one could get rid of. The Mayor was desperate as the townspeople kept coming to him with complaints.
A man approached the mayor, and according to stories passed on from generations, wore colorful clothing (Pied) and played a flute he claimed would get rid of the rats.
The Mayor was desperate enough to agree to the strange man and didn’t question how playing a tune would get rid of rats.
But lo and behold. The Pied Piper, played his instrument, gathered all the rats that were hypnotized by his tune and led them to the river. They all drowned and the town was free from rats.
But of course, the act of breaking promises and not paying fees existed a long time ago. The mayor had promised 1000 guilders and the Piper was ready to be paid 50 guilders.
He just wanted to be paid.
But the mayor said nope. The Piper just has to deal with the fact that the world is full of deceitful people and broken promises.
It’s not like the Piper could bring back the rats again could he? They were dead. Perhaps the Piper should have taken some advance or gotten rid of only some of the rats. But he was an honest fellow and kept his promises.
But the Piper didn’t simply cry in the corner and leave this deceitful, cruel town forever. He plotted revenge.
On 26th July, on St John and Paul’s day, while all the parents were at church, the Pied Piper played his tune once again. Except for this time his target wasn’t rats but the children of the town.
Legend has it that the Pied Piper led 130 children to a cave by playing his pipe. It is also said three children were left behind. One who was handicapped, one blind and one deaf.
Those three kids were left alone at home unattended. When the parents returned home they couldn’t find their children. According to one story, the child who was handicapped did try to follow the other children but couldn’t keep up because of his leg. He’s the one who alerted the parents about the missing children and that it was the Pied Piper who lured the kids.
The parents frantically searched for their children and the Pied Piper but couldn’t find them anywhere. They regretted not taking the Piper’s side when the Mayor deceived him.
They begged the mayor to do something about it. He put up notices, made announcements for the Piper to come meet him and return the children.
While the story suggests the Pied Piper was paid the sum and the children returned, the legend states that on 26th July, 130 children disappeared. The Pied Piper was never heard from again.
There were many theories that cropped up to explain the disappearance.
Some suggest that since there were so many rats in the town, that there had been a plague epidemic. It’s the disease that got to the kids and killed them.
The Piper never was supposed to exist and was thought to be a figure of death that took children to heaven.
This theory was refuted with a fact that a stranger had passed by the town of Hamelin around 1284. The children were unaccounted for after that period.
Theories also suggest they were sold as slaves. Or that their parents migrated. Their surnames did show up in the surrounding colonies but again there could be no confirmation.
Then came another accusation against the Piper. He was a paedophile and kidnapped the children.
However, it seems impossible he could abduct 130 children altogether.
So what happened to the children? And did the Piper really exist?
The tale is rendered as paintings in small towns. The Piper is a bedtime story, a cautionary one to children to behave or they will be lured away.
The Piper is also called the Ratcatcher and a day is celebrated to commemorate the town getting rid of the rats.
But the road leading up to the town is said to be closed to celebrations. No music and dancing is allowed.
Is it to control noise pollution and avoid troublemakers, or because of the town’s sinister history regarding the Piper and the children who mysteriously disappeared?
For now, all we have is a tale in children’s books that ends with a happily ever after.
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