<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Pied Piper of Hamelin (German: Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat - Catcher of Hamelin) is the titular character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany . The legend dates back to the Middle Ages, the earliest references describing a piper, dressed in multicolored ("pied") clothing, who was a rat - catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe . When the citizens refuse to pay for this service, he retaliates by using his instrument's magical power on their children, leading them away as he had the rats . This version of the story spread as folklore and has appeared in the writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Brothers Grimm, and Robert Browning, among others . </P> <P> There are many contradictory theories about the Pied Piper . Some suggest he was a symbol of hope to the people of Hamelin, which had been attacked by plague; he drove the rats from Hamelin, saving the people from the epidemic . </P>

Where did the story of the pied piper come from