The Ratcatcher

The Ratcatcher retells the legend of the German town of Hamlin, which in the year 1284 was so badly overrun by rats that the Burgomaster promised a large sum of money (and his daughter's hand in marriage) to anyone who could remove them. A colorfully dressed wandering piper lured all the rats away and drowned them in a nearby river. When the reward was refused him, he returned to the town and lured away all the children (and the Burgomaster's adult daughter), disappearing with them into the side of a mountain.