Today marks the day in 1284 when the people of Hamelin broke their contract with the Pied Piper, with disastrous consequences.
In 1284, when the town of Hamelin was suffering from a rat infestation, a Pied Piper appeared dressed in colorful (“pied”) clothing and presented himself as a rat exterminator. The Piper promised the mayor a solution to the rat problem. The mayor promised to pay 1,000 guilders for getting rid of the rats. The Piper accepted the offer and used his pipe to lure the rats into the River Weser, where they all drowned.[4]
Despite the Piper's success, the mayor reneged on his promise and refused to pay him the full amount (reportedly reduced to 50 guilders). He even accused the Piper of trying to blackmail him by bringing in the rats himself. Enraged, the Piper ran out of town, vowing to return later for revenge. On St. John and St. Paul's Day, while the adults were at church, the Piper returned dressed in green like a hunter and playing his pipe. By doing so, he attracted the interest of the town's children. 130 children left the town, went into a cave, and were never seen again. In some versions, at most three children were left behind; one was too lame to keep up, two were too deaf to hear the music, and the last was blind and could not see where he was going. When these three came out of the church, they informed the villagers of what had happened.[4]
First of all, what is St. John and St. Paul Day?
John and Paul (Latin: Joannes, Paulus) were saints who lived in the Roman Empire in the 4th century. They were martyred in Rome on June 26. The year of their martyrdom is unknown according to their records. actionIt occurred during the reign of Julian the Apostate (361-363).
It always involves murder.
Kitchen Table Kibiting is a Community Series It's for people who, rather than throwing pies at each other, would like to share a virtual kitchen table with other Daily Kos readers. Stop by to chat about music, the weather, the garden, what we're making for dinner, etc. If you're new here, you may notice that many of the people posting to this series already know each other to some extent, but we welcome guests to our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.
