There once was a young prince you lived in a large palace
with his family. His parents were the king and queen of Lottenville and he was
first in line to take their place out of his three younger brothers. One day,
when the king was spending time with his sons, he asked each of them to tell
him how much they loved him. The youngest son said he loved him more than the
son. The next said he loved him more than air. The third said he loved him more
than life itself. When it came to the oldest prince, he said he loved his
father as much as salt and water.
Astonished by his answer, the king had his guards take his
oldest son away and have him killed. The younger brothers pleaded to their
father to have mercy on the oldest prince, but he was too furious to allow any
type of grace on his son. The guards took the prince away and fed him to a den
of hungry lions. The brothers were traumatized by this cruel act from their
father.
As a few years passed by, a famine grew over Lottenville.
There was no rain for over a year and the people of Lottenville were beginning
to starve and thirst. One day, the king sat to eat dinner with his family. When
he bit into his meal, he began chewing like a goat. The famine had taken away
quality seasonings and flavors, even salt and the food was too hard to get
down. He asked for a cup of water, but the maid said they had no more water to
give. At that moment, the king realized what his oldest son meant when he said
water and salt and saw the value in the two products. He mourned for his lack
of trust in his son and asked for his family’s forgiveness.
The next day, rain poured over Lottenville for 21 days. Each
pond and river refilled and life began to blossom again throughout the land.
The king and queen rejoiced for the gracious blessings even after their
mistakes. They created a holiday in honor of their lost son and treated his
life memory as heroic and brave. The king was humbled and decided to show mercy
on everyone in his kingdom that liked him or not. The oldest prince’s memory
was the never forgotten.
Author's Note: This story comes from the original Italian Fairy Tales: Salt and Water. The basics on in this story, but their is no killing in the original story. You should go check it out for yourself, it is a great read! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
Bibliography:
by Thomas Frederick Crane
(1885).
What a tragic story. I could not believe that the father would kill his son because he did not like his answer for how much he loved him. How cruel. I like that in the end the father saw how important salt and water were. It was just sad that he did not see that before he killed his son. Honestly he didn't deserve what he got in the end. That would be unforgivable if I was apart of his family. Great last story! I enjoyed reading this.
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