For The Pied Piper, Czech writer Viktor Dyk found his muse in the much
retold medieval Saxon legend of the villainous, pipe-playing
rat-catcher. Dyk uses the tale as a loose frame for his story of a
mysterious wanderer, outcast, and would-be revolutionary--a dreamer
typical of fin de siècle Czech literature who serves Dyk as a timely
expression of the conflict between the petty concerns of bourgeois
nineteenth-century society and the coming artistic generation.
Impeccably rendered into English by Mark Corner, The Pied Piper
retains the beautiful style of Dyk's original Czech. The inspiration for
several theatrical and film adaptations, including a noted animated work
from critically acclaimed director Jiří Barta, Dyk's classical novella
is given new life by Corner's translation, proving that the piper is
open to new interpretations still.