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Well , not all of them . One rat is big and very strong . He is as strong as the great Julius Caesar . He swims and swims . At last he gets to the other side of the river . Then he runs all the way home to Rat - land . And there , he tells the other rats his story . “ I heard the first notes of the pipe , ” he says . “ And then I heard lovely sounds . It was the sound of a knife in soft meat . It was the sound of sweet red apples in a press . People put apples in a press to make apple juice . I heard people open the tops of the pickle barrels . I heard the doors of the jam cupboards open . I heard people take the corks out of bottles of oil . And I heard the rings break on the barrels of butter . ” The other rats listen . Their mouths are open . “ And then a voice called out , ” says the rat . “ It was very sweet , sweeter than any music . It said , ‘ Oh rats , be happy ! The whole world is one big food shop now ! So eat , eat , eat ! Eat your breakfast , your lunch , your dinner and your supper ! ’ ” “ And then ? ” ask the other rats . “ And then I saw a great barrel of sugar , ” says the rat . “ It was open , and it was right in front of my nose . It shone like the sun . It said , ‘ Come and eat me ! ’ And then I found the river over my head . ” V . The Thousand Guilders In Hamelin , the people are very happy . They ring the church bells . They ring them so hard that the church tower shakes . The Mayor stands in the market place . He is very happy too , and very busy . “ Go ! ” he cries . “ Get long poles ! Find the rats ’ nests and pull them out . Close up all the holes ! Ask the builders to help you . I don’t want to see one rat in this town . Not one ! ” Suddenly , there is a face in the crowd . It is the Piper . “ First , if you please , ” he says , “ my thousand guilders . ” A thousand guilders ! The Mayor’s face goes white . The faces of the men of the Corporation go white too . The Mayor and the Corporation love their big dinners at the Town Hall . At the dinners they drink lots of good wine . Good wine costs a lot of money . With five hundred guilders , they can fill their biggest wine barrel . And now they must give all that money to this man ? He walks from town to town . He has no home . He wears a funny coat of red and yellow ! The Mayor looks at the Corporation . Then he closes one eye . He looks very clever . “ Well , my friend , ” he says to the Piper . “ Our business is done . It was done at the river . We saw the rats go under the water . We saw it with our own eyes . And dead things don’t come back to life , do they ? ”
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