Krysař – Dyk Viktor (2021)

The Czech-language novella The Pied Piper by Viktor Dyk was first published in the magazine Lumír under the title A True Story in 1911–1912 and appeared as The Pied Piper for the first time in 1915. Dyk drew inspiration from the old German legend of the piper who rid the town of Hameln of rats, then led its children away when the inhabitants refused to pay him. In Dyk’s version, the legend becomes a romantic story of fateful love and rebellion against bourgeois corruption. His mysterious piper wanders alone from town to town, using his flute to control not only rats but all living things. He falls in love with Agnes, who returns his feelings. The town is also home to the fisherman Sepp Jörgen, whom the townspeople despise for his slow thinking, just as they despise the piper. After fulfilling his commission, the piper finds that the townspeople are reluctant to pay him. Then he learns that Agnes is expecting a child with her former lover. Desperate after his disappointment in love and in the townspeople, he decides to take revenge. Only Sepp Jörgen can resist the spell of his flute.