In a stone castle above wide fields, a king sat at the long noon table with his three daughters. Brass dishes shone, and warm loaves steamed on wooden boards. Outside, carts moved through the yard, heavy with sacks of grain and baskets of apples. The king looked from one daughter to the next and said, "Tell me, my children, how much do you love me?" He asked the question as a man might weigh cloth or count horses, expecting an answer that could be held up and admired.
The eldest daughter lifted her cup and answered first. "Father, I love you more than all the gold in your treasury." The middle daughter smiled and said, "I love you more than pearls, rubies, and all the bright jewels in your crown." The king nodded at each reply. Such words pleased him deeply, for they rang like coins dropping onto a table.
Then he turned to the youngest. She had been breaking a crust of bread into small pieces beside her plate. She raised her eyes and said, "Father, I love you like salt." The hall grew still, and the king slowly set down his knife. "Like salt?" he asked. He looked at the silver cups, the painted beams, and the heavy gold chain at his neck. "Your sisters have named treasures, and you name a common thing kept in a cellar jar."
The youngest daughter folded her hands. "It is plain," she said, "but it belongs at every table." Yet the …
6 chapters
