BACK IN THE MIDDLE AGES, the town of Hameln in Germany’s Saxony was filled with all sorts of rats, big or small, but in any case, filthy. The population of the rodents got so increased that the village’s peasants had little choice but to complain to their King and ask for protection. He ordered his guards to hunt down the rats wherever they could find them, yet as they were unable to counter the problem the rats kept walking the streets of Hameln unhindered. The village was slowly turning into a ratcity.

A mysterious stranger appeared one day who whore a shiny apron that was made of all sorts of colorful fabrics. The villagers were initially suspicious of him, yet soon started showing him their trust and considering him a savior that would rid their village of its problem. After he secured their loyalty, he presented himself in front of the King, from whom he asked a very big reward in exchange for saving the city from the rats. The King agreed, as he thought it was what his people wanted.

 The stranger with the shiny apron then took a small flute out from his bag, and stood in the village’s central square to play music. Soon all the mice, small, big and filthy went out from their hiding places and gathered around him. He then marched out of the village, taking all the mice and rats with him, always playing the flute in the same rhythm. The rodents followed him all the way to the forest, and the peasants couldn’t help but wonder and cheer at the sight of their troubles disappearing.

Yet when the stranger returned to the village, the peasants didn’t want to give him the reward they had promised him. The King made excuses so as to spare himself from the trouble of paying him. He then departed in sorrow, murmuring strange curses.

After a few days, and when they had all gathered in the Church of Hameln to celebrate according to the traditions of their homeplace, the stranger with the colorful apron appeared again. He took his flute out of his apron once more, then played the tune, this time enchanting the children of Hameln, which he led outside the village. As soon as the villagers understood what had happened, they screamed with terror. On one side they blamed the stranger and on the other, their King, for denying him his reward.

The parents screamed to stop their children from following the evil charmer. At the same time, the King ordered his guards to search the Palace and find his only daughter, yet in vain. All the children of Hameln had been abducted by the stranger and taken far away from the village.

Days later, and after the King realized his mistake, he sent his guards to meet with the stranger in the mountain. When they returned, they brought him a message from the foreigner, that in order to reverse the evil that had happened, it should be the King himself who should appear in front of him and give him his reward. Then, and only then, and only if he apologized, would they be able to talk about the return of their children.

The villagers then gathered outside the Palace and begged the King to meet the mysterious stranger in his cavern in the mountain and give him the reward he had promised him. They packed all their jewelry and gold, and after putting it on a cart, they asked their King to take it to the mountain, thus offering the charmer a much bigger reward than they had originally agreed. Anxious as he was about the fate of his only daughter, the King decided it was the right thing to do and pushed the cart all by himself.

When he finally reached the charmer’s cavern in the mountain, he was met with a strange sight: rats were guarding the cavern, carrying swords, spears and shields. They led him to their master in the cavern. The King then said:

“I’ve gathered all the gold in Hameln and brought it to you, and so you will have much more than the reward we initially agreed. Now that you have what you wanted, I want the children to come back with me”.

Yet the charmer replied:

“You’re brought me the gold I asked for and even more, but you didn’t keep your part of the deal. As you were not fair with me, I have no reason to give you what you came to ask for”.

The rats then took the King captive and took the gold out of the cart. They led him deep inside the mountain, where the charmer kept all sorts of prisoners, along with the children and the mice of the village, using the rats as guards. The King was amazed by what he saw, as he realized the children were now friends with the mice, playing happily together. When his only daughter saw him, she went to hug him One by one the children recognized their King and went over to talk to him. He then told them:

“It’s by my mistake that you are here, and I am with you now. Yet I don’t know how to get you out”.

“Neither do we, but we don’t want to leave our friends the mice alone in the mercy of the charmer”, replied the children.

A mouse then plucked up the courage and told the King:

“My good King, my mice brothers and I can dig a tunnel and get you out. On one hand we don’t want to separate with the children, and on the other we don’t want to stay here in prison. Please accept us back to Hameln”.

The King accepted them with no further thought. The mice dug a tunnel from the depths of the mountain to the main square of Hameln, from which they organized their escape. One by one the children walked through the tunnel and arrived at the village’s square, until at some points the rats realized what had happened, and after letting their master know, they decided to attack. The mice then started digging even faster, so as to win time for the children and the King.

Then, just at the time when the wicked charmer appeared to confront the fugitives, the cavern collapsed closing both him and his filthy rats inside. The King with his only daughter returned with safety to the village, along with the other children and the savior mice, who by royal decree became official citizens of Hameln. And nobody ever heard from the charmer with the colorful apron again, and they all lived happily ever after.