The Pied Piper of Hamelin
/ðə ˌpaɪd ˌpaɪpər əv ˈhæmlɪn/
/ðə ˌpaɪd ˌpaɪpər əv ˈhæmlɪn/
- a poem (1842) by Robert Browning. It tells the story of an old European legend about a man who gets rid of all the rats in the German town of Hamelin by playing his pipe. The rats follow the music and the piper leads them out of the town. When the people of Hamelin refuse to pay him for getting rid of the rats, he plays his pipe again and leads their children away.