The place of the children’s last retreat,
They called it the Pied Piper street—
Where any one playing on pipe or tabor
Was sure for the future to lose his labor.”
Robert Browning.
In this myth Odin is the piper, the shrill tones of the flute are emblematic of the whistling wind, the rats represent the souls of the dead, which cheerfully follow him, and he even leads the children into the hollow mountain, which is typical of the grave.
Bishop Hatto.
Another German legend, which owes its existence to this belief, is the story of Bishop Hatto, the miserly prelate, who, annoyed by the clamors of the poor during a time of famine, had them all burned alive in a deserted barn, like the rats whom he declared they resembled, rather than give them some of the precious grain which he had laid up for himself.
“‘I’ faith, ’tis an excellent bonfire!’ quoth he,
‘And the country is greatly obliged to me