翻译练习：The Grim Truth Behind The Pied Piper(1)

The Grim Truth Behind The Pied Piper(1)

花衣魔笛手背后的残酷真相（1）

花衣魔笛手

Writers like the Grimm Brothers and Robert Browning may have shaped the Pied Piper legend into art, but is turns out the story is likely based on an actual historical incident.

像格林兄弟与罗伯特・布朗宁等作家也许对花衣魔笛手的传说加以艺术加工，不过这个故事极可能是基于真实的历史事件。

(1)Every working morning for the last 26 years, Michael Boyer has slipped into a pair of neon-bright, multi-coloured tights, tied on his lipstick-red cape, grabbed his flute and marched out into the medieval streets of Hamelin, a town of 60,000 residents in Lower Saxony, Germany.

在过去26年每个工作日的清晨，迈克尔・博伊尔都会穿上一条色彩斑斓的紧身裤袜，系上鲜红的披肩，抓上他的长笛，大步走上哈默林的中世纪街道，哈默林是德国下萨克森州的一个小镇，有60,000居民。

(2)"People sometimes mistake me for a superhero, court jester or Robin Hood," he laughed. He's also increasingly become an Instagram prop for tourists and, maybe in some woke eyes, a gender-fluid statement.

“有时候人们会错误地认为我是一个超级英雄，宫庭小丑或者是罗宾汉”，他笑着说。此外，他开始成为旅游者们打卡拍照的道具，还有，也许在一些警觉的目光中，他还是一种“性流者”的声明。（默然说话：我查了下，所谓性流者就是那种觉得自己的性别随时都会发生变化的人，呕，好恶心。）

(3)But most people recognise him for what he is, the Pied Piper incarnate, appointed by Hamelin to impersonate its simultaneously favourite(at least commercially) and least favourite adopted son. Responsible for meeting and greeting visiting groups and dignitaries, he leads tours of the city and embodies the enduring hold of the legend that draws most travellers here.

不过大多数人还是能正确认出他是谁，花衣魔笛手的化身，哈默林市让他来扮演他们又爱（至少在商业上）又恨的养子。负责接待旅游团体和要人，带着他们浏览城市，体现了那个吸引大多数游客到此的经久不衰的传说。

(4)The tale in fact has survived for a very long time. Originating as medieval folklore, the story inspired a Goethe verse. Der Rättenfanger; a Grimm Brothers' legend, The Children of Hamelin; and one of Robert Browning's best-known poems, ThePied Piper of Hamelin. And although each writer tinkered with the story, the basics remained the same: the Piper was hired by Hamelin to rid the town of its plague of rats. Trailing after the hypnotic notes of the rat-catcher's magical flute, the rodents politely filed through the city gates to their presumed doom.

这个传说已经流传了很长一段时间。起源于中世纪的民间传说，歌德的一首诗受到了这个故事的启发：《捕鼠人》，格林兄弟也写了童话《哈默林的孩子》，还有一首罗伯特・布朗宁写的一首最知名的诗《哈默林的花衣魔笛手》。尽管每个作家都对这个故事进行了修改，但是基本内容都是一样的：哈默林雇用了魔笛手为这个城市去除鼠害。尾随着催眠的魔术笛音，鼠辈们礼貌地穿过大门，奔向它们的末日。