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> What follows is the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The band chose this symbol as their name to represent its music and the effect it has on people. The Pied Piper of Hameln is a German legend about a traveling musician who in 1284 eliminated the rats from the town of Hamelin (Now Hameln) for a promised fee. Dressed in a many colored (Pied) coat, he played a tune on his pipe that lured the rats into the river, where they drowned. When the burghers refused to pay the fee, he took up his pipe again and was followed by a large number of children. He led them to a hill outside the town, where they mysteriously disapeared and were never seen again.

> Robert Browning's poem THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN; A CHILDREN STORY, Published in 1842, is the best-known version of the legend. In the poem, the Piper's coat is yellow and red and the event takes place in 1376.

> The children's crusade of 1212, the large scale kidnapping of children in the Middle Ages and the migrations of lemmings in scandinavian waters are possible sources of the legend.

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN
       Once upon a time . . . on the banks of a great river in
    the north of Germany lay a town called Hamelin. The citizens
    of Hamelin were honest folk who lived contentedly in their
    grey stone houses. The years went by, and the town grew very
    rich. Then one day, an extraordinary thing happened to disturb
    the peace. Hamelin had always had rats, and a lot too. But they
    had never been a danger, for the cats had always solved the rat
    problem in the usual way - by killing them. All at once,
    however,the rats began to multiply.
       In the end, a black sea of rats swarmed over the whole town.
    First, they attacked the barns and storehouses, then, for lack
    of anything better, they gnawed the wood, cloth or anything at
    all. The one thing they didn't eat was metal. The terrified
    citizens flocked to plead with the town councillors to free them
    from the plague of rats. But the council had, for a long time,
    been sitting in the Mayor's room, trying to think of a plan.
       "What we need is an army of cats!"
       But all the cats were dead.
       "We'll put down poisoned food then . . ."
       But most of the food was already gone and even poison did
    not stop the rats.
       "It just can't be done without help!" said the Mayor sadly.
       Just then, while the citizens milled around outside, there
    was a loud knock at the door. "Who can that be?" the city
    fathers wondered uneasily, mindful of the angry crowds. They
    gingerly opened the door. And to their surprise, there stood
    a tall thin man dressed in brightly coloured clothes, with a
    long feather in his hat, and waving a gold pipe at them.
       "I've freed other towns of beetles and bats," the stranger
    announced, "and for a thousand florins, I'll rid you of your
    rats!"
       "A thousand florins!" exclaimed the Mayor. "We'll give you
    fifty thousand if you succeed!" At once the stranger hurried
    away, saying:
    "It's late now, but at dawn tomorrow, there won't be a rat left
     in Hamelin!"
       The sun was still below the horizon, when the sound of a
    pipe wafted through the streets of Hamelin. The pied piper
    slowly made his way through the houses and behind him flocked
    the rats. Out they scampered from doors, windows and gutters,
    rats of every size, all after the piper. And as he played, the
    stranger marched down to the river and straight into the water,
    up to his middle. Behind him swarmed the rats and every one was
    drowned and swept away by the current.
       By the time the sun was high in the sky, there was not a
    single rat in the town. There was even greater delight at the
    town hall, until the piper tried to claim his payment.
       "Fifty thousand florins?" exclaimed the councillors,
    "Never..."
       " A thousand florins at least!" cried the pied piper angrily.
    But the Mayor broke in. "The rats are all dead now and they can
    never come back. So be grateful for fifty florins, or you'll not
    get even that . . ."
       His eyes flashing with rage, the pied piper pointed a
    threatening finger atthe Mayor.
       "You'll bitterly regret ever breaking your promise," he said,
    and vanished.
       A shiver of fear ran through the councillors, but the Mayor
    shrugged and said excitedly: "We've saved fifty thousand
    florins!"
       That night, freed from the nightmlare of the rats, the
    citizens of Hamelin slept more soundly than ever. And when
    the strange sound of piping wafted through the streets at
    dawn, only the children heard it. Drawn as by magic, they
    hurried out of their homes. Again, the pied piper paced
    through the town, this time, it was children of all sizes
    that flocked at his heels to the sound of his strange piping.
    The long procession soon left the town and made its way
    through the wood and across the forest till it reached the
    foot of a huge mountain. When the piper came to the dark rock,
    he played his pipe even louder still and a great door creaked
    open. Beyond lay a cave. In trooped the children behind the
    pied piper, and when the last child had gone into the darkness,
    the door reaked shut. A great landslide came down the mountain
    blocking the entrance to the cave forever. Only one little lame
    boy escaped this fate. It was he who told the anxious citizens,
    searching for their children, what had happened. And no matter
    what people did, the mountain never gave up its victims.
    Many years were to pass before the merry voices of other
    children would ring through the streets of Hamelin but the
    memory of the harsh lesson lingered in everyone's heart and was
    passed down from father to son through the centuries.