Enjoy the following two fairy tales.

The Pearl Princess

A Fairy Tale of the Value of Salt

Once upon a time, there lived a woman on the top of a mountain that lived in a cottage and had geese. In the large nearby forest, she would pick grass for the geese and fruit to carry home. One morning, a handsome young count came into her presence. He asked if she had no one to help her carry her things. She told him that she was poor and had no one to help her and asked if he would be so kind since he was strong and tall. He agreed but soon he was groaning under the weight. "These are so heavy, can we rest," he asked? "No. Go on a bit more," she coaxed. " He tried and tried to take the bundle from his back and found he could not. He began to think she was a witch. As if she could read his thoughts, she tried to console him by saying: "Don’t get angry. I will give you a present when we get to my home."

Soon they arrived at her little cottage. It was a bit run down though neat and tidy. There was another women there who asked: "Kind mother, you have stayed away for so long. You were missed." "I met with this kind gentleman, who carried my burden," replied the old woman as she took the bundles from the Count. "Sir, you may rest upon the bench. And you, little one, go inside the house lest he fall in love with you." The Count was somewhat surprised at the old woman’s comment. The girl was homely and old looking and he thought love was an impossibility unless she was considerably younger.

The Count fell asleep. When he awakened the old woman was there ready to give him his reward for his kindness of carrying her bundles. She placed an emerald green box in his hand and admonished him to take good care of it. He put the unopened box into his pocket and left. He was unable to find his way out of the forest even though he had been able to before. Finally, after three days, he came to a large town. He was greeted by a guard that was instructed to take all strangers to the King and Queen.

He respectfully explained his situation: "Your Majesties, I am a Count. I have lost my way." The King asked, "How can you prove what you say?" The Count began to search his pockets and found the emerald box and presented it to the Queen. Upon opening it she gasped in surprise and fainted. The guards seized the Count and the King helped the Queen. As the Count was being taken away she awoke and asked that he be released for she wished to talk to him…. alone.

Once alone the Queen began her sad tale. "I have three daughters. The youngest was rare and wonderful. When she cried, pearls fell from her eyes instead of tears. One day, their Father, the King, decided to divide his kingdom so he called our daughters before us. " He said: "All of you love me. But she who loves me best will receive the greatest part of the kingdom." The Queen continued. "Each child giggled and said that she loved her father best but was asked to tell how much. "The first daughter said that she loved her father as much as the sweetest sugar. The second daughter said that she loved him as much as her prettiest dress. Our youngest was quiet. The King asked her…."How much do you love me." She replied, "I know not what to compare my love to, Father." He encouraged her and asked her to think again. "I do not like even the best food without salt. Therefore, I love my father like salt." He became angry not understanding the compliment she had given him for salt is worth more than gold sometimes. "Like common salt," he raged! He had the kingdom divided between the two oldest daughters and placed a sack of salt upon her back and she was lead into the forest by two guards. I begged him not to but he wouldn’t change his mind. I wept. She also wept and the road to the forest was strewn with the pearls from her eyes. After a few days, the King regretted his behavior and the soldiers were sent into the woods to find her. They could not. We have wept since." And so ended the Queen’s sad tale.

"When I opened the emerald box, I saw the pearl that my daughter used to cry. Where did you get it" the Queen implored? "In the forest, I met an old woman and carried some bundles to her home. I didn’t see a beautiful princess." When the King was told of this, the three of them returned to the forest to look for the old woman.

She was in her cottage spinning with the homely child beside her. An owl came to the window and the old woman said, "It’s time to go to the well." Off she went deeper and deeper in to the forest. She brought up a bucket of well water and began to wash her face. As she did so, the homely mask soon came off and in the moonlight you could see she was the beautiful princess.

Meanwhile, the Count had strayed from the King and Queen and climbed a tree to find them. But what he did see was the girl, a beautiful girl. He edged out further on the branch to secure a better look but the tree limb creaked. The girl heard the noise and placed on her mask as she ran from the well. He recognized her as the goose girl from the old woman’s cottage. He climbed down the tree as quickly as possible but the fair maiden had disappeared.

He found the King and Queen and said, "I think I have just seen your daughter. She probably went down this path." The three went hurriedly down the path and came upon the old woman’s house. They peered in the window and saw the old woman alone at her spinning wheel. They knocked softly and heard her response: "Enter. I was expecting you." They asked the old woman if she knew of her daughter, the Princess. The old woman rose from her stool and pointed a finger to the King and said, "Three years ago, you unjustly drove her away. She who was good, kind and pure as salt! She put out her hand, which was filled with salt and asked, "do you know the value of salt and therefore the love your child has for you?"

The King expressed his sorrow and beseeched the old woman to show him his daughter. A door opened and the Princess appeared. Everyone wept tears of joy but only the princess wept pearls. The King asked her forgiveness and said that he had no kingdom left to divide and that he had nothing of worth to give to her. The old woman said: "This child needs nothing. She is as the salt of the earth, pure, life giving and watched over. Her pearls are finer than those of the sea and she shall always have them."

Upon this comment, the old woman put up her hands and said that for the years the Princess spent tending her geese, the cottage was hers to keep. The kindly woman disappeared and the cottage changed into a beautiful palace.

In all of the commotion, the Count was overlooked and he began to go. The Queen stopped him and asked if there was any way that they could repay him for finding their daughter. The King offered his gold, the Queen offered the pearls. He looked at the Princess and asked if she would marry him. The Princess agreed…..

And they all lived happily ever after.

This tale comes from Russia……

The Salt Mountain

Once upon a time, there was a successful merchant in Russia. He and his wife had three sons named, Nicholas, Peter and Ivan. They came when the merchant said, "You are my oldest sons it is time you became merchants." Ivan spoke up and said, "what about me, Father?" His Father turned and roughly replied, "You, Ivan, can stay on the stove where you are. You are good for nothing anyway!"

The merchant gave his two older sons each a ship of their own loaded with rich cargo. One sailed to the south and one to the north. That afternoon, Ivan got off the stove and asked his Father again for a ship that he too could seek his fortune. His Father again told him "NO." He implored, "Just a small ship loaded with black wool." The Father would have none of his talk so Ivan went to speak to his Mother. "Mother, I have talked to Father and asked that I would have a ship like my brothers and he will not even give me a small ship." "Fear not, my son, you too shall have a ship to find your fortune." That night after dinner Ivan’s Mother said to her husband, "Ivan is also our son. He should have a chance like his brothers to go and seek his fortune." The Father said that he would fulfill her wish but that he thought Ivan was a fool and would never learn to make money.

Ivan was happy when his Father gave him a leaky ship, lazy sailors for a crew and a cargo of low quality wool. Ivan waved good-bye and said, "You will be proud of me." He traveled for a month in beautiful weather. He saw in the distance a glistening white mountain island rising from the ocean. He went to look at the mountain wondering how snow could exist in such warm weather. He could feel that it wasn’t snow and decided to taste it. Much to his joy and surprise….it was salt!

He thought of his good fortune. He could sell the salt for a good price. He ordered his sailors to dump the wool into the ocean and he and his men loaded the bags with salt. Knowing the value of salt, he felt more confident and sailed to a land he had never seen before. Leaving the ship, he went to the marketplace to begin to sell his salt. He approached a vendor and said, "I have good salt to sell." Much to Ivan’s surprise, the man replied, "Salt, what is that?" Ivan showed him and the man said, "That is white sand." Ivan told the man to taste it but the man refused saying he did not eat sand! He was surprised to find a place that didn’t know about salt. He pondered if he should have kept the wool. He went to another vendor. "This is salt. We use it in my country to make the food taste better." This vendor thought that it was white sand as well and told him to leave.

Ivan was sad, hungry and thirsty. He decided to go to the Tsar’s palace to see if he could have some food. He explained that he was a stranger in the land and asked for black bread and cabbage soup. The chef replied, "The Tsar would never turn a hungry person away. Sit, I will give you what you asked for." Ivan looked at the soup and its plentiful cabbage. He took a taste but it was awful! He sprinkled some salt into the soup and the chef asked what it was. Ivan explained how salt made food taste better. The chef said he could put it in his own food but not one grain should go on the Tsar’s food or his family’s food either. When the chef wasn’t looking, Ivan sprinkled salt on everything. A pinch on the potatoes, a sprinkle on the meat, and a spoonful in the soup. Just as he finished, the servants came for the dinner and carried it to the Tsar and his family.

The Tsar, his wife and the Tsarina, their daughter began to eat. "Hmmmmmmm, this is the best cabbage soup I have ever eaten." "This is wonderful." "This is the best meat I have ever eaten." "The food is different tonight," his daughter finally said. He agreed and asked the servant what was different. The servant said nothing was different. The Tsar pounded the table and commanded: "Bring me the chef and his cooks!" The chef was trembling with fear for he knew that he could be in the next cabbage soup. He said: "Tsar, there was a stranger in the kitchen from another land that sprinkled salt onto his food. I told him not to do your food but he must have not listened to me." The Tsar demanded that Ivan be brought to him.

Ivan explained that salt was able to make food taste better. The Tsar agreed and asked Ivan if he could buy his cargo of salt for three times its weight in gold. Ivan was thrilled at his good fortune but he was still able to see that the Tsar’s daughter was kind and beautiful.

A thousand bags of salt were delivered to the Tsar and 3 thousand bags of gold were given to Ivan. The Tsar thought that Ivan’s ship was too old and run down to carry gold so he gave him one of his own ships. Now it was time for Ivan to leave. The Tsarina asked if she could come on board. Then she asked how the ship worked. Then she asked that the anchor be raised. Then sails dropped and they were sailing away. Ivan asked if she would marry him and she said, "Yes."

As they headed to Ivan’s home, they saw his brothers returning as well. He was glad to see them but they were jealous of his success. They only had a bag of silver each and decided to put him adrift in a small boat and steal his ship, cargo and his bride to be. Ivan drifted for some time until he came to an island with a giant greeting him at the shore.

"Are you a fish," said the giant? "No, my brothers put me adrift in this boat." The giant listened to Ivan’s story and finally offered to take him home for his name was Deep Walker and he could walk through the oceans. Off they went. Deep Walker told Ivan that he would return for his wedding.

When the Father heard what the older brothers had done, he told them to leave his home and never return. The Tsar’s daughter ran to Ivan and decided to marry at that week. The Father asked Ivan what he could give him as a wedding gift. The kind Ivan said, "Forgive my brothers and allow them to come to the wedding and to come home." It was done. All was prepared.

At the party, the people were telling stories and Ivan said: "I was carried on the back of a giant across the ocean to my home." They laughed. But just then, there stood Deep Wader with a gift for the bride and groom. "May this salt of the sea bring you good luck, good food and good health." And they all lived happily ever after.

Want more?  Try The Legend of the Salt Sea, a variant: Why the Sea is Salt and Salt of the Earth.

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