The year is 1284, The small village of Hamlin in Germany has been plagued with Rats.
The Mayor and townsfolk's are at their wits end. Then one day, a stranger came to town. Dressed in a long coat of many colors. He offered to rid the town of the rats. (for a fee of course). The town agreed. The man began to play his pipe, and the rats came from every sewer and alley house. they followed him to the river Weser, where they drowned.
The Piper returned to Hamlin to collect his fee. The townsfolk refused to pay. This is the origin of our famous cliché' "It's time to pay the piper". Upset by this, the Piper began to play his tune again. But this time it was the children who came to follow him. They "danced away with him to Koppelburg Mountain". They were never seen again..
This children's tale was immortalized by the poet Robert Browning. There are also recorded historical records of such an event. Two 16th century houses in Hamlin have plaques commemorating the disappearance of children on June 26th 1284. Another account records the disappearance of 130 children in 1450. In the 17th century, the crucial date becomes July 22, 1376. The differences of the date may cast doubt on the stories reliability, but the fact that they are recorded at all, with such precision suggests that there may be some historical truth to it.
We do know that a visitor came to Hamlin in the 14th century. And we know his name.. Yersinia Pestis. The Bubonic Plaque, the Black Death. It came to town with the Fleas, the fleas passed the disease on to the rats, soon the rats were all dead. The fleas then went for a new host. People, and the young children were easy prey.
Memories of another sickness may also be buried in the tale. The children in the story are described as dancing away to their death. This may well be a symbolic description of the pitiful bands of people suffering from St. Vitus Dance. Music played on a pipe was said to comfort the uncontrollable muscle twitching and spasms.