Salt More Precious Than Gold

More Powerful than SALT only the Salt of Life Around the world and throughout history, salt has been cherished both as a healer, preserver and vital symbol of life and blood. It has been considered a token of love and a guard against evil. The Native Americans considered salt a gift of the deity and by keeping it safely in a box, it had the power to ward off evil; in Andalusia, salt is synonymous with grace and charm and to pay a lover a high compliment you call her your "salt box"; and in Morocco people carry salt on them for protection against evil spirits. The great historic value of salt is also depicted in the following Czech fairytale: The story begins with a king who had three daughters, each of whom were to seek suitors. The two oldest daughters found wealthy and powerful men who could show their wealth to the king. The youngest, however, had met and fallen in love with a young man in secret, who found her one day crying that she needed a man to show her father. When she explained, he said that she was not to worry, that he would appear before her father and show his wealth, she was very relieved. On the fateful day, the two older girls presented their suitors and the king was very pleased. When he began to question his younger daughter, he was very upset to learn that she did not even know his name or where he came from. Suddenly he appeared, dressed well and presented himself to the king. When asked who he was, he said he was the Prince of Salt and he would inherit his father's kingdom of salt. When the father heard this, he grew very angry and yelled that salt was worthless and his daughter could not marry him. At that instant, the prince's father appeared and laid a curse on the kingdom because the king did not know the value of salt. From henceforth, there would be no salt in the land and every bit of salt would turn to gold. The prince would never be allowed to see the daughter of someone who did not value salt. In a whirl they both disappeared. At first the king thought nothing of the curse, but slowly the fields withered without salt, the people grew ill and left the kingdom in droves. The food had no flavor, and illness spread. In vain they tried to import salt from a neighboring kingdom, but the minute the wagons of salt crossed the border, the salt would turn into gold, which was now worthless. The wealth of the king's sons-in-law was to no avail. Meanwhile, the youngest daughter was stricken with grief at the loss of her beloved. She vowed to try and find him. She left the castle and began her wanderings, searching everywhere for the kingdom of salt. After many trials, she finally found a deep cave and discovered the location of the kingdom of salt. The King of Salt was still very angry and at first refused to see her. Finally, when she begged enough, he told her that his son had become a pillar of salt. And sure enough, in the cave there she saw a life-sized pillar of salt. At first horrified, she finally succeeded in finding out that only the dew drops of all the flowers in the kingdom, which were in fact the tears of all the people who had suffered from her father's outburst and discounting of salt, had to be collected and brought back to the cave and poured over the pillar of salt to rescue the prince. So the daughter went out and tirelessly collected the drops in a pitcher, working until she could not stay awake, falling asleep in the fields, and again and again persevering, until finally she collected all the drops in her pitcher and sneaked inside the cave. The king tried to stop her, but she was finally able to pour the pitcher over the pillar of salt and her loved one emerged. Finally, the king was convinced of her devotion to his son and salt, and he lifted the curse. When they both returned to the castle with some salt, they found father and courtiers all ailing. When she handed her father the salt, he told her he had been mistaken, that "salt was more precious than gold," and with that, ... and they all lived happily ever after.