The Pied Piper of Hamelin

This is the short story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

A long, long time ago, the people of the town of Hamelin had a big problem. There were too many rats in the Hamelin. The people tried everything to get rid of the little pests, but in vein. There were big rats and little rats. There were old rats and baby rats. There were rats of every colour and shape. Even the cats couldn’t do anything. The Chief of the town called a meeting and told everyone that he would given ten sacks of gold to anybody who saves them from rats.

            Finally, one day, a stranger from a far away land came to Hamelin. Dressed in colourful clothes, he had a feather in his hat and he carried a pipe. He said to the townspeople that he would get rid of rats. Then, the stranger took his pipe and started playing an odd but wonderful tune. All the rats in the town heard the music and began to run to him. As he walked through the streets of Hamelin playing his pipe, more and more rats followed him.

Rats from every corner followed the Pied Piper and his music. The clever man took them all to a river. There, one by one, all the rats fell into the water and drowned. Hamelin was free from rats! The Pied Piper went back to collect his reward. But now that their problem was solved, the greedy townspeople did not want to pay him any money. The Pied Piper was very angry and thought to teach this town a lesson.

Immediately, the Pied Piper began playing his pipe again. This time, all the children in the town heard the music and ran after him. Every girl and every boy of Hamelin began to follow the magical music. The Pied Piper took them all to the cave outside the city and closed the cave door with a huge rock. Only two children were left behind. One little boy had hurt his leg and the little girl couldn’t hear anything. They went to the townspeople and told them what had happened.

Now, the townspeople were very scared and very ashamed of breaking their promise. They went to the cave where the Pied Piper was and begged for forgiveness. They even promised to give him twenty sacks of gold.

Finally, the Pied Piper let the children go. The town of Hamelin had learnt never to be ungrateful and greedy. The Pied Piper disappeared, never to be seen again. But they say that sometimes, in Hamelin, if you listen very carefully, you can still hear the beautiful sound of his pipe! 

source : bedtimeshortstories/thepiedpiperofhamelin