Vocabulary: 6 uses of 'pay' - The Piper of Hamelin part one

13,448 views ・ 2016-10-06

BBC Learning English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hello, I'm Darren. The story I'm going to tell you is one of broken promises and revenge...
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How a town, saved from a terrible plague of rats by a mysterious stranger, refuses to
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pay up, and so pays a heavy price.
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Hamelin was a peaceful town on the banks of a wide, deep river. People were wealthy and
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life was comfortable. For some, like the mayor, it was too comfortable - he grew greedy on
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the town's profits and neglected his duties. Bins overflowed in the streets and alleyways
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as rubbish wasn't collected. People were so busy making money that they didn't pay much
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attention... until one day when the rats arrived.
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They came out of the gutters and sewers in droves. They were huge and black with red,
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bulging eyes. And there were hundreds of them... everywhere. They scurried across the pavements...
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swarmed through the gardens... and then they entered the houses.
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"Do something!" the people asked the mayor, but he was a bit stupid as well as greedy,
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and didn't have any ideas. He was in a meeting at the town hall, when suddenly the door was
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flung open and a young girl strode in.
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Her velvet jacket was threadbare and covered in patches. Around her neck she wore a pipe.
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"I can help you", she said in a strange accent. Everyone looked at her, astonished. "I can
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get rid of the rats", she said. But you will have to pay me well - and in gold coins!"
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The mayor laughed - he didn't believe her.
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And then something quite extraordinary happened. She picked up her pipe and started to play...
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a simple tune, but mesmerizing. And from behind the curtains, from under the floorboards,
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came the rats, drawn as if by magic.
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The girl stopped playing and turned to go. The mayor hesitated. He hated parting with
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money. "It's a gamble," he thought, "but it could pay off." "Wait", he said. "Get rid
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of the rats, and we'll pay you handsomely." The piper nodded. "It's a deal."
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We'll leave the story there. In the next part, find out if the strange piper does get rid
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of the rats - and if the mayor keeps his side of the bargain. Bye for now.
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