The Pied Piper of Hamlin

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is one of the great narrative poems in the English language. Everyone knows the story:

“Rats!
They fought the dogs and killed the cats
And bit the babies in their cradles . . . ”

The rats were everywhere. Then the people decide that something must be done. They went to the Mayor crying out for action. Then enters the magical Piped Piper, “the strangest figure”, who claimed that:

“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 chiefly use my charm
On creatures that do people harm.”

And concluding this speech he requested a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work with the words:

“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.”
Well, we know what happened. The rats vanished, The Mayor wouldn’t pay, and in revenge the Piper spirited away all the children of the town into a wondrous portal that opened up in the hillside. They all disappeared except for one poor boy who was lame and lagged behind.

And the moral of the story is: if you make a promise, you must keep it.

This enchanting version of the tale was illustrated by Kate Greenaway, then at the height of her illustrative powers. Her beautiful drawings wonderfully complement Browning’s text.