英语故事-The Piped Piper Of Hamelin

2020年12月4日发(作者：路达)
英语故事

The Piped Piper Of Hamelin


Hamelin is a sleepy town in Germany. It seems
to gentle and so quite， you would think that life ran forever
as peacefully as the river running past the walls. But there
was a time long ago when Hamelin was over-run by rats， and
greed and treachery brought about a terrible tragedy.
The rats were like the plague. They appeared
suddenly and crept into every corner of every house in the town.
They were large and black and fierce. They had whiskers as stiff
as straw and tail as long as your foot.
All night long they squeaked and chattered and
scurried and scratched. There was not a floorboard， not a
cupboard， not a wainscot that they had not gnawed through.
Fat rats made their nests in the horsehair mattresses. Hungry
rats went hunting in the family larders. There were rats in
people’s boots in the morning. There were rats in their
pockets and in the children’s satchels. They nibbled the noses
of the babies in their cots.
’Leave it to me！’ said the mayor， when the council
met in the old town hall. ‘I’ll personally provide one
hundred cats to rid us of these rats.
The rats chased the cats right out of town.
’Try dogs，’ said one of the councilors.