The Pied Piper

What does this mean for you? Your powers of persuasion are unmatched, but you may have a self-righteous streak in you that demands to be heard. That said, like the Pied Piper you are clever like a trickster and perhaps even artistic and creative. You make people think, changing minds with your ideas and ideals. 

The legend of the Pied Piper goes something like this: In the year 1284, a great rat infestation befell the German city of Hamelin. Rats were everywhere, in the floors, in the walls, on the sidewalks, scittering and scattering, eating all the scraps they could find and driving the town mad. The townsfolk tried everything to get rid of them, but nothing seemed to work. The mayor himself was at a loss for how to resolve the issue. 

It was only when a stranger in piebald dress arrived into town that hope appeared. He came with long robes, colored strangely in vermillion and saffron, checkered in pattern, with a wily cap upon his head. He carried nothing more than a simple flute, spidery fingers constantly twitching, as if he longed to play it every second of the day. He was neither young nor particularly old, willowy like the wind, and a tricky figure to understand, utterly foreign to the small town who knew nothing but its own people. Later he would be remembered not by a name, but a title: the Pied Piper, pied for his brilliant colorings, piper for his bewitching skill with a flute. 

When the Pied Piper heard of the rat problem in the town, he went straight to the mayor, claiming that he could send the rats away. Of course, the mayor hardly believed this. What could a colorful stranger do that the local townspeople could not? In laughing disbelief, he made a deal with the Pied Piper. If he could get rid of the rats, the mayor would give him a great reward in gold. With nothing more than a knowing smile, the Pied Piper went to work. Settling his fingers along the length of his flute, he played a tune. Wandering the town, he went high and low, and rats emerged from their hiding places, utterly captivated by his song. The enchanted rats followed at his heels until the moment they started to drown themselves in the river just outside Hamelin. Every rat that lived in the town died that day. 

When the Pied Piper returned to town, the deed done, he stood once more before the mayor, expecting his golden reward. Shocked, but refusing to show it, the mayor refused. This act would ultimately ruin the small town of Hamelin. A promise was a promise after all. Enraged, the Pied Piper swore revenge. The mayor of course hardly imagined that a simple stranger with a flute could harm him or the town so he waved off the Pied Piper’s rage and declaration for revenge. 

Perhaps he should have known better. 

In the longest hour of the night, the Pied Piper returned to Hamelin once again. Everyone laid asleep in their homes, cozy and happy now that the rats were gone. Then he started playing another tune, a bewitching magic clinging to every note. Children started leaving their homes. Children. Not a single adult seemed to hear the tune. They remained asleep while the children awoke to find the Pied Piper wandering the town, down every lane and street, pouring out a sweetly enrapturing song made just for them. Like the rats, they followed at his heels, dancing and humming along. 

And where did the Pied Piper lead these innocent children? To the river, drowning them with his enchanted song. By morning, only a few children remained alive in the town, one blind, one disabled, and another deaf to the music. As for the rest…When the adults woke in the morning, their children were gone. Panic swept the small town of Hamelin, for where had the children gone? They would never find them. 

As for the Pied Piper, he was never seen again. 

The legend ends there. 

Now, before you take offense to this, it should be stated that there are variations to this story. Some say that the Pied Piper actually took the children to an opening to a mountain, transporting them to an eternal paradise, away from the scheming liars of the town of Hamelin, possibly the most lighthearted of all the versions. Disney in 1933 took this route, and so have other authors and writers over the centuries since this story traveled across Europe. Others imagine that he killed them by closing the entrance to the mountain. The legend has no definite ending, only a single result that the children disappeared. What happened to them and where they went–that is up for debate. From a historical perspective, it is thought that this legend actually spoke of a great migration of young people from the town; that the Pied Piper was never quite real at all. Is this true?

There is a natural ambiguity to the Pied Piper as a result. Is he a hero or a villain? It all depends on how the story ends. How do your stories end? Where do your ideas and ideals end? Are they for the good of others? Tricky questions, for whether or not he is a villain cannot be decided. What is for certain is that he exemplifies the archetypal Trickster. With his actions, he makes people remember the importance of promises, and what can happen when they are broken. 

What does this all mean for you? You have the great capacity to transform hearts and minds, taking them places they never thought possible. Like a psychopomp, you take them between the world of life and death, right and wrong. You have ideas that demand to be heard and can enchant others with your music, be it in speeches or songs. It is good to remember, however, that ideas can be dangerous. Are they truly right for everyone? Is what you’re doing truly right? 

After all, dear reader and declared Pied Piper, you have the power to either lead the children to the river to drown or let them escape to paradise.