PETER the Cobbler
They’re spell-bound,—­mark me!

PIPER
  Ay, they are,—­spell-bound: 
Fast bound by all the hardness of your hearts;
Caged,—­in the iron of your money-lust—­

ALL
  ( No, no, not all!  Not I!  Not mine, not mine!
  ( No, no,—­it is not true.

PIPER
Your blasphemies,—­your cunning and your Fear.

ALL
  ( No, no!—­What can we do?
  ( News, Piper, news!
  ( Where are your ridings, Piper?

PIPER
Now hear me.  You did make Jacobus swear
To give his child.—­What recks it, how he lose her?—­
Either to Holy Church—­against her will!—­
Or to this man,—­so that he give her up! 
He swore to you.  And she hath pledged her faith. 
She is fast wed.—­Jacobus shall not have her. 
He breaks all bargains; and for such as he,
You suffer.—­Will you bear it?

ALL
  No, no, no!

PIPER
Then she who was “Proud Barbara” doth wed
Michael-the-Sword-Eater.—­The pledge shall stand. 
Shall it?

ALL
  ( It stands.
  ( Ay, ay!

PIPER
Your word!

ALL
  ( We swear.  We answer for him.
  ( So much for Jacobus!

AXEL the Smith
An’ if yon fellow like an honest trade,
I’ll take him!—­I’ll make swords!
[Cheers.  Michael is happy.]

ALL
Quick, quick!—­Our children.—­Piper!—­Tell us all!

PIPER
’T is well begun.—­Now have I come to say: 
There is one child I may bring back to you,—­
The first.

ALL
[in an uproar]
  ( Mine—­mine!  Let it be mine!
  ( Ours’—­All of them!  Now!
  ( Mine—­mine—­mine!—­mine!

PIPER
[unmoved]
  —­Oh, Hamelin to the end! 
Which of you longed the most, and dared the most? 
Which of you—­

[He searches the crowd anxiously with his eyes.]

ALL
  ( I!  I!  I!
  ( We searched the hills!
  ( We prayed four days!
  ( We fasted twenty hours—­
  ( Mine!  Mine!
  ( Mine—­mine—­mine—­mine!

PIPER
  Not yet.—­They all do live
Under a spell,—­deep in a hollow hill. 
They sleep, and wake; and lead a charmed life. 
But first of all,—­one child shall come again.
[He scans the crowd still]
Where is the wife—­of Kurt, the Councillor?

ALL [savagely] No, mine, mine, mine!

MARTIN’S WIFE
What, that lame boy of hers?

PIPER
Where is the wife of Kurt?

PETER the Cobbler AND OTHERS
  —­Veronika? 
The foreign woman?  She is lying ill: 
Sore-stricken yonder—­
[Pointing to the house.]

PIPER
[gladly]
  Bid her come, look out!

[The crowd moves confusedly towards KURT’S house.  The PIPER too approaches, calling]

Ho,—­ho, within there!

[ANSELM, the priest, appears in the doorway with uplifted hand, commanding silence.  He is pale and stern.  At sight of his face the PIPER, falters.