The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-02-21

diately discover and pl!lage, nor dld
they refrain from attacking at times
the sleeping bodies of man, woman
and beast. In vain the rulers OF the
town distributed poisons and devised
ingenious traps 10 catch and extermln-
ate the destructive pests. Every rat
death seemed to be followed by the
birth of a score of other rats, until the
question became one of which should
survive, the people or the rats. AT
this juncture, when the village fathers
were in despair, there arrived in Ham,
elm curious-looking man, a piper, to
whom the name of Bunting was given.
from the dress which he wore. Being
told of their extremity he agreed to
rid the people of the rats in considera
ton of a certain sum of money. Some
portion of the sequel can best be told
in the words of Browning's poem:
Into the street the piper slept,
Smiling first a little smile.
AS if he knew what magic slept
In his quiet pipe the while
And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled
Like candle flame where salt is sprlnkled
And ere three shrll notes the pipe uttered
You heard as if an army muttered,
And the muttering grew to grum bling,
And the grumbling grew to mighty rum
bling,
And out of the house the rats came tumbling
Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats
Brown rats black rats, gray rats tawny rats
Grave old plodders, gay young friskers
Fathers mothers, uDcleS cousins,
Cooking tails and pricking whSkerS,
Families by tens of dozens;
Brothers. sisters. husbands, wives,
Followed the piper for the lives,
Until they came to the river WeSer,
Wherein all plunged and persisted.
Gratitude, of course, should have
filled the hearts Of the people OF
Hameln and they should have beer.
eager to reward the man whose
musical pipe had freed them from the
pests. Yet, strange to relate, they
did nothing of the kind. No sooner
did they witness the drowning of theiI
busy little foes than they deliberately
refused to give the ''Pied Piper" the
promised reward, offering him much
inferior sum. Words ran high, sc
Browning tells, until, seeing he could
not get the money, the piper again put
his instrument to his lips. Stranger
and sweeter were the sounds than be.
fore, and from out of every house in the
town came the children of the perfidious
parents, laughing and keeping step to
the rhythm of the piper's lay. On he
led them and still on, while their sires
looked in helpless amazement until: the
Koppelberg hill was reached,
"when 10, as they reached the mountain
And wondrous portal opened wide, -. -
As if a cavern was suddenly followed,
And the p per advanced and the children
followed, .,s.
And when all were in to the very last
The door in the mountain de shut fast
There were sorrow and lamentation
in the town of Hameln for one hun.
dred and thirty children who had dis.
appeared, but the mountain side never
opened again. Couriers were sent by
he mayor offering fabulous rewards
for the return of the children and
promising much to the hero of the
mystic pipe. But whether he heard
them or not, or hearing doubted them.
as he would have been justified in do.
ing. he never came. Opposite the place
where the mountain side had yawned
the people erected column, on which
the substance ofthe story was inscribed
In various forms the legend is told OF
other times and places, but it's truth, if
truth indeed it possess, must ever be
associated with Hameln. The same
tale is related of Brandenburg, the
authorities of which refused to keep
promise made to the fiddler of that
quaint town, but he led the chill
dren not into the mountain side,
but to their death in the Mar;ienberg.
When the town of Lorch was
infested with ants, it is said that these
insects were led by piper to the wa.
tiers of a lake which engulfed them,
but when payment OF the stipulated
sum was refused the Lorch piper piped
only the village pigs to their death
Almost similar is the legend which
says of the same place that, not profit
ing by that experience, it's people
again denied a reward to charcoal
burner who had freed the place from
crckets, and in revenge he led their
sheep into the lake. Again, in the fol.
lowing year, the children of Lorch
were lured into the Tannenberg by
mountain hermit, who was similarly
treated, and who. so runs the legend,
taught the inhabitants of the town for
third time the pointed moral that in.
gratitude meets with punishment in
the end.
Perhaps the strongest legend of all
is that found in Gueulette's 'sChinese
Tales" About the year 1928 the towr
of Ispapau, Persia, like Hameln, wal
overrun with rats. For certain price
dwarf named Giouf freed the towr
from vermin, but was given a number
of counterfeit pieces with the genuine
coin paid. Nor would the now lib.
Grated people right the wrong thus
wantonly done. On the day following
their refusal to exchange the counter.
felt coin they were Mortified at the
spectacle of an old black woman fifty
feet high standing in the market place
with whip in hand. The mother OF
the dwarf, Mergian Banon, had come
to avenge her misshapen sons affront.
Fifteen of the towns principal women
she strangled on each of four success.
sive days, and on the fifth forty others
were led into magic tower, from
which they never emerged. Whether
tales like these ever had in them more
than the pointing of moral may well
be questioned now. There was time
however, when to doubt them might
have resulted unhappily for the ske,.
tic. = Philadelphia Times.