Bedtime Stories for Kids - Mystery of the Salt in The Sea

Mystery Of The Salt In The Sea

Upon the stretch of land between the sea and the village stood a hut. A poor man and his wife lived in it. They had a rich neighbour who lived in a nice house and had many things to eat. Whenever he needed, he called the poor man and asked him to do this work or that, but never paid him anything. It was a Christmas evening. "We ought to eat well tonight," said the poor man's wife. "But we don't have a morsel in the house. Why not ask our rich neighbour to give us some foodstuff?" "Why not!" said the poor man in agreement and he went forth to meet the rich man. "God will bless you if you give us some foodstuff today," said the poor man. The rich man felt proud that someone begged of him. He was, however, not willing to part with even a loaf of bread.

But there was a basketful of rotten meat in his house and he wanted someone to take it away and dump it somewhere far so that he was not bothered with the foul smell. "I'd consider giving you what you want only if you carry this basket away," he said. "Carry it away where?" "To hell," said the rich man with a chuckle. Then, inspired by his own sense of humour, he said again, "But mind you, you must carry it right up to hell. Short of that, you get nothing!" The poor man lifted up the basket and went out. It was getting dark and a cold breeze was blowing. The poor man walked on and on by the desolate seashore. "I wonder how far is hell and if I can come back well on time to have a Christmas dinner with my wife!" he mumbled. "I'll show you the way to hell if you give me a few pieces from the basket," said a voice. The poor man looked to his left and looked to his right and then, looking back, saw a strange figure, as thin and as fearful as a scarecrow, following him. "There is a great demand for rotten meat in hell tonight. If you are clever, you won't part with your basket until you have got a good price for it," whispered the fellow. "What do you think would be the price?" asked the poor man. "There is a grinding stone behind the door. Ask that for the price of the meat," advised the fellow. The poor man hauled out a portion of the rotten meat for the fellow who removed a slab of stone from under a bush and asked the poor man to go down the dark passage. "When you come up, I'll show you how to handle the grinding stone," said the fellow.

The poor man dropped into the weird region. At once a hundred monstrous beings thronged around him and requested him for the rotten meat. "I can part with the whole basket for that grinding stone lying behind the door," said the poor man. Now, there are many things in hell lying scattered of which the residents of that region remember nothing. They had no hesitation in giving away the grinding stone. The poor man put down the basket amidst the monstrous crowd which scrambled for its contents and came out with the grinding stone. Out on the familiar road, he saw the fellow waiting for him. "I brought the grinding stone, obeying your instruction. But, to be frank, I have hardly any use for it, for I have nothing to grind!" lamented the poor man. "You can grind your wish, can't you?" asked the fellow. He then told the poor man the secret of the magic stone. You wish something and give a turn to it. The thing will come out of it. He also told him how to stop it when it has whipped up enough of the thing you need. The poor man returned home happy, though tired. 

"Where were you so long? And what you are carrying is no food, I bet, but a useless stone!" observed his wife. The poor man smiled and set the grinding stone at the centre of the kitchen and wished into it a variety of items to make the most excellent Christmas dinner. The grinding stone whipped up everything, one after another. His wife remained gaping at it for a long time. Then she laughed and danced for a longer time. Next day they asked the grinding stone for gold enough to construct a good house. When the house was constructed, they asked it for various things with which to decorate the house. They went on asking the grinding stone for sumptuous food not only for themselves but also for their neighbours. Often they threw feasts for them. The rich neighbour got surprised and curious. A man who was so poor that he had nothing to eat on Christmas day was now doing like a King! This was puzzling, maddening! By and by he found out the secret. He then tried his best to persuade the neighbour to sell the grinding stone to him. When he did not succeed, he tried to steal it away. The poor man who was no longer poor saw that his life was in danger on account of the grinding stone. He, at last, agreed to sell it to his neighbour but only after he had obtained from it enough wealth to last for five generations. And he extracted for it the highest possible price from his rich neighbour. The rich neighbour was then setting sail for trade. Instead of taking any merchandise with him, he took only the grinding stone. "I will get all I want from it," he thought.

On the very first night after he set sail, he and his crew realized that they had forgotten to bring any salt with them for dinner. "Set the dinner. I will presently produce salt," the master ordered his men and then he wished the grinding stone to whip up salt. It began to work. Salt started pouring out of it. Salt, salt and still more salt. The master was very happy at first to see the magic. But soon he knew that he had already got more than he would ever need. "Stop!" he shouted. But the grinding stone still went on producing salt. His cabin was full of the thing. The load on the small ship was growing heavier. He handled the grinding stone in this way and that way but no avail. It went on giving salt. "What a pity that I forgot to ask my neighbour how to stop its work!" he shouted, scratching his head. And these were almost his last words. He was buried under salt which soon overflowed into the other parts of the shop. The panicky crew tried their best to relieve the load on the ship by hauling out into the sea as much salt as they could. But soon they got exhausted. Full to the brim with salt, the ship went down, down to the bottom of the sea. But the grinding stone is still at work under the sea. That is why the water of the sea never stops being salty. Every monsoon pours new water on the sea. But that too grows salty in no time.

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