The Pied Piper Of Hamelin
A long time ago, there was a town called Hamelin. The people of Hamelin had a massive problem of rat infestation. They tried everything to get rid of the rats, but nothing seemed to work. There were rats of every shape and size; even the cats could not do anything. The Chief of the town called a meeting and said, “Anyone who can get rid of the rats will be rewarded with ten sacks of gold.”
One day, a stranger from a faraway land arrived in Hamelin. He was dressed in colourful clothes, wore a feather in his hat, and carried a pipe. The piper said, “I will get rid of the rats for you!” The man then started playing an odd but wonderful tune on his pipe. The rats in the town heard his music and started getting attracted to him. The stranger walked through Hamelin’s streets, playing his pipe and attracting more rats toward him.
The clever man took all the rats to a river, where the rats drowned one by one. Hamelin was finally freed from rats! The Pied Piper went back to collect his reward. However, now that their problem was solved, the townspeople no longer wanted to pay him the money. This made the Pied Piper angry, and he decided to punish the town.
The Pied Piper began playing his pipe once again. This time, all the children of the town began running towards him. Every girl and boy started running towards his pipe’s music.
The Piper took them all to a cave outside the town and closed the cave entrance with a huge rock. Only two children were left behind, one had an injured leg, and the other was deaf. The two children quickly went and told the townspeople what had happened. “Look! Look! All the children are gone… They all followed the Pied Piper and left the town. We saw him take the children to a cave outside the town.”
The townspeople were terrified and ashamed of what had happened. They went to the cave and begged the Pied Piper for his forgiveness. “Please return our children to their homes. We will give you the 20 sacks of gold as promised.”
Finally, the Pied Piper let the children go. The people of Hamelin learned never to be ungrateful and greedy. The Pied Piper disappeared, never to be seen again. However, they say that sometimes if you listen very closely, you can still hear the piper’s beautiful tune playing!
Moral Of The Story
The moral of the story is ‘never be ungrateful”. From the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, children can learn about the importance of honesty as opposed to deceit. It teaches children never to fall into traps and to think rationally before acting upon anything.
