Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Goethe's 1802 poem "Der Rattenfänger" ("The Rat-Catcher") contains the usual references to a travelling minstrel ridding a town of its rats and children, but something else not usually depicted in versions of the Pied Piper myth. Who else falls prey to the musician's seductive melodies in Goethe's version?
2. The 1816 tale "Die Kinder zu Hameln" ("The Children of Hamelin") paints a dark and terrible account of the Pied Piper story, and places particular emphasis on the children. Who authored this version first published in "Deutsche Sagen" ("German Legends"), better known for their collection of fairy tales?
3. Perhaps the best-known retelling of the story is Robert Browning's playful "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", first published in an 1842 collection of poetry called "Dramatic Lyrics". Browning keeps the tone light and humorous throughout, but ends with a serious message. What is the surprisingly moral lesson imparted at the end of the poem?
4. Scottish writer Andrew Lang, best known for his compilations of folk and fairy tales, published an 1890 collection called "The Red Fairy Book" that contained an account of the Pied Piper tale. How does the town attempt to deprive the piper of his fee in "The Ratcatcher"?
5. Although the Pied Piper is usually promised gold or money in exchange for ridding the town of Hamelin of its rat population, the enticement in Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva's "The Ratcatcher" (1925) is slightly different. What is promised instead?
6. Celebrated author and cartoonist Shel Silverstein published a collection of poetry for children in 1974 called "Where the Sidewalk Ends" that contains a poem inspired by the Pied Piper legend, told from the point of view of a child left behind. What is the name of the poem?
7. "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents" (2001) provides a humorous spin on the Pied Piper story by depicting the rats as a bunch of grifters, in league with an intelligent cat named Maurice and a teenaged piper named Keith, who travel from town to town swindling the residents. Which author wrote this novel as part of his "Discworld" series of books?
8. "What Happened in Hamelin" (1979) by Gloria Skurzynski and "Breath" (2003) by Donna Jo Napoli are both young adult novels that attempt to provide a rational, real-world explanation for the events in Hamelin. What unexpected cause do these two books employ to explain the events of the Pied Piper story?
9. Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple's "Pay the Piper" (2005) is a modern reimagining of the Pied Piper fable, with a larger than life piper and a supernatural motivation for his child-catching tendencies. What is the piper's unlikely occupation in the present-day portions of the story?
10. Bill Willingham's novel "Peter and Max" (2009) fleshes out the Pied Piper legend considerably by inserting it inside a larger tale of sibling rivalry. The titular Max is the fabled Pied Piper who liberates the town of Hamelin of its rats and children, but which nursery rhyme character corresponds to his brother, Peter?
Source: Author
jmorrow
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agony before going online.
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