I read this story somewhere when I was a little kid and found it very amusing. It is called ” The Magic Grinder”. Once upon a time there were two brothers Neil and Eric. Neil was the nice and  poor one where as Eric was very unkind but rich. One day before Christmas, Neil went to Eric to ask for help as he had nothing to eat. Eric gave him some ham and said this was the last time he was helping his brother.

Sadly, Neil started walking towards his house. On his way, he found an old man chopping some wood, so he asked if the old man needed help.  The old man said yes, and was immensely touched by this kindness. After the wood had been chopped the old man went to his house and brought a grinder. “This is a magic grinder, it will make anything you want. To start it say Grind! and clap your hands, when you want it to stop clap your hands again.”

Neil was extremely happy, excitedly started to walk back home. He reached home told his wife about it, clapped his hands and said “Grind”. The grinder churned out beautiful table cloth, candle sticks and then food appeared far more than they could eat. After that day, Neil was never hungry. Slowly all the village got to know of this magic grinder. Eric became jealous of his younger brother and told a greedy sea captain about the grinder.

The sea captain used to sail on dangerous seas just to get salt. He thought to himself if the grinder can grind salt he would never have to go back on the sea. So he stole the grinder. As soon as he reached the ship, he put up the sails, commanded impatiently “Grind Salt.” And clapped his hands. The grinder began to grind. Mountains of salt poured forth. Soon the ship was loaded with salt. No matter what the captain said or did he could not stop it. Eventually, he just threw the grinder into the sea.

And that is why the sea is salty!

Do you want to know the real reason why the sea is salty?

(Image Source: Flickr User, Ollie Crafoord)