Why The Sea Is Salty
The Happy Peasant
One day, a poor peasant was walking along a country road. He was very poor indeed, with holes in his shoes and patches on his clothes, but he was a very happy man. He walked with a jaunty air, making up little rhymes and chanting them to himself as he went. He felt joyful because he was carrying a chicken under his arm and was thinking of the delicious meal of roast chicken that awaited him. It was the first chicken he had had for a long time, bought with a silver coin he had found on the road.
Rhymes and Encounters
“Chicken pie! How lucky am I,” he chanted to himself. Growing tired of that rhyme, he thought of another. “Roast chicken wing. A meal for a king,” he sang repeatedly. Although he was not a skilled poet and found none of his rhymes satisfactory, he continued to think of new ones. “Chicken and peas…” he began, but no suitable rhyme came to mind. The more he pondered chicken and peas, the hungrier he grew.
As he walked along, trying to find a rhyme, he heard a voice say, “Good morning, my good friend. What is worrying you?” The peasant looked up and saw an old man in a black coat standing by the roadside. Stopping, the peasant replied, “Good morning, sir. I have a fine chicken that I just bought at the market. I am eagerly anticipating the wonderful meal it will make when I get home to cook it.”
The Old Man’s Request
“Indeed, it is a very fine chicken,” said the old man, eyeing the bird hungrily. “I am very old and very hungry, and I could just eat a nice chicken. Will you give me your chicken for my dinner?”
The poor peasant was horrified. “Give you my fine chicken?” he exclaimed. “What shall I eat? I was looking forward to a delicious chicken dinner!”
“You are young and strong and can easily earn more money,” the old man replied. “But as you see, I am too old to work. If you do not give me the chicken, I shall starve.”
The peasant scratched his head thoughtfully. Though he was a kind man at heart and did not want to witness the old man’s suffering, he sadly handed over the chicken.
The Magical Grinder
To the peasant’s surprise, the old man in the black coat revealed himself to be a magician. As he tucked the chicken under his coat, he pulled out a rusty, dirty old coffee grinder. “Take this in return for your chicken, my friend,” said the magician. “Guard it carefully; it is a very unusual grinder. If you say to it, ‘Grinder, grinder, keep on turning,’ it will give you whatever you ask for. To stop it, you must say, ‘Grinder, grinder, stop your churning.’” The peasant took the coffee grinder but thought it a poor exchange for his fine, plump chicken. When he turned to thank the old man, he was gone.
A Change of Fortune
The peasant continued on his way home and, upon arrival, tossed the coffee grinder into a corner of the room. He fetched some bread and cheese from the cupboard to make a meal. The peasant worked from morning till night, earning just enough money to sustain himself. However, there came a day when he had no work and opened the cupboard to find it empty.
Sitting there, contemplating his hunger, he noticed the coffee grinder lying neglected in the corner. He picked it up, saying, “Grinder, grinder, keep on turning.” To his astonishment, the handle began to turn. “I want sausages,” he declared confidently. Immediately, sausages poured out of the grinder, landing on the floor. “Cheese! Cakes! Fruit! Pies! Sweets! Jellies!” Each request produced a bounty of food, and he ate until he could consume no more.
A Perilous Encounter
With the magical grinder, life became quite pleasant. He enjoyed plentiful food and no longer had to work all day as he once did. One day, he wandered along the cliffs and, feeling tired, lay down on the sand to rest. While he slept, a pirate ship landed, and before he could comprehend what was happening, he was captured and taken aboard. The ship set sail, and initially, the peasant was locked in the hold. Eventually, he was brought before Captain Blackbeard, the pirate leader. “A prisoner,” cried Blackbeard. “He looks too poor to pay us ransom money, so he shall be made to walk the plank—what a splash he will make when he falls into the sea.”
The Final Confrontation
“Stop a moment,” stammered the poor man. “It is true I have no money, but I possess a wonderful coffee grinder.” “A coffee grinder? What use is that to us?” roared Captain Blackbeard, bursting into laughter at the sight of the rusty old object. “Just wait a moment,” the peasant replied. “What do you want most?” “Gold, of course. All pirates want gold,” Blackbeard roared. “Then you shall have gold,” said the peasant as he turned to the grinder. “Grinder, grinder, keep on turning and give me gold.” Instantly, gold coins poured over the deck. “Stop, stop!” begged Captain Blackbeard, “The ship will sink!” The peasant stopped the grinder.
The Pirates’ Downfall
Just then, the ship passed an island, and the pirates, busy scrambling for gold pieces, hardly noticed the peasant jumping into the sea and swimming for dear life. He reached the island, where the locals took a liking to him and made him their king, but that is quite another story.
Unconcerned about the peasant’s escape, the pirates rejoiced. “We can live in comfort for the rest of our days. We will sail for shore and spend our treasure!” Captain Blackbeard announced. “But first, we had better have some salt. We have run out of supplies.”
“Grinder, grinder, keep on turning and give me some salt,” he commanded. Salt poured out like flour from a mill. “Stop, stop! That’s enough!” shouted Captain Blackbeard, but the grinder ignored him. The pirates tried everything they could think of to stop it, but they had been so preoccupied with collecting gold that they had failed to heed the peasant’s command.
Eventually, the ship could no longer support the weight of all the gold and salt. It spilled over the decks, into the cabins, down into the hold, and piled high in the galley.
The ship sank with all the pirates on board, taking the coffee grinder to the depths of the sea. Now, it lies there, pouring salt into the ocean. Perhaps you now understand why the sea is salty.