The Town of Hamelin and the Rats

[This is an Indian fable]

The town of Hamelin was all peaceful and ordered until one day, when out of nowhere a horde of rats came. The rats squealed during the nights, bit and tore the clothing, and ran around the food stores stealing scraps of leftovers.

The villagers then complained to the tax officer. A few days later the tax officer announced, “Whoever that is capable of driving away the rats will be richly rewarded.”

That very same day a poor magician came, “I can kill the rats.”

Though a little surprised by the magician’s audacity, the tax officer still promised to grant him rewards after that. And so the magician took out his flute and started playing. The music was so beautiful that all the rats were drawn around him, dancing. As he continued to play, all the rats in the village were following behind him.

The magician then made his way through a river. The rats followed in, and were all drown.

After that, the magician proceeded to claim his rewards from the tax officer. The tax officer went a little reluctant, thinking to himself, “Now that all the rats had been killed, this poor magician can’t do anything even if I refused him the rewards.” So he refused.

The magician was furious. He started playing his flute again, but this time drawing out all the cows and goats instead of rats. He brought the lines of livestock closer to the river, until the tax officer finally made a move to stop him. The tax officer conceded and agreed to pay him.

But this time the magician demanded, “Pay me double the reward or I’ll drown all your livestock.”

The tax officer couldn’t do anything but gave in to his order.