<P> Some researchers believe that the tale has inspired the common English phrase "pay the piper", although the phrase is actually a contraction of the English proverb "he who pays the piper calls the tune" which simply means that the person paying for something is the one who gets to say how it should be done . </P> <P> The present - day City of Hamelin continues to maintain information about the Pied Piper legend and possible origins of the story on its website . Interest in the city's connection to the story remains so strong that in 2009, Hamelin held a tourist festival to mark the 725th anniversary of the disappearance of the town's earlier children . The eerie nature of such a celebration was enough to warrant an article in the Fortean Times, a print magazine devoted to odd occurrences, legends, cryptozoology and all things strange which are known now as Forteana The article noted that even to this day, there is prohibition against playing music or dancing upon the Bungelosenstrasse ("street without drums"), the street where the children were purported to have last been seen before they disappeared or left the town . There is even a building, popular with visitors, that is called "the rat catcher's house" although it bears no connection to the Rat - Catcher version of the legend . Indeed, the Rattenfängerhaus is instead, associated with the story due to the earlier inscription upon its facade mentioning the legend . The house was built much later in 1602 and 1603 . It is now a Hamelin City - owned restaurant with a pied piper theme throughout . The city also maintains an online shop with rat - themed merchandise as well as offering an officially licensed Hamelin Edition of the popular board game Monopoly which depicts the legendary Piper on the cover . </P> <P> In addition to the recent milestone festival, each year the city marks June 26 as "Rat Catcher's Day". In the United States, a similar holiday for Exterminators based on Rat Catcher's Day has failed to catch on and is marked on July 22 . </P>

The story of the pied piper and the rats