The Pied Piper of Hamelin
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- $0.99
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
Hamelin is a beautiful river town in Brunswick, but it is a town overflowed with rats. The Mayor and the Corporation try to find a way to destroy the rats and free the town. But, they don’t know what they can do. Then, a strange person arrives, with a flute around his neck, offering his help. He explains them that he has a talent to make creatures follow him wherever he wants and asks for 1000 gilders. Excited and happy to hear that, the Mayor and the Corporation offer him 50 000 gilders.
The piper goes outside and starts playing his flute. In no time, the rats all over the town come and start following him. He leads them to the river and they drown. The town is free and everyone is happy. The piper then, goes to the Mayor to get his money, but the Mayor gives him only 50 gilders. Angry, the piper goes out again and starts playing his flute again, but this time…
What has the piper done this time? What could he do? What is his revenge?
See what happens next and how this story ends.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Browning's poem, a classic, is based on a legend from medieval times. It tells of a brightly-clad stranger who offers to rid the town of Hamelin of rats, for an agreed-upon sum of money. When he plays a haunting tune on his pipe, the rats follow him to their deaths in the river, but the mayor won't pay the piper. In revenge, the piper lures the children out of town into a cave, forever separated from their parents, though in a Utopian land of beauty. The poem's language is rich and lyrical, although spots are difficult for children to grasp, which is why many of the versions for children are adaptations. Here is a new, unabridged edition, dramatically illustrated in glowing colors (sometimes verging on gaudy). It's full of motion and expression, capturing the spirit of the poem and the details of the medieval town, as well as the Eden-like land where the children are taken. (59)
