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Yesterday, I was suddenly thinking about 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' by the brothers Grimm. For those of you not familiar with the fairy tale, here's a short summary:

In the Middle Ages, the German town of Hamelin had a problem with too many rats. Desperate for a solution, the citizens of Hamelin believed in the promise of a piper in pied clothing to solve the problem. They agreed to pay him for that service. The man proceeded to play on a magic pipe and the rates followed him to a nearby river, where they drowned. In the meantime the thrifty citizens had changed their minds and refused to pay him. The piper left Hamelin and vowed revenge. A while later he returned in a different outfit and played his magic pipe again. This time he was followed by the children of Hamelin, who were never seen again. However there were 3 exceptions: One child was lame and couldn't follow quickly enough, one was deaf and couldn't hear the pipe, one was blind and couldn't see where the other children were going. Hence they were the only ones to survive.

Numerous interpretations have been proposed, but none focused on the three surviving children. So, here is my free interpretation:

Pied Pipers are obviously still among us. They don't wear funny, pied costumes anymore. Nowadays they wear suits or hoodies. They don't play magical pipes, but promise us magical, at times incredible, things and many of us choose to follow instantly. The fairy tale teaches us that it is not wise to instantly and unconditionally follow and believe everything we hear and see. In the fairy tale, the children had no choice, as only those with a disability were spared. In real life, we do have the choice if we use our common sense. A sarcastic pied piper would probably add that common sense is a disability. Understandable from his perspective, because it's much easier to lure the unwary.

Just for children? I don't think so!