ague them, the people of Hamelin refused to pay the reward, and
they bade the piper do his worst. He took them at their word, and a
few moments later the weird strains of the magic flute again arose,
and this time it was the children who swarmed out of the houses and
merrily followed the piper.

"There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling
Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling;
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering,
And, like fowls in a farmyard when barley is scattering,
Out came all the children running.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,
Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after
The wonderful music with shouting and laughter."

Robert Browning.

The burghers were powerless to prevent the tragedy, and as they
stood spellbound the piper led the children out of the town to the
Koppelberg, a hill on the confines of the town, which miraculously
opened to receive the procession, and only closed again when the last
child had passed out of sight. This legend probably originated the
adage "to pay the piper." The children were never seen in Hamelin
again, and in commemoration of this public calamity all official
decrees have since been dated so many years after the Pied Piper's
visit.

"They made a decree that lawyers never
Should think their records dated duly
If, after the day of the month and year,
These words did not as well appear,
'And so long after what happened here
On the Twenty-second of July,
Thirteen hundred and seventy-six:'
And the better in memory to fix
The place of the children's last retreat,
They called it the Pied Piper Street--
Where any one playing on pipe or tabor
Was sure for the future to lose his labour."

Robert Browning.

In this myth Odin is the piper, the shrill tones of the flute are
emblematic of the whistling wind, the rats represent the souls of
the dead, which cheerfully follow him, and the hollow mountain into
which he leads the children is typical of the grave.

Bishop Hatto

Another German legend which owes its existence to this belief is
the story of Bishop Hatto, the miserly prelate, who, annoyed by the
clamours of the poor during a time of famine, had them burned alive
in a deserted barn