THE PIED PIPER

OF

HAMELIN

BY

ROBERT BROWNING

ILLUSTRATED BY

KATE GREENAWAY

LONDON

Frederick Warne and Co., Ltd.

AND NEW YORK

Printed in U.S.A.

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN

I.

      Hamelin Town’s in Brunswick,
    By famous Hanover city;
      The river Weser, deep and wide,
      Washes its wall on the southern side;
      A pleasanter spot you never spied;
    But, when begins my ditty,
      Almost five hundred years ago,
      To see the townsfolk suffer so
        From vermin, was a pity.

II.

      Rats! 
    They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
      And bit the babies in the cradles,
      And ate the cheeses out of the vats. 
      And licked the soup from the cook’s own ladles,
    Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
    Made nests inside men’s Sunday hats,
    And even spoiled the women’s chats,
      By drowning their speaking
      With shrieking and squeaking
    In fifty different sharps and flats.

III.

    At last the people in a body
        To the Town Hall came flocking: 
    “Tis clear,” cried they, “our Mayor’s a noddy;
        And as for our Corporation—­shocking
    To think we buy gowns lined with ermine
    For dolts that can’t or won’t determine
    What’s best to rid us of our vermin! 
    You hope, because you’re old and obese,
    To find in the furry civic robe ease? 
    Rouse up, sirs!  Give your brains a racking
    To find the remedy we’re lacking,
    Or, sure as fate, we’ll send you packing!”
    At this the Mayor and Corporation
    Quaked with a mighty consternation.

IV.

    An hour they sate in council,
      At length the Mayor broke silence: 
    “For a guilder I’d my ermine gown sell;
      I wish I were a mile hence! 
    It’s easy to bid one rack one’s brain—­
    I’m sure my poor head aches again,
    I’ve scratched it so, and all in vain
    Oh for a trap, a trap, a trap!”
    Just as he said this, what should hap
    At the chamber door but a gentle tap? 
    “Bless us,” cried the Mayor, “what’s that?”
    (With the Corporation as he sat,
    Looking little though wondrous fat;
    Nor brighter was his eye,