Pied Piper of Hameln

Nothing to see here, just a man leading children away with his music.

Hello again, reader. This week, by request, we'll be looking at the Pied Piper of Hameln, from Germany. This is a story the brothers Grimm collected, but it looks like at least part of it was based on real events. Follow the link to the story above and then let's take a look at it below.

Firstly, the moral question of the tale is whether or not the townsfolk deserved to have their children taken from them. They agreed to pay this man a sum of money and, after he did the job, they decided not to pay him. Obviously, the townsfolk are not the best people. They should have paid what they agreed to, so, I understand why the piper would be angry. However, that does not mean that he can kidnap the town's children. Children are, obviously, very different from money, so he wasn't taking what was owed him. I'm sure the townsfolk would argue that the piper took more than he was owed. All of the moral arguments aside, it would be far more expensive to feed and care for those children than whatever the townsfolk had promised the piper.

This leads me to my next point: why did the piper want these children? Obviously he wanted to hurt the townsfolk, but did he have a plan after the door in the mountain shut behind the last child? I'm sure the children almost immediately started crying, once the spell wore off. I would like to be charitable and think he got these children other loving homes, however, I think the truth is much more sinister. After all, we have a town that was suddenly and inexplicably overrun by rats and the man who, with just his music, can miraculously lead them out of town. Then he can do the same thing with the children. Yes, I'm saying he turned those children into rats. Then he can set them loose on another town and try to collect his payment from those folks instead. It's smart, if terrifying. On the other hand, maybe the whole thing was a metaphor for a disease, brought by the rats, that hit the children the hardest. Who knows?

As far as a moral for this story, I would say, make sure you pay your debts, especially if they're to a magic man with crazy powers.

Want me to write about a folktale you find interesting? Have a different moral? Or a different argument about this tale? Comment below!