Franchville is a sleepy little town but once it was very noisy, and why was it so noisy? Rats! They were everywhere and ate everything they could!
All day and night the squeaking and shrieking of the rats was so loud you could not hear yourself speak!
So why didn’t the good people of the town have cats to catch the rats? Well, they did, and there was a fair fight between them but in the end, there were just too many rats, and the cats were regularly driven away.
What about ratcatchers? Well, there wasn’t a ratcatcher in the country that hadn’t tried his luck in Franchville, but whatever they did there seemed to be more rats than ever and every day a new rat was seen waving his tail or pricking his whiskers in defiance.
The mayor didn’t know what to do when one day, as he was sitting in the town hall complaining about the situation, a young boy ran in shouting. “Please your Honour, a strange man has come to town, and I don’t know what to make of him. He says he can help us with our rat problem.”
“Well show him in,” said the mayor, and in he stepped. A strange man he was indeed. He was tall and thin, had piercing eyes and was dressed in a coat that must have had every color of the rainbow in it. “And who are you?” asked the mayor?
“I’m the Pied Piper,” he began. “And I want to know what what you will pay me if I get rid of every single rat in Franchville?”
Well, as much as the people of the town feared the rats, they feared parting with their money much more, and so he haggled to try and get the best possible deal. But the Piper was not a man to stand any nonsense, and the result was that ten thousand pounds was promised to him as soon as there was not a rat left in the town.
The piper stepped out of the hall and as he did, he put his pipe to his lips and a loud tune started to play through all the streets and houses. And as each note pierced the air a strange thing happened because out of every hole the rats came running.
All the rats in the town crowded around the Piper’s heels and with eager feet they followed him as he walked the streets.
Up Silver Street he went and then down Gold Street and at the end of Gold Street was the harbour and beyond that the river. As he slowly walked along the people of the town flocked to see the funny sight and praised him as their saviour.
It was impossible to get near him as there were too many rats around his feet. And when he was at the water’s edge he stepped into a boat and started to sail away into deeper water, still playing his pipe all the time.
The rats were eager to follow but as they did, they fell into the river. On and on he played until the tide went out, and as it did each rat sank deeper and deeper in the slimy ooze of the harbour, until every one of them was stuck, unable to move in the heavy mud.
The tide rose again, and the water covered the mud again where the rats were trapped. The Piper stepped back onto the shore, but no rats followed.
Now you would have thought the people of the town would have been throwing their hats in the air and cheering with their loudest voices. But when the Piper stepped ashore there was not a single squeak to be heard, the mayor and the people of the town all began to hum and ha and to shake their heads.
And why was this? Well, the town money chest had been sadly emptied recently and where were they to find the ten thousand pounds to pay the piper? Also, they thought it was such an easy job, just getting into a boat and playing a pipe! Why the Mayor himself could have done it, if only he had thought of it.
So, the mayor hummed and ha’ad and at last said, “Come, my good man, you see what poor people we are; how can we pay you ten thousand pounds? Will you not take one thousand pounds? When all is said and done, it will still be good pay for the work you’ve done.”
“Ten thousand pounds is what I asked for,” said the piper; “and if I were you, I’d pay it quickly. For I can pipe many kinds of tunes, as people sometimes find to their cost.”
“Would you dare to threaten us?” shrieked the mayor, and at the same time he winked to the people of the town. “The rats are all dead and drowned,” he muttered; and so “You may do your worst, my good man,” and with that he turned around so that his back was to the piper.
“Very well,” said the Piper, and he smiled a quiet smile. With that he put his pipe to his lips again, but now there was no loud notes, as the tune was joyous and light, full of happy laughter and merry play.
And as he walked down the streets the people of the town laughed at him, but from classrooms and playrooms, and nurseries all over the town, every child ran out into the streets with smiles on their faces at the Piper’s call.
Dancing and laughing the bright throng moved along up Gold Street and down Silver Street and beyond Silver Street into the big green forest full of old trees and bushes. Deeper and deeper the stranger went into the forest and the children followed, until finally they were all gone.
All the while, the people of the town watched and waited. Then they laughed no more. And watch and wait as they might, they never did see the Piper in his multi-coloured coat or the children of the town ever again who all disappeared into the forest, forever.
The end
To watch the animated video of this Fairy Tale on the Oxbridge Baby YouTube Channel click here (please note these links take you to an external website).