September 30, 2002
The Pied Piper Of Hamelin
I
Hamelin Town's in Brunswick,
By famous Hanover city;
The river Weser, deep and wide,
Washes its wall on the southern side;
A pleasanter spot you never spied;
But, when begins my ditty,
Almost five hundred years ago,
To see the townsfolk suffer so
From vermin, was a pity.
II
Rats!
They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladle's,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
ln fifty different sharps and flats.
III
At last the people in a body
To the town hall came flocking:
"Tis clear," cried they, 'our Mayor's a noddy;
And as for our Corporation--shocking
To think we buy gowns lined with ermine
For dolts that can't or won't determine
What's best to rid us of our vermin!
You hope, because you're old and obese,
To find in the furry civic robe ease?
Rouse up, sirs! Give your brains a racking
To find the remedy we're lacking,
Or, sure as fate, we'll send you packing!"
At this the Mayor and Corporation
Quaked with a mighty consternation.
IV
An hour they sat in council,
At length the Mayor broke silence:
"For a guilder I'd my ermine gown sell,
I wish I were a mile hence!
It's easy to bid one rack one's brain--
I'm sure my poor head aches again,
I've scratched it so, and all in vain
Oh for a trap, a trap, a trap!"
Just as he said this, what should hap
At the chamber door but a gentle tap?
"Bless us,' cried the Mayor, "what's that?"
(With the Corporation as he sat,
Looking little though wondrous fat;
Nor brighter was his eye, nor moister
Than a too-long-opened oyster,
Save when at noon his paunch grew mutinous
For a plate of turtle green and glutinous)
"Only a scraping of shoes on the mat?
Anything like the sound of a rat
Makes my heart go pit-a-pat!"
V
"Come in!"--the Mayor cried, looking bigger:
And in did come the strangest figure!
His queer long coat from heel to head
Was half of yellow and half of red
And he himself was tall and thin,
With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,
And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,
No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin,
But lips where smiles went out and in;
There was no guessing his kith and kin:
And nobody could enough admire
The tall man and his quaint attire.
Quoth one:"It's as my great-grandsire,
Starting up at the trump of doom's tone,
Had walked this way from his painted tombstone!"
VI
He advanced to the council-table:
And, "Please your honors," said he, "I'm able,
By means of a secret charm, to draw
All creatures living beneath the sun,
That creep or swim or fly or run,
After me so as you never saw
And I chiefly use my charm
On creatures that do people harm,
The mole and toad and newt and viper;
And People call me the Pied Piper."
(And here they noticed round his neck
For council dinners made rare havoc
With Claret, Moselle, Vin-de-Grave, Hock;
And half the money would replenish
Their cellar's biggest butt with Rhenish.
To pay this sum to a wandering fellow
With a gipsy coat of red and yellow!
"Beside," quoth the Mayor with a knowing wink,
"Our business was done at the river's brink;
We saw with our eyes the vermin sink,
And what's dead can't come to life, I think.
So, friend, we're not the folks to shrink
From the duty of giving you something for drink,
And a matter of money to put in your poke;
But as for the guilders, what we spoke
Of them, as you very well know, was in joke.
Beside, our losses have made us thrifty.
A thousand guilders! Come, take fifty!
X
The Piper's face fell, and he cried
No trifling! I can't wait beside!
I've promised to visit by dinnertime
Bagdat, and accept the prime
Of the Head-Cooks pottage, all he's rich in,
For having left, in the Caliph's kitchen,
Of a nest of scorpions no survivor:
With him I proved no bargain-driver,
With you, don't think I'll bate a stiver!
And folks who put me in a passion
May find me pipe after another fashion,
XI
"How?" cried the Mayor, "d'ye think I brook
Being worse treated than a Cook?
Insulted by a lazy ribald
With idle pipe and vesture piebald?
You threaten us, fellow? Do your worst,
Blow your pipe there till you burst!
XII
Once more he stept into the street
And to his lips again
Laid his long pipe of smooth straight cane;
And ere he blew three notes (such sweet
Soft notes as yet musician's cunning
Never gave the enraptured air)
There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling
Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling,
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering,
And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering,
Out came the children running.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,
Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after
The wonderful music with shouting and laughter.
XIII
The Mayor was dumb, and the Council stood
As if they were changed into blocks of wood,
Unable to move a step or cry,
To the children merrily skipping by,
--Could only follow with the eye
That joyous crowd at the Piper's back.
But how the Mayor was on the rack
And the wretched Council's bosoms beat,
As the Piper turned from the High Street
To where the Weser rolled its water's
Right in the way of their sons and daughters!
However he turned from South to West
And to Koppelberg Hill his steps addressed,
And after him the children pressed--
Great was the joy in every breast.
"He never can cross that mighty top!
He's forced to let the piping drop
And we shall see our children stop!
When, lo, as they reached the mountain-side,
A wondrous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
And the Piper advanced and the children followed,
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain-side shut fast.
Did I say all? No! One was lame,
And could not dance the whole of the way;
And in after years, if you would blame
His sadness, he was used to say,--
"It¹s dull in our town since my playmates left!
I can¹t forget that I'm bereft
Of all all the pleasant sights they see,
Which the Piper also promised me.
For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,
Joining the town and just at hand,
Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grew
And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
And everything was strange and new
The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,
And their dogs outran our fallow deer,
And honey-bees had lost their stings,
And horses were born with eagles' wings:
And just as I became assured
My lame foot would be speedily cured,
The music stopped and I stood still,
And found myself outside the hill,
Left alone against my will,
To go now limping as before,
And never hear of that country more!"
XIV
Alas, alas for Hamelin!
There came into many a burgher's pate
A text which says that heaven¹s gate
Opes to the rich at as easy rate
As the needle's eye takes a camel in!
The mayor sent East, West, North and South,
To offer the Piper, by word of mouth
Wherever it was men's lot to find him
Silver and gold to his heart¹s content
If he'd only return the way he went,
And bring the children behind him.
But when they saw 'twas a lost endeavor,
and Piper and dancers were gone forever,
They made a decree that lawyers never
Should think their records dated duly
If, after the day of the month and year,
These words did not as well appear,
And so long after what happened here
On the Twenty-second of July,
Thirteen hundred and seventy-six:
And the better in memory to fix
The place of the children's last retreat,
They called it, the Pied Piper's Street--
Where any one playing on pipe or tabor
Was sure for the future to lose his labor.
Nor suffered they hostelry or tavern
To shock with mirth a street so solemn,
But opposite the place of the cavern
They wrote the story on a column,
And on the great church-window painted
The same, to make the world acquainted
How their children were stolen away,
And there it stands to this very day.
And I must not omit to say
That, in Transylvania there's a tribe
Of alien people who ascribe
The outlandish ways and dress
On which their neighbors lay such stress,
To their fathers and mothers having risen
Out of some subterraneous prison
Into which they were trepanned
Long time ago in a mighty band
Out of Hamelin town in Brunswick land,
But how or why they don't understand.
XV
So, Willy, let you and me be wipers
Of scores out with all men -- especially pipers!
And, whether pipe us free from rats or from mice,
If we've promised them ought, let us keep our promise.
-- Robert Browning
i stayed up till one in the morning to read this. it's really good, i have the original version in a Robert Browning's Poetry book. which i only came to know of last night, and by chance.
10:46 AM
i finally got into the studying mood at 0934 today. unfortunately i was going down for breakfast and by the time i was done, which was 0947, i had lost it.
oh! oh! i'm getting it! I'M GETTING IT!
10:03 AM
September 29, 2002
exam fever
all you late night muggaz! lemme see y'all shake that thang! holla if ya know what i mean! wave that textbookies like ya just don't care man! fuck shit punk, scream! wave yo hands in tha air! that's right hwa chong shorties, this is yo one night only, punk!
sigh. what is wrong with me.
1:26 AM
September 28, 2002
i haven't said this in a long while:
rock on.
2:16 PM
someone i don't know very well told me i have a very gentle voice. yay? yay. yay!
and ramya! the same blog template! woohOo~
2:14 PM
brainwashed through packing bags
left his head and a bottle of gin
beside the bed and he made a decision
to never go back
2:11 PM
September 26, 2002
something are wrong. my freakish sister want math tuitions, and my ma is yelling cos my paw is yelling. they is all yelling and i is writing this all down.
on a separate note, F sharp.
5:15 PM
September 25, 2002
i'm asexual. there's nothing wrong in being nothing.
5:28 PM
I don't want you to give it all up
And leave your own life collecting dust
And I don't want you to feel sorry for me
You never gave us a chance to be
And I don't need you to be by my side
To tell me that everything's alright
I just wanted you to tell me the truth
You know I'd do that for you
Why are you running away?
Why are you running away?
Cause I did enough to show you that I
Was willing to give and sacrifice
And I was the one who was lifting you up
When you thought your life had had enough
And when I get close, you turn away
There's nothing that I can do or say
So now I need you to tell me the truth
You know I'd do that for you
So why are you running away?
Why are you running away?
Is it me, is it you
Nothing that I can do
To make you change your mind
Is it me, is it you
Nothing that I can do
Is it a waste of time?
Is it me, is it you
Nothing that I can do
To make you change your mind
So why are you running away?
Why are you running away?
...What is it I've got to say...
So why are you running away?
...To make you admit you're afraid...
Why are you running away?
hoobastank - running away.
5:20 PM
September 23, 2002
but obviously, hey guess what! you shouldn't! you fucking, shouldn't. what the fuck did you even bother in the first fucken place for? haha, look at you now. god, you're a joke. really, hahaha. and what now? oh, yeah. nah, it's not your fault. you were just SO STUPID!! ohhohohoho, enough enough.
'i've had it with you. self-deprecating, grovelling twit.'
you were right.
6:05 PM
September 22, 2002
i wish i should.
1:34 PM
September 13, 2002
be happy.
hear the rain.
smell what's around you. be happy.
3:58 PM
September 11, 2002
Took a while to drag me out of bed,
Aim some coffee at my head,
Saw the clock I'm running late,
It's an ordinary day.
And I'm like a dog on heat,
Knock one out and then fall asleep,
It's sad but true,
I'd rather be with you
Don't you forget about me,
When you're a celebrity,
It will be only you and me
Before too long.
So little time so much to do,
I'd rather spend my days with you,
So little time so much to do,
I'd like to spend one day with you,
And if that day is not enough,
Maybe we can stay in touch,
But i'm not making plans for tomorrow,
For tomorrow never comes.
Said I've been celibate for years,
Not out of choice there's no-one here,
See I can't get my end away,
Another ordinary day,
And I'd love to see a little more of you,
You're clothes would look better on my bedroom floor, my bedroom floor, my bedroom floor.
Don't you forget about me,
When you're a celebrity
I know you're busy,
But we all need somebody - before too long
So little time so much to do,
I'd rather spend my days with you,
So little time so much to do,
I'd like to spend one day with you,
And if that day is not enough,
Maybe we can stay in touch,
But i'm not making plans for tomorrow,
For tomorrow never comes.
It's in your eyes, in your eyes
So little time so much to do,
I wanna spend my days with you,
So little time so much to do,
I'd like to spend one day with you,
And if that day is not enough,
Maybe we can stay in touch,
But i'm not making plans for tomorrow,
For tomorrow never comes.
Arkarna - so little time
10:19 PM
September 04, 2002
avril lavigne is a very pretty girl.
2:48 AM
Hey, goto this site:
http://looplabs.com, under 'songs' listen to those by 'thambs'......
[entries no. 28064 & 28092]
Try it!!
; )
2:41 AM
September 03, 2002
pretense will help you
syncopate your love
pretense will give you
space to fall on
pretense will show you
the reasons why
you can't pretend.
4:43 PM
feuer frei.
fire freely
Bang Bang.
2:29 PM
September 02, 2002
i removed the post that announced my 76% badness cos it affected the alignment of the preceding posts.
i am 76% bad. that's all you need to know.
8:21 PM
September 01, 2002
Regent Secondary - where everyone counts.
2:39 AM
i attended church just now, to watch a play. nevermind the title being Lord Of The Strings. but the drama was basically about how people have restraints which are external. brought about by the way they've been brought up, they're living environs and so on and so forth. then after the play, came a man they called Willie. he was a pasteur. he went on about how youths who have yet to accept god into their lives are leading a life with no purpose. they have no direction, they don't know where they're headed, and they don't know what they're doing with their lives. he went on to strike a chord with the other idiotic brainless twats who couldn't see through his ploy to get more ppl to give god a chance, and to let him help them gain a purpose in life. his self-righteous tone went very well with the way he condemned us for Feeling Lonely all the time, how we can't Be Ourselves in front of our 'friends' because if they knew the real 'us', we'd lose them. which i personally thought was a whole load of big bull crap. i mean, seriously if you're going to put down people like that why bother offering them a solution in god? you might as well go the whole way and tell them they're better off dead. your superficial god, why did he make you so ugly? right, cos looks don't matter. it's just your solution for everything else. i'm happy for you if you think looking for god should be your purpose in life and if it keeps you satisfied then i'll respect that and let you be. i'm not going to actively tell you you're wrong, but don't you try telling me i should accept your god just because i, like everyfuckenbody else have problems, u know. we Cry At Night in our rooms and you don't because you have your god. i'd tell you to take your god and stick it up your own if it weren't so sensitive an issue. you want to tell us you're happy that you've found god and share with us how he's helped you then fine, i'll listen. but if you're gonna start putting everybody else to bring yourself and your religion up then i'd think that's pushing it too far. christianity is better than buddhism because christians go to churches to pray and seek help while buddhists go there 'merely to be blessed, so they can have better results or better health'. i lost all respect for you the moment you said that, free willie. you have absolutely no right to think your god is almighty and ipso facto superior to all other icons of worship. i was so happy when at the end of your oration nobody raised their hand to show they've decided to 'give god a chance to give them meaning in life'. cos really, there's nothing so great about you ppl would want to be like you for. you did well though, in your speech. i could see a number of foolish arse-heads actually nodding their arse-heads to some of the stuff you said. so, kudos on that. but you'll never catch me. ever.
and about that thing you said about heaven and hell. i don't believe in either, so i can safely not give a cow-tit about 'burning eternally without actually dying'. you dumbass, when will you ever learn. it doesn't work that way. life after death is what you make it out to be. i think. oh well. either way, god help you.
2:35 AM
