TALES OF MY FATHER

My Father, Charles Henry Jenkins (1908-1989)

Jack-of-all-Trades, Master-of-None ……. an enigma

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TALE SIX: THE PIED PIPER
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One summer’s afternoon, a man was out walking by the bank of a small stream with his young son and their dog. The dog was enjoying himself by running backwards and forwards while trying to catch butterflies and the occasional bird. Suddenly the little boy stopped and turning to his father asked if dogs go to heaven. The father stopped and looked down at his son as he thought. After a minute or so, he told him that this question has been much debated in religious circles and will probably continue to be so for years to come. After another short pause, he gave the boy a smile and said that as far as he was concerned, all dogs go to heaven.

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Had he been magically transported to some magic land, I feel certain that within minutes, all of the dogs of the neighbourhood would be running to his side. For my father was a veritable Pied Piper when it came to dogs!

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The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the title of a German Tale of Folklore from The Middle Ages. The legend has been immortalised by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), The Brothers Grim (Jacob, 1785-1863 & Wilheim, 1786-1859) and Robert Browning (1812-1889).

Click here to read Robert Browning’s Poem, The Pied Piper of Hamelin (published in 1842)

and click here to hear the poem being read

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From The Pied Piper by Robert Browning, illustrated by Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) and engraved by Maurice Evans Ltd. was published in 1888

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Other presentations of Browning’s poem include a radio play with Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) and Victor Young (1900-1956) produced in the early 1950s and a television production first aired in 1957 with Van Johnson (1916-2008) in the title role.