The mystery behind the Pied Piper story

https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/pied-piper-hamelin-001969  Summary:

Many are familiar with the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Few realize however, that the story is based on real events, which evolved over the years into a fairy tale made to scare children.

For those unfamiliar with the tale, the Pied Piper of Hamelin is set in 1284 in the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany. This town was facing a rat infestation, and a piper, dressed in a coat of many colored, bright cloth, appeared. This piper promised to get rid of the rats in return for a payment, to which the townspeople agreed. Although the piper got rid of the rats by leading them away with his music, the people of Hamelin reneged on their promise. The furious piper left, vowing revenge. On July 26 of that same year, the piper returned and led the children away, never to be seen again, just as he did the rats . . .

The earliest known record of this story is from the town of Hamelin itself. It is depicted in a stained glass window created for the church of Hamelin, which dates to around 1300 AD. Although it was destroyed in 1660, several written accounts have survived. The oldest comes from the Lueneburg manuscript (c 1440 – 50), which stated: “In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul on June 26, by a piper, clothed in many kinds of colours, 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced, and lost at the place of execution near the koppen.” A 1384 entry in Hamelin’s town records also grimly states “It is 100 years since our children left.”

The supposed street where the children were last seen is today called Bungelosenstrasse (street without drums), as no one is allowed to play music or dance there. Incidentally, it is said that the rats were absent from earlier accounts, and only added to the story around the middle of the 16th century. Moreover, the stained glass window and other primary written sources do not speak of the plague of rats.

If the children’s disappearance was not an act of revenge, then what was its cause for the Pied Piper’s actions? There have been numerous theories trying to explain what happened to the children of Hamelin . . .

Historical records suggest that the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin was a real event that took place. This could stoke real fear in parent’s hearts – worrying whispers that a number of real children have been lost to some frightening unknown force. The transmission of this story undoubtedly evolved and changed over the centuries, although to what extent is uncertain.

The mystery of what really happened to those children has never been solved. The story also raises the question, if the Pied Piper of Hamelin was based on reality, how much truth is there in other fairy tales that we were told as children?

That story has always made me sad. I felt bad for the children, and I do believe there is a reason for it. Perhaps someone came around and told the children he would show them something wonderful. Maybe he, or they, pretended to be entertainers (hence the dancing and singing). They left to see what it was, only never to return. Slavery was still a thing and child trafficking has always existed.