Homework: Up leveling the legend of the Pied Piper (Laura)

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

A long time ago there was a little town called Hamelin. The people of Hamelin were all very content and happy until the day that the rats came. Millions of rats came to Hamelin. There were big, ugly rats and little skinny rats, thin and bony rats and fat rats. There were rats in all the houses and rats in all the shops!

“There are rats on my table!” exclaimed one man.

“There are rats under my chair!” shouted another.

“There are rats in my kitchen!” screamed one woman.

“There are rats in my bed!” shrieked another.

“There are rats all over the house!” cried a little boy.

“Make these rats go away!” squealed a little girl.

The people of Hamelin went to see the Mayor.  “Get rid of these awful rats!” they shouted!  “What shall I do?” exclaimed the Mayor. “There are rats in my house, too. It’s impossible to get rid of them! They are revolting!” But the people cried, “You must make all the rats disappear. If you don’t make them go away, we will choose another Mayor!”

Then one day, a stranger went to see the Mayor. He wore bright red and yellow clothes. In his little hand, he carried a golden flute. “I am the Pied Piper,” stated the stranger, “and I can make all the disgraceful rats go away!” The Mayor requested, “If you can make these rats go away, I will give you a mountain of coins!” “Very well then,” the Pied Piper agreed. “But do not forget your promise.”

Then the Pied Piper skipped into the streets of Hamelin and began to play an unknown tune. All of the rats in Hamelin heard the strange tune and suddenly stopped what they were doing. One rat scurried after the Pied Piper. Then another rat ran after him, and another. Soon, all the rats of Hamelin were scurrying after the Pied Piper. The Pied Piper skipped towards the long and clear river, still playing the strange tune on his golden flute. The rats followed him and each dived into the river one at a time. And that was the end of the gross rats. The Pied Piper skipped back to see the Mayor. “The rats have all gone,” he shouted with excitement! “Now please can you give me my money, you promised.”

“No,” disagreed the Mayor, “I have no money to give you.” “If you do not give me my money,” fumed the Pied Piper, “I will play another strange tune, and you will not be so happy then.” “You can play any tune that you like,” grumbled the Mayor. So the Pied Piper walked out into the streets of Hamelin and began to play another strange tune. In all the houses and in all the streets, the children stopped playing. Then, one by one, they sprinted after the Pied Piper. The people of Hamelin shouted to the children to stop, but the adults weren’t loud enough for the children to hear them. They followed the Pied Piper through the streets and over the clear, blue river. They followed the Pied Piper out of the little town, and up a steep mountain. Suddenly, the mountain opened up and the Pied Piper skipped inside. The children followed him. Inside the mountain was a beautiful land full of towering trees and brightly coloured birds and flowers. But one little boy had injured his leg and he couldn’t keep up with the other children. He saw his friends run into the mountain, but he was too late to follow them. The little boy limped back to the town and went to see the Mayor. “All of my friends are inside the mountain with the Pied Piper,” he dreaded. “They will never come back!”

The people of Hamelin were very unhappy. “Where are all of our children?” they cried to the Mayor. “You must go and find them.” So the Mayor went to look for all of the children. He looked for years and years and years. He is still desperately searching for them now.