The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Illustrated by Tamsin Hinrichsen
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little town called
Hamelin. The people of Hamelin were all very happy, until the day the rats
came. Thousands of rats came to Hamelin. There were big rats and little rats,
thin rats and fat rats. There were rats in all the houses and rats in all the
shops. “There are rats on my table!” said one man. “There are rates under my
chair!” said another. “There are rats in my kitchen!” called one woman. “There
are rats in my bed!” called another. “There are rats all over the house!”
called a little boy. “Make these rats go away!” called a little girl. The
people of Hamelin went to see the mayor. “Get rid o these rats!” they shouted. “What
can I do?”said the mayor. “There are rats in my house, too. I can’t get rid of
them.” But the people said, “You must make all the rats go away. If you don’t make
them go away we will choose another mayor.” The mayor said, “If you can make
these rats go away, I will give you lots of money.” “Very well,” said the Pied
Piper. “But don’t forget your promise.” Then the Pied Piper went into the
streets of Hamelin and began to play a strange tune. The rats heard the tune
and stopped what they were doing. Suddenly, one rat ran after the Pied Piper. Then another rat ran after him. And another. Soon, all the rats ran after the
Pied Piper. The Pied Piper walked towards the river, still playing the strange
tune on his pipe.
The rats followed him and jumped into the river. And that was
the end of the rats. The Pied Piper went back to see the mayor. “The rats have
all gone,” he said. “Please give me the money you promised me.” “No,” said the
mayor. “I have no money to give you.” “If you don’t give me the money,” said
the Pied Piper, “I will play another tune, and you will not be so happy then.” “You
can do what you like,” said the mayor. So the Pied Piper went out into the
streets and began to play another tune. In all the houses and in all the
streets, the children stopped playing. Then, one by one, they ran after the
Pied Piper. The people of Hamelin called to the children to stop, but the
children didn’t hear. They followed the Pied Piper through the streets and over
the river. They followed the Pied Piper out of the town and up a mountain.
Suddenly, the mountain opened up and the Pied Piper went inside. The children
followed him. Inside the mountain was a beautiful land full of trees and
flowers and birds. But one little boy had hurt his leg and he couldn’t keep up
with the other children. He saw his friends go into the mountain but he was too
late to follow them. The little boy went back to the town and went to see the mayor.
“My friends are inside the mountain with the Pied Piper,” he said. “They will
never come back.” The people of Hamelin were very unhappy. “Where are our
children?” they shouted to the mayor. “You must go and find them.” So the mayor
went to look for the children. He looked for years and years and years. He is
still looking for them now.
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