Pied Piper

in 1284 while the town of Hamelin was suffering from a rat infestation a piper dressed in multicolored clothing appeared claiming to be a rat-catcher. He promised the rats the mayor, in turn, promised to pay him for the removal of the rats. (According to some versions of the story, the promised sum was 1000 guilders the Piper accepted and played his pipe to lure the rats into the Weser river where all but one drowned. Despite the Piper's success the mayor reneged on his promise and refused to pay him the full sum (reputedly reduced to a sum of 50 guilders). Even going so far as to that he brought the rats himself in an extortion attempt the Piper left the town angrily vowing to return later to take revenge. On Saint John and Paul's day, while the hamelinites were in church, the Piper returned dressed in green like a hunter playing his pipe. In so doing he attracted town's children. As a hundred and thirty children followed him out of town and into a cave and were never seen again depending on the version at most three children remained behind one was lame and could not follow quickly enough the second was deaf and therefore could not hear the music and the last was blind and unable to see where he was going these three informed the villagers of what had happened when they came out from church. Other versions relate that the pied piper led the children to the top of Koppelberg hill where he took them to a beautiful land or a place called Koppenberg mountain or Transylvania or that he made them walk into the Weser as he did with the rats and they all drowned some versions state that the Piper returned the children after payment or that he returned the children after the villagers paid several times original amount of gold.

Some versions state that the Piper returned the children after payment.

The Pied Piper lures the children in the Koppelberg Hill in the cave into a magic place.

Dark version of the story the Piper lures the rats in the river and they drown. There is only one child in Hamelin who couldn't keep up with the lame boy.