Ans:
The story of the Mouse Catcher
One dim evening in 1284, a gaunt man came from outside the small town of Hameln, in the north of Germany, and shuffled along the road
, when he suddenly fell to the ground, and cried so loudly that he gradually fainted. When he awoke, a large number of rats had surrounded
him.
"What's the matter with you, this poor man?"
So he recounted his unfortunate past, and his famine-stricken hometown, "I need 1,000 gold coins, and all the children in the village are
waiting for food!"
"Gee, that's sad, let's help him." So the mice gave him bread and water, a colorful dress
and a little flute, "Blow this and we will come."
The next day in the center of the square, the mayor was holding a general meeting, announcing that if anyone could save the town from the rat plague, he would be awarded
1,000 gold coins, and could marry the mayor's beautiful daughter. The whole town buzzed with excitement, everyone was eager to
try, but there was nothing they could do. Then a voice from behind the crowd said, "I'll try!" Turning around, there stood a
strange, spirited fellow, wearing a coat made of colorful fabric. The people burst out laughing. The mayor of the town
smiled and said, "Brave young man, you probably don't realize how scary the rats are around here." The fellow bowed rather politely
and replied with a grin, "I just want to know if it's true about the payoff?" The mayor said solemnly
: "That's for sure, I'm here with all the inhabitants to promise you that if you really get rid of all the rats here one
without a single one left, you'll get 1,000 gold coins and my daughter, never a broken promise! What is your name, strange visitor?
""My name is Ratcatcher."" Before the words left his mouth, he pulled out a small flute from his pocket and played it delicately.
Miraculously, the town's rats, large and small, came in tidal waves of thousands to the sound of the flute, and in no time at all filled the entire
square. The rat catcher let go of his flute and sang, "Are all the rats of Hameln here?" The rats sang in unison and replied,
"Here they come, here they all come!" The rat catcher began to walk towards the outskirts of the city, playing his flute as he sang.
"The mice lined up neatly behind him and chimed in animatedly, "Coming coming coming all coming!"
"Your brothers are all here?"
"Coming coming coming all coming!"
"Your sisters are here?"
"Coming coming coming all!"
"Hameln's rats are all here?"
"Not a single one, not a single one, everyone out of town!"
The procession marched in great numbers until they reached the Weser River, where the rats sang and danced and said goodbye to the rat-catcher:
"Take care!"
"Say hello to the children!"
"Come to Siebenbürgen sometime!"
"And goodbye!"
"Bye!!!"
With that, the rats scrambled into the Weser River and turned into drowned corpses that floated downstream to the icy North Sea
.
Completely stunned, the Ratcatcher returned to the town with his thoughts in turmoil, but there was no one to be seen. At the town hall, the town
mayor smiled slightly awkwardly, "Mr. Mousetrap, I really didn't expect you to solve the problem so easily. Oh ...... I
myself am happy to honor the promise, but the residents say it's too much of a child's play ...... Seriously, I haven't heard the ditty about the 1,000 gold
coins curry, heh heh. ...... As for my daughter ...... "The mayor's beautiful daughter came running out,
carrying a mouse trap in her hand and exclaimed excitedly, "There's another mouse here! Here's another one! Now I won't
have to marry that clown! ...... "The Mousetrap looked into her hand, and there was a tiny mouse in the trap, its body almost
squeezed in two, blood all around its mouth, and its limbs twitching slightly. "You see, Mr. Mousetrap, we're talking about a
only one that isn't left ......" the mayor smiled apologetically. Mousetrap's eyes boiled, "Needless to say." He tucked in his flute and
disappeared from the sight of the Hameln townsfolk.
On June 26, the Ratcatcher suddenly returned. This time he was dressed up like a hunter, with a ghastly face and a strange
little red hat. But no gentleman or lady saw him, for everyone was *** in church thanking God
for driving away the rats that had been infesting the city for so many years. So once again the Mouse Catcher played his little flute, and the melodious sound of his music floated down every alley
. This time there were no rats, but children from the age of four and up, pouring out of their homes, following the Ratcatcher
, singing and dancing, and disappearing out of the east gate into the mountains. A ****130 children were abducted, and only three were spared shipwreck
: the mayor's youngest son escaped because he went back to get his coat at the beginning of the procession; there was also a blind man and a mute who fell off halfway
through the procession, the mute being unable to give the whereabouts of the procession, and the blind man, though he was unable to see, being able to describe the wonderful sound of the flute and the song which the ratcatchers
had taught to the children:<
"Let's go wandering together, little ones
Let's go far away with me, little ones
Where there are no rollers and no worries
Where there is bread, vegetables and fructose
Where you won't grow up
Where we won't be able to be sad
Who doesn't know how to jump on a bandwagon?
Who doesn't know hide-and-seek?
One, two, three
Three, two, three
Let's play house
Marry me, pretty girl
Adobe for a house
Leaves for a dress
I'll give you all the seasons in a year
Warm in winter and cool in summer
One, two, three
Three, two, three
Marry me, pretty girl
I'm not going to be sad. There are mountains and fields of wheat
There are birds and elephants
Don't fall out of line and sing
Wander away together, children
Come with me, children, to a faraway land."
It is said that the Mousetrap led the children through a cave, and then came out of Siebenbürgen. Siebenbürgen
, also known as Transylvania, is where the vegetarian duck Count Dracula and the wall-crossing chicken Paul
M'Nanny live.