IE PIED PIPER! 
 
 j OF HAM ELI N 
 
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(UNIVERSITY OF 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 ENDOWED BY THE 
 DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC 
 
 SCIIOOE 
 
 J821 
 Browning 
 
 *"U-<nt 
 
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 NOI 
 3c! 
 
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 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel H 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/piedpiperofhamelbrown 
 
The 
 Pied Piper 
 
 OF 
 
 Hamelin 
 
THE PIED PIPER 
 
 OK 
 
 H AMELIN 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT BROWNING 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 KATE GREENAWAY 
 
 LON DON 
 FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.. Ltd. 
 
 A N I) N E W YO R K 
 
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN. 
 
 Hamelin Town's in Brunswick, 
 
 By famous Hanover city ; 
 
 The river VVeser, 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. 
 
V^2 
 
 Rats! 
 They fought the dogs and killed the cats, 
 And bit the babies in the cradles, 
 
^^s 
 
 And ate the cheeses out of the vats. 
 
Split open the kegs of salted sprats, 
 Made nests inside men's Sunday hats, 
 
P^V 
 
 And even spoiled the women's chats, 
 
Bv drowning their speaking 
 VVith shrieking and squeaking 
 In fifty different sharps and flats. 
 
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 
 
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIlv 
 
 " To think we buy gowns lined with ernnne 
 
 " 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, nor moister 
 Than a too-long-opened oyster, 
 Save when at noon his paunch grew mutinous 
 For a plate of turtle green and glutinous) 
 " Only a scraping of shoes on the mat ? 
 " Anything like the sound of a rat 
 " Makes my heart go pit-a-pat ! " 
 
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN. 
 
 " Come in ! " — the Mayor cried, looking bigger : 
 And in did come the strangest figure ! 
 His queer long coat from heel to head 
 Was half of yellow and half of red, 
 And he himself was tall and thin, 
 With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin, 
 And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin 
 No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin, 
 But lips where smiles went out and in ; 
 There was no guessing his kith and kin : 
 And nobody could enough admire 
 The tall man and his quaint attire. 
 Quoth one : " It's as my great-grandsire. 
 " Starting up at the Trump of Doom's tone, 
 "Had walked this way from his painted tomb 
 stone ! " 
 
 VI. 
 
 He advanced to the council-table : 
 
 And, " Please your honours," said he, " I'm able, 
 
 " By means of a secret charm, to draw 
 
 " All creatures living beneath the sun, 
 
 " That creep or swim or fly or run, 
 
 " After me so as you never saw ! 
 
 "And I chiefly use my charm 
 
 " On creatures that do people harm, 
 
 " The mole and toad and newt and viper : 
 
 " And people call me the Pied Piper." 
 
 (And here they noticed round his neck 
 
 A scarf of red and yellow stripe, 
 
 To match with his coat of the self-same cheque ; 
 
7^ 
 
 And at the scarf's end hung a pipe ; 
 
 And his fingers they noticed were ever straying 
 
 As if impatient to be playing 
 
 Upon this pipe, as low it dangled 
 
 Over his vesture so old-fangled.) 
 
"Yet," said he, "poor Piper as I am, 
 "In Tartary I freed the Cham, 
 " Last June, from his huge swarms of gnats; 
 " I eased in Asia the Nizam 
 " Of a monstrous brood of vampyre-bats : 
 ' And as for what your brain bewilders, 
 " If I can rid your town of rats 
 " Will you give me a thousand guilders ?" 
 " One ? fifty thousand ! " —was the exclamation 
 Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation. 
 
i^.^8Wte 
 
 Into the street the Piper stept, 
 
 Smiling first a little smile, 
 As if he knew what magic slept 
 
 In his quiet pipe the while ; 
 Then, like a musical adept, 
 To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled, 
 And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled, 
 Like a candle-flame where salt is sprinkled ; 
 And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered, 
 You heard as if an army muttered ; 
 
A 
 
 *»s^ 
 
 And the muttering grew to a grumbling ; 
 And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumblin 
 And out of the houses the rats came tumbling 
 Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats, 
 Brown rats, black rats, grey rats, tawny rats, 
 Grave old plodders, gay young frisk ers, 
 
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMEUN. 
 
 Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins, 
 Cocking tails and pricking whiskers, 
 
 Families by tens and dozens, 
 Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives — 
 Followed the Piper for their lives. 
 From street to street he piped advancing, 
 And step for step they followed dancing, 
 Until they came to the river Weser 
 Wherein all plunged and perished ! 
 — Save one who, stout as Julius Caesar, 
 Swam across and lived to carry 
 (As he, the manuscript he cherished) 
 To Rat-land home his commentary : 
 Which was, " At the first shrill notes of the pipe, 
 " I heard a sound as of scraping tripe, 
 "And putting apples, wondrous ripe, 
 " Into a cider-press's gripe : 
 " And a moving away of pickle-tub-boards, 
 " And a leaving ajar of conserve-cupboards, 
 " And a drawing the corks of train-oil-flasks, 
 " And a breaking the hoops of butter-casks : 
 " And it seemed as if a voice 
 " (Sweeter far than by harp or by psaltery 
 "Is breathed) called out, ' Oh rats, rejoice ! 
 " ' The world is grown to one vast drysaltery ! 
 " ' So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon, 
 " ' Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon !' 
 " And just as a bulky sugar-puncheon, 
 " All ready staved, like a great sun shone 
 " Glorious scarce an inch before me, 
 " Just as methought it said, ' Come, bore me !' 
 " — I found the Weser rolling o'er me." 
 
vO> 
 
 You should have heard the Hameiin people 
 Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple 
 " Go," cried the Mayor, " and get long poles, 
 " Poke out the nests and block up the holes! 
 
" Consult with carpenters and builders, 
 "And leave in our town not even a trace 
 ' Of the rats !" — when suddenly, up the face 
 Of the Piper perked in the market-place, 
 With a, "First, if you please, my thousand guilders !' 
 
•IED PIPER OK HAMELIN 
 
 IX. 
 
 A thousand guilders ! The Mayor looked blue ; 
 
 So did the Corporation too. 
 
 For council dinners made rare havoc 
 
 With Claret, Moselle, Vin-de-Grave, Hock ; 
 
 And half the money would replenish 
 
 Their cellar's biggest butt with Rhenish. 
 
 To pay this sum to a wandering fellow 
 
 With a gipsy coat of red and yellow ! 
 
 " Beside," quoth the Mayor with a knowing wink, 
 
 " Our business was done at the river's brink ; 
 
 " We saw with our eyes the vermin sink, 
 
 " And what's dead can't come to life, I think. 
 
 " So, friend, we're not the folks to shrink 
 
 " From the duty of giving you something to drink, 
 
 " And a matter of money to put in your poke ; 
 
 " But as for the guilders, what we spoke 
 
 " Of them, as you very well know, was in joke. 
 
 " Beside, our losses have made us thrifty. 
 
 "A thousand guilders ! Come, take fifty !" 
 
/I 
 
THE PIED PIPER Ot HAMtLlN. 
 
 X. 
 
 fhe Piper's face fell, and he cried, 
 ' No trifling ! I can't wait, beside ! 
 ' I've promised to visit by dinner-time 
 ' Bagdad, and accept the prime 
 
 ' Of the Head-Cook's pottage, all he's rich in, 
 
 ' For having left, in the Caliph's kitchen, 
 
 ' Of a nest of scorpions no survivor : 
 
 1 With him I proved no bargain-driver, 
 
 ' With you, don't think I'll bate a stiver! 
 
 ' And folks who put me in a passion 
 
 ' May find me pipe after another fashion." 
 
 " How ?" cried the Mayor, " d' ye think I brook 
 
 " Being worse treated than a Cook ? 
 
 " Insulted by a lazy ribald 
 
 " With idle pipe and vesture piebald ? 
 
 " You threaten us, fellow ? Do your worst, 
 
 " Blow your pipe there till you burst !" 
 
And ere he blew three notes 
 
(such sweet 
 Soft notes as yet musician's cunning 
 Never gave the enraptured air) 
 
There was a rustlinc 
 
,v' - 
 
 that seemed like a bustling 
 
\l/^\/9\ J^>- 
 
 
 Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering, 
 

And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls, 
 
Tripping 
 
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN. 
 
 — Could only follow with the eye 
 
 That joyous crowd at the Piper's back. 
 
 But how the Mayor was on the rack, 
 
 And the wretched Council's bosoms beat, 
 
 As the Piper turned from the High Street 
 
 To where the Weser rolled its waters 
 
 Right in the way of their sons and daughters ! 
 
 However he turned from South to West, 
 
 And to Koppelberg Hill his steps addressed, 
 
 And after him the children pressed ; 
 
 Great was the joy in every breast. 
 
 " He never can cross that mighty top ! 
 
 " He's forced to let the piping drop, 
 
 "And we shall see our children stop!" 
 
 When, lo,as they reached the mountain-side, 
 
 A wondrous portal opened wide, 
 
 As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed ; 
 
 And the Piper advanced and the children followed, 
 
 And when all were in to the very last, 
 
 The door in the mountain-side shut fast. 
 
 Did I say, all ? No ! One was lame, 
 
 And could not dance the whole of the way ; 
 
 And in after years, if you would blame 
 
 His sadness, he was used to say, — 
 
 " It's dull in our town since my playmates left! 
 
 " I can't forget that I'm bereft 
 
 " Of all the pleasant sights they see, 
 
 " Which the Piper also promised me. 
 
 " For he led us, he said, to a joyous land, 
 
 "Joining the town and just at hand, 
 
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN. 
 
 " Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grew, 
 
 " And flowers put forth a fairer hue, 
 
 " And everything was strange and new ; 
 
 " The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here, 
 
 " And their dogs outran our fallow deer, 
 
 " And honey-bees had lost their stings, 
 
 " And horses were born with eagles' wings: 
 
 " And just as I became assured 
 
 " My lame foot would be speedily cured, 
 
 " The music stopped and I stood still, 
 
 " And found myself outside the hill, 
 
 " Left alone against my will, 
 
 " To go now limping as before, 
 
 " And never hear of that country more! 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Alas, alas for Hamelin ! 
 
 There came into many a burgher's pate 
 
 A text which says that Heaven's gate 
 
 Opes to the rich at as easy rate 
 As the needle's eye takes a camel in ! 
 The Mayor sent East, West, North, and South, 
 To offer the Piper, by word of mouth, 
 
 Wherever it was men's lot to find him, 
 Silver and gold to his heart's content, 
 If he'd only return the way he went, 
 
 And bring the children behind him. 
 But when they saw 'twas a lost endeavour, 
 And Piper and dancers were gone for ever, 
 They made a decree that lawyers never 
 
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN. 
 
 Should think their records dated duly 
 If, after the day of the month and year, 
 These words did not as well appear, 
 " And so long after what happened here 
 
 " On the Twenty-second of July, 
 " Thirteen hundred and seventy-six :'*' 
 And the better in memory to fix 
 The place of the children's last retreat, 
 They called it, the Pied Piper's Street — 
 Where any one playing on pipe or tabor, 
 Was sure for the future to lose his labour. 
 Nor suffered they hostelry or tavern 
 
 To shock with mirth a street so solemn ; 
 But opposite the place of the cavern 
 
 They wrote the story on a column, 
 And on the great church-window painted 
 The same, to make the world acquainted 
 How their children were stolen away, 
 And there it stands to this very day. 
 And I must not omit to say 
 That in Transylvania there's a tribe 
 Of alien people that ascribe 
 The outlandish ways and dress 
 On which ^heir neighbours lay such stress, 
 To their fathers and mothers having risen 
 Out of some subterraneous prison 
 Into which they were trepanned 
 Long time ago in a mighty band 
 Out of Hamelin town in Brunswick land, 
 But how or why, they don't understand. 
 
So, Willy, let me and you be wipers 
 
 Of scores out with all men — especially pipers ! 
 
 And, whether they pipe us free from rats or 
 
 from mice, 
 If we've promised them aught, let us keep our 
 
 promise ! 
 
ENGRAVED AND PRINTED 
 
 BY 
 
 EDMUND EVANS, LTD. 
 
 ROSE PLACE, GLOBE ROAD 
 
 LONDON. E. I. 
 
THE PIED PIPE F 
 
 ?& OF HA MEL 
 
 Illusl-r^ed by Ka^e C