ISBN: 9789500878494
The original tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is set in 1284 in the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany. Historical records suggest that the story was a real event that took place, and is an unsolved mystery. The story has obviously evolved over the years, and this version is Michael Morpurgo’s take on the classic tale, using his brilliant writing style to add a few twists to the original story (weaving in social and environmental themes), and give it a happier ending.
This delightful story is told from the viewpoint of a crippled boy, who had an unfortunate accident that left him helpless as a “thief dog”, not able to thieve or scavenge for survival. It makes for a gripping first-person retelling of the events that took place.
In the town of Hamelin the “high and mighty”, the rich folk, call the orphans who live in a “shantytown of shacks around the garbage heaps outside the walls of the town”, “Thief Dogs” and don’t tolerate their presence. They are spat at and thrown with stones and sometimes chased and scared off by the townspeople’s dogs. Stealing, scavenging for scraps and begging were part of the daily routine for these orphans and vital for survival. But there were many of them, and they had nowhere to go, they could do nothing else; they had to either beg or steal, or both.
The lifestyle of these orphans and abandoned children are contrasted with the “rich and greedy” who lived like “kings and queens behind the walls and gates of their grand houses”, whose children grew up like “spoiled little princes and princesses”, the richest, greediest and nastiest of which was the mayor, who made his money off the working people who had to pay unbearably high taxes.
One day a plague of massive, giant rats infested the scrap heaps, leaving not even a morsel of food for the “thief dogs”, and even turning to attack them. The “thief dogs” fled into Hamelin town, where they were scorned, insulted and thrown with rocks. The rats eventually followed in their hordes, and the townspeople realized they had an epidemic at hand.
The “thief dogs” were all promoted to be “rat kids”, to keep the rats at bay, and even while they were still treated very harshly, they at least had food and a place to sleep. But the rats were simply too many, and one day a strange looking man entered the council chamber with a solution, at an unbelievably low price.
Morpurgo’s retelling and Clark’s brilliant illustrations create a compelling new take on this timeless story, in which are great lessons to be learned about keeping your word, honouring your agreement, and about pride and its consequences.
The Pied Piper’s requirements for the well-being of the town as well as the children is actually an incredible ambition that can be applied to our society today:
“Children should not have to grow up in a place where there is no honesty, where promises can be broken so easily, and where greed and wastefulness rule. There must be no more beggars, no more poor, ragged children living on the scraps from the rich man’s table. There is enough to go around for everyone, and enough is all you need. Every child should have a clean place to live, food on the table, and a warm fire in the winter”.
