724 years ago, so the legend goes, Hamelin was rescued from a plague of rats by the Pied Piper who, through his music, led the rats into the Weser where they drowned.
Now, it seems, history is repeating itself. Hamelin once again faces a plague of rats.
Let’s just hope that this time they remember to pay the rat-catcher. Last time it didn’t work out so well when they reneged on their agreement.
I’m sure the Pied Piper regretted it. He probably thought, “Lone parent + child support for 532 kids = nice little earner” until the social welfare people started turning up; there were suspicions about his identity (“Michael Jackson? Never ‘eard of ‘im”); and instead of sitting down to watch the football, he had to keep playing his flute to pacify the children.
Meanwhile, back in Hamelin, the parents found that they no longer had to worry about their children being abducted (which had obviously happened) or worse (only when the bishop happened to be passing through), or about youth crime and all the evils on the Internet (only when the bishop happened to be online).
In the end, the Pied Piper would’ve returned the children only to find that he had joint custody and had to pay all the bills because the judge didn’t like the poncy git in striped tights.
Well, he might’ve been a good musician, but he clearly wasn’t very bright, was he?