The Pied Piper of Hamelin - A Vintage Picture Book
The Pied Piper of Hamelin was written as a poem by Robert Browning in 1842. This version was illustrated by Thomas Butler-Stoney.
The picture book was published by Ernest Nister in 1906. It features a standard dozen full-color plates and numerous black and white woodcuts.
The story is well known. The town of Hamelin has problems. Serious problems. It's infested with rats.
The people of Hamelin are desperate. Rats are everywhere. These little rodents are not just annoying. They behave like they run the town. These rats are not afraid of cats, dogs, or people.
You can find them in the streets. They are in the houses. They invade the kitchens. Even babies in their cribs are not safe!
Something has to be done about that, right?
When a strangely dressed foreigner arrives in the town of Hamelin, people are already out of ideas. Nothing helps against the rats. Maybe this pied piper can offer a solution?
Indeed, the pied piper tells the people of Hamelin what they want to hear. He has a solution. He can solve the rat problem if they are willing to pay.
Of course, they are willing to pay. Nothing can be too expensive to solve the rat infestation. The people of Hamelin are on the edge. Money is no problem, they just want their lives back.
The piper wants a thousand guilders. It's a lot of money. But he will do the job first. They will pay him later, so they can be sure he won't cheat them. If even a single rat stays in Hamelin, he won't cost them a dime.
The people of Hamelin agree. The proposition seems fair. And a thousand guilders actually are just a drop in the bucket if they think about the damage already caused by the rodents.
The piper takes his pipe out and starts playing. It's a strange tune. Very very strange. It seems the rats like it.
Thousands and thousands of rats start coming out of their hideouts. They join thousands of rats that are already on the streets. All of them slowly follow the piper, who is walking through the Hamelin constantly repeating the seductive tunes with his pipe.
The rats follow him. He walks over all the streets and all the rats are going behind him. He leads them out of town. He goes into the water, still playing.
The rats follow him in the water and drown, one by one. All the rats disappear into the waters. Hamelin is finally a rat-free town!
The piper returns and demands his payment. One thousand guilders.
The people of Hamelin are satisfied with his service, right? There is not a single rat in the whole town. But the price suddenly seems very high. Too high.
One thousand guilders for just a few hours of work? Well, if we can call this work at all ... He was just playing the pipe. He was probably having fun. And now he wants one thousand guilders?
This seems too expensive.
The piper becomes angry. A deal is a deal. He did what he promised, now is their turn. He wants his money.
People of Hamelin agree about his part of the deal. He saved the problem with rats. But they don't want to take part with their money. Maybe he would take a bit less?
They are willing to pay him fifty guilders.
Yes, fifty guilders seems a fair price to the people of Hamelin.
The pied piper is deeply disappointed. He solved similar problems in other towns all over the world. They always paid him his price. He delivered what he promised and they kept their promises.
Why the people of Hamelin can't keep their word?
***
We'll stop at this point. The legend about the piper of Hamelin may not be appropriate for everybody. Despite the colorful illustrations by Thomas Butler-Stoney, the narration turns into very dark tones and ends in complete darkness. But if you are not faint-hearted, you can find the ending in the same story with a bit more explicit title: The Ratcatcher of Hamelin.
Just don't blame others for your nightmares!