NCTB প্রদত্ত সকল শ্রেণীর পাঠ্যবই (২০১৭,২০১৮,২০১৯) - NCTB's All Text Books For All Class (2017,2018,2019)

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

It was a long time ago. There was a town in Germany called Hamelin. Hamelin was a small but beautiful town. There was a river on one side and a mountain on the other. But suddenly the town was faced with a great problem. It became full of rats. The rats were very big and fierce. They fought the dogs, killed the cats and bit the babies in the cradles. The people were greatly annoyed. They became helpless. They tried to get rid of the problem but found no way. At last the people came to the town Hall and told the Mayor about their sufferings. The called up a meeting of his councillors. They talked about different plans. But they could not find any way how to kill the rats. Mayor Just then, a tall and thin man with a long coat of many colours and a strange hat on his head entered the room. He had a pipe in his hand. "Who are you? What do you want?" the Mayor asked. "I'm a Piper. You've a problem with rats. I can help you. I can kill the rats." "How?" they asked.

"With my pipe", he said. The Mayor asked, "How much do you want for it?" "One thousand guilders", said the Piper. "We'll give you ten thousand if you can help us to get rid of the rats," the Mayor said. "All right, I'll do it. But don't forget your promise." The Pied Piper went to the street and took out a pipe from his pocket. Then he began to play the pipe. Soon the rats from every house of Hamelin came out tumbling. There were hundreds or thousand of them. The man went on playing his pipe. He moved along the streets and the rats followed him. He went down to the bank of the river Waser and waded into the river. And every rat that followed him drowned in the river. The Piper came back to the Mayor and demanded the promised money. The Mayor thought that the rats were all gone and there was no use giving so much money to the Piper. He said, "That was only a joke. Take five hundred and go away." "No," said the Piper, "I would not take less." He was very angry. The Piper left the Mayor's office and stood in the street. He took up his pipe and began to play again. This time it was a different tune. But on hearing the tune, the children of the town began to dance. As the Piper walked along the streets, they followed him singing and dancing. The Piper was walking towards the mountain. As they came near the mountain, a door opened. The Piper and the chiidren walked into the mountain and the door closed. Only one boy could. not follow them because he was lame. The people saw all this and stood helpless. They realised that it was all their fault. But it was too late.

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