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MARIO J. TORRES
The
pied piper of hamelin
The world wide known story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin by Graham Percy,
author of fables and fairy tales, who, with the sound of his magic flute
managed to drive away all the rats invading the German town of Hamelin and
drowned them all in a river but later when not being paid for his job, used
his instrument again, this time to get all kids out of town locking them up
inside a mountain as cruel revenge, seems total fantasy for some skeptic
people but for some others, who knows if more educated or less cautious, it
is a real fact made a legend, but centuries from the moment this weird and
at the same time famous event could have taken place, nowadays, in another
country of the world, the incidents told in that kids' story have to a very
great extent come true in a very sad, ruthless and tough reality without the
slightest appearance or resemblance of fiction or legend.
In 1959, Commander Fidel Castro arrived to the Caribbean island of Cuba and
stopped it all, as a popular phrase of the times said, meaning stopping
injustice and abuse and he swept with only one blow of his famous flute all
the displeasure and inconformity existing among the people with the
imperfect previous governments, taking it and sinking it in his imaginary
river and making a popular system out of his regime which everyone began to
feel comfortable and happy with due to its many seemingly progressive and
positive initial measures basically in the fields of Education, Public
Health, Housing and Agriculture.
But, not too long afterwards, showing his real face and betraying the people
who had laid his hopes on him, as in a pact with the Devil, this piper
happened to play his instrument again, not because he had not been paid for,
nor for any kind of revenge, but for the whimsical caprice of having the
power his own way for life at the expense of the blows of his flute and he
blew and blew, so much and with such a malignant and evil will that, by a
ghastly spell, his deadly, nasty and devilish melody devastated all good
things from his country vanishing them forever, leaving his people with
similar questions as those from the inhabitants of Hamelin, who instead of
asking themselves: "where are the children?", began to think, in an innocent
and perhaps anxious manner seeing how unusual the situation was, of many
more questions, all of them filled with childish why's:
1- When will Christmas return?
2- Where are the 3 Wise Men?
3- Is my God hidden?
4- Why can I not say what I think nor complain of what I do not like?
5- What has become of peace, respect and dignity?
6- What about the richness of my country like its sugar, tobacco and nickel?
7- Why is it that New Year's Eve is a political date?
8- Why is it that I do not have clothes, food, water, electricity and
medications?
9- Why do I have to worship a foreigner?
10- What happened to my homeland that is not worthy any more?
11- Why didn't Celia and Willy come to Cuba if they were born here?
12- Why are those Yankees so evil and are to blame for the bad things that
happen to me?
13- Why are there so many Cubans escaping from their country?
14- Where are my carnivals, my happiness and the traditions of my country?
15- Why should I go to parades and meetings to say slogans I don't agree
with?
16- Why do I have to travel to fight in other countries without knowing the
purpose?
17- Why are there so many people in jail, shot dead and everyone around me
is afraid?
18- Why are my streets and cities so destroyed?
19- When will we have free elections?
20- Where is my culture without restrictions?
21- Why is it wrong to listen to foreign music?
22- Why do they say at school that we must be grateful to the piper for
everything?
23- Why do I hear comments there are spies everywhere, even in Miami!?
24- Why does everything belong to the government and nothing is mine?
25- Why is it that on the radio, newspapers and on TV they always say good
things about the government and so many bad things about the Americans? And,
why is the piper so good if he never gives us anything?
26- Why was the dollar "bad" and now it's good? and what ever happened to my
peso?
27- Who are those "riders"?
28- What does Jose Marti have to do with all this that he is mentioned so
much?
29- Why are people frustrated and they all want to die?
30- Why don't we get along with all countries?
All the good things we had were taken away by the piper and in turn he left
us a sad epidemic. Why? What did we do that was wrong?
All was lost in an incredible and total disaster up to such an extent that
an old man, talking on behalf of people, ironically summarized it with one
phrase said in a very low voice: " We wanted revolution but not that much"
and his elderly wife, in a sad way and for her own security singing lines of
one of the piper's songs, answered him: "I wish something happened that may
suddenly erase you...."
MARIO J TORRES JANUARY 2005
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