26 The Children of Hamelin

The children were gone. This is a fact. In the present town of Hamelin are more facts. On the wall of some old houses is a record. The record speaks of July 26, 1284. It says that a Piper led 130 children out of town. They were lost in Köppen Hill.

The Pied Piper may be fiction—a legend. But wrapped in the legend are facts. The town probably did lose 130 children. But they lost them in another way. The way was probably this. The nearby land of Moravia was thinly settled. Agents from there probably promised free land to the young. The young people left. The old folks stayed. The net result was this. The people of Hamelin lost their children. Not to the cave in Köppen Hill, but to the land of Moravia.

26 哈梅林的孩子們

孩子們消失了。這是一個事實。在現今的哈梅林鎮裡還有更多事實佐證。一些老房子的牆上留有紀錄。該紀錄提到了 1284 年 7 月 26 日。上面記載著一位吹笛人引領了 130 名孩子出城。他們在柯本山失蹤了。

花衣魔笛手的故事可能是虛構的——一個傳說。但這個傳說中包裹著事實。該鎮很可能確實失去了 130 個孩子。但他們是以另一種方式失去這些孩子的。實際情況很可能是這樣：附近的摩拉維亞地區人口稀少。來自那裡的代理人可能向年輕人承諾了免費的土地。年輕人於是離開了。老人們則留了下來。最終的結果是：哈梅林的人們失去了他們的孩子。不是失去在柯本山的洞穴裡，而是失去了摩拉維亞這片土地。