解放军文职招聘考试The Pied Piper of Hamelin 哈米伦的吹笛人

 The Pied Piper of Hamelin

哈米伦的吹笛人

 

Once upon a time, on the banks of a great river in the north of Germany lay a town called Hamelin. The citizens of Hamelin were honest people who lived contentedly in their grey stone houses. The years went by, and the town grew very rich. Then one day, an extraordinary thing happened to disturb the peace. Hamelin had always had rats, and a lot too. But they had never been a danger, for the cats had always solved the rat problem in the usual way—by killing them. All at once, however, the rats began to multiply.

In the end, a black sea of rats swarmed over the whole town. First, they attacked the barns and storehouses then, for lack of anything better, they gnawed（啃）the wood, cloth or anything at all. The one thing they didn’t eat was metal. The terrified citizens flocked to plead with the town councilors（委员会）to free them from the plague of rats（鼠疫）. But the council had, for a long time, been sitting in the Mayor’s room, trying to think of a plan.

“What we need is an army of cats!”

But all the cats were dead.

“We’ll put down poisoned food then…”

But most of the food was already gone and no poison stopped the rats.

“It just can’t be done without help!” said the Mayor sadly.

Just then, while the citizens milled around outside, there was a loud knock at the door. “Who can that be?” the city fathers wondered uneasily, mindful of the angry crowds. They gingerly opened the door. And to their surprise, there stood a tall thin man dressed in brightly colored clothes, with a long feather in his hat, and waving a gold pipe at them.

“I’ve freed other towns of beetles and bats,” the stranger announced, “and for a thousand florins, I’ll rid you of your rats.”

“A thousand florins!” exclaimed the Mayor. “We’ll give you fifty thousand if you succeed!” At once the stranger hurried away, saying, “It’s late now, but at dawn tomorrow, there won’t be a rat left in Hamelin!”

The sun was still below the horizon, when the sound of a pipe wafted through the streets of Hamelin. The pied piper slowly made his way through the houses and behind him flocked the rats. Out they scampered from doors, windows and gutters (沟), rats of every size, all after the piper. And as he played, the stranger marched down to the river and straight into the water, up to his middle. Behind him swarmed the rats and every one was drowned and swept away by the current.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, there was not a single rat in the town. There was even greater delight at the town hall, until the piper tried to claim his payment. “Fifty thousand florins?” exclaimed the councilors, “Never…”

“A thousand florins at least!” cried the pied piper angrily. But the Mayor broke in. “The rats are all dead now and they can never come back. So be grateful for fifty florins, or you’ll not get even that…”

His eyes flashing with anger, the pied piper pointed a threatening finger at the Mayor.

“You’ll bitterly regret ever breaking your promise,” he said, and disappeared.

A shiver of fear ran through the councilors, but the Mayor shrugged and said excitedly, “We’ve saved fifty thousand florins!”

That night, freed from the nightmare of the rats, the citizens of Hamelin slept more soundly than ever. And when the strange sound of piping wafted through the streets at dawn, only the children heard it. Drawn as by magic, they hurried out of their homes. Again, the pied piper paced through the town, this time, it was children of all sizes that flocked at his heels to the sound of his strange piping. The long procession soon left the town and made its way through the wood and across the forest till it reached the foot of a huge mountain. When the piper came to the dark rock, he played his pipe even louder still and a great door creaked open. Beyond lay a cave. In trooped the children behind the pied piper, and when the last child had gone into the darkness, the door creaked shut. A great landslide（山崩）came down the mountain blocking the entrance to the cave forever. Only one little lame boy escaped this fate. It was he who told the anxious citizens, searching for their children, what had happened. And no matter what people did, the mountain never gave up its victims. Many years were to pass before the merry voices of other children would ring through the streets of Hamelin but the memory of the harsh lesson lingered in everyone’s heart and was passed down from father to son through the centuries.

 

I Aims and Demands（教学目的和要求）

To learn a tale--The Pied Piper of Hamelin and get the students to know the importance of honesty.

ⅡKey Points and Special Difficulties（重点和难点）

Key points: to grasp some useful expressions

all at once, free sb. from…, rid…of…, make one’s way, break in

Special difficulties: to understand Inversion.

Ⅲ Teaching Aids and Approaches（教具及教学方法）

Multi-media, Task-based approach and the integrated approach

 

Ⅳ Brief Teaching Procedures（教学过程）

Step1 Fast reading（快速阅读）

Read the passage quickly and answer some questions（快速阅读并回答下列问题）:

1) What trouble did the citizens of Hamelin have?

2) What was the result of their breaking the promise?

Keys（参考答案）:

1) There were too many rats in the town for them to live a normal life.

2) All the children but one were drawn into the cave and killed.

Step2 Careful reading（细读）

1. What words did the author use to indicate that the plague of rats was too terrible?

(a black sea, swarmed the whole town, gnawed everything except metal, need an army of cats…)

2. Find out inverted sentences in the passage.

(…, on the banks of a great river in the north of Germany lay a town called Hamelin.

…, there stood a tall thin man dressed in brightly colored clothes…

Behind him swarmed the rats….

The pied piper slowly made his way through the houses and behind him flocked the rats.

Beyond lay a cave.

In trooped the children behind the pied piper.)

3. Key expressions (要点表达)

1) all at once = all of a sudden/ suddenly 突然

2）And to their surprise, there stood a tall thin man dressed in brightly colored clothes, with a long feather in his hat, and waving a gold pipe at them.

“dressed in brightly colored clothes, with a long feather in his hat, and waving a gold pipe at them” is used to modify the subject “a tall thin man”.

3）There was even greater delight at the town hall, until the piper tried to claim his payment.

“claim” in the sentence means “ask for”.

4) His eyes flashing with anger, the pied piper pointed a threatening finger at the Mayor.

“His eyes flashing with anger” 是独立主格结构，在句中用作状语。

5) It was he who told the anxious citizens, searching for their children, what had happened.

该句为强调句型, searching for their children为现在分词短语作定语修饰the anxious citizens。

Step3 Classroom activities（课堂活动）

Divide the class into groups of four and discuss:

What lesson can we learn from the passage?

What do you think is very important in getting along well with others?

Step4. Homework（作业）

Get the students to tell the story to their family members.

Step5 Assessment（评价）

Words and expressions（词和短语）

1. multiply  v. 增加                                        2. content  adj. 满足 

3. swarm  v. 密集                                          4. flock  v. 聚集 

5. uneasily  adv.不安地                                   6. threaten  v. 威胁 

7. claim  v. 索取，索赔                                  8. current  n. 水流

9. procession  n. 队伍                                     10. troop  v. 群集 

11. harsh  adj. 严厉的                                   12. block  v. 封锁

13. all at once 突然                                          14. rid sb. of sth.使某人摆脱……

15. make one’s way 前进                                16. break in 插嘴，插话