Chapter 15: The Grain of Salt

ONCE UPON A TIME, in the darkness of night, a poor widow stood by her fire in her little hovel despairing that she would ever eat again. Her food was gone and winter was approaching. She searched every corner of her little hut, but all she found was a grain of salt.

“Oh,” said the widow to herself, “how good this grain of salt would be on a nice haunch of venison. What a savory stew it would make with some vegetables and a rabbit. How it would bring out the flavor of a nice fat goose. How it would help the yeast raise a nice loaf of bread. But alas, I have only this grain of salt and no venison, no vegetables, no rabbit, no goose, and no flour. I shall starve with naught but this grain of salt.”

The old widow wept, and her wailing was heard by a passing tinker who happened that way.

The tinker was moved with pity for the old woman and when she had told her tale, he, too, sat with her and wept. The noise of the two crying out attracted the attention of a farmer who stopped to see what the problem was.

“I have no venison, no vegetables, no rabbits, no goose, and no flour,” cried the old woman. “I have only this grain of salt and I shall starve.” Hearing her tale of woe, the farmer, too, sat down to weep. Soon a miller happened upon the trio, and when he had heard the sorry tale, he sat to weep with the woman, the tinker, and the farmer.

Now it happened that a soldier was passing nearby and he heard the wailing. In spite of the fact that he had been marching for several days on only his rations and had recently run out of all but a few beans, the soldier responded to the sound of citizens in distress. He rushed to the old woman’s house, prepared to stave off bandits or enemy soldiers. But he found the widow, the farmer, the tinker, and the miller all weeping about the sorry state of poverty that the widow endured.

The soldier was a clever man who had fought in many wars, and had honored his king in many ways. He had seen poverty and been near starvation; he had faced death and commanded men. And when he saw the weeping people, he thought to himself that he had never seen such foolishness. But in his wisdom, he said nothing of this. Instead, he comforted the four.

“I know something of starvation,” he said, “and I was just this moment looking for a good meal. But since you are so poor, I will share an army secret with you. I will show you all how to make salt soup, and then we will all feast and our bellies will be filled.”

The widow, the tinker, the farmer, and the miller were all amazed. They had never heard of such a thing as salt soup. Was it possible that they would survive after all? They paid careful attention to the instructions the soldier gave and instantly obeyed his voice of command.

“Now,” said the soldier, “we shall need a pot.” The widow brought the soldier her tiny kettle.

The tinker looked at the widow’s tiny pot and quickly said, “That pot will never hold enough soup for all of us. I have a much larger pot in my wagon.” With that, he left and returned with a large kettle that they filled with water and put on the fire.

The soldier tasted the soup and smacked his lips with satisfaction. “There is a secret to making this type of soup,” the soldier said. “We must cover the kettle with a sheepskin to hold in the flavor.” Now the widow had a tiny scrap of sheepskin that she used to keep her warm at night, and no matter how they tugged at it, it was not large enough to cover the kettle. That is when the farmer jumped up.