The Pied Piper

Subtitle

This story is inspired by a novel by the Czech writer Viktor Dyk. One day, the mysterious Pied Piper appears in the Hanseatic city of Hameln to use his magic whistle to exorcise all the rats that have been plaguing the city's inhabitants. The town council offered him 100 gold pieces for this service. The Pied Piper fulfilled his task and led all the rats into the river by playing his whistle. But before that, he met a local girl, Agnes, and the two fell in love. After completing his work, he decided to stay in Hameln to live with Agnes. Moreover, he had not yet been paid. One day, the Pied Piper approaches the town council in a local pub and asks for his reward. However, they refuse to pay him because they feel he has done his job too easily. This leads to an argument between them. After a conflict with the councilors and after discovering that Agnes is pregnant with the unwanted child of her former lover Kristian, the Pied Piper decides to leave the city. But his love for Agnes is stronger than his will and forces him to return. He cannot find her anywhere, however, and when he discovers that she has killed herself by jumping into the river out of grief, he decides to use his whistle to lead the whole town to the edge of the abyss of Mount Koppel. He does so not for the money that should have been paid to him, but out of grief for his failed love. When he was alone above the abyss, he threw away his whistle and also threw himself into the abyss.

Story added by darksith on November 6, 2021