About the magical mill
A long, long time ago, when the sea water was still fresh, as sweet as in lakes and rivers - in the Wieliczka salt mine, there lived a Salt Grandfather. He had salty hands and face, and his mustache and beard sprinkled with salt so much that they looked gray.
Throughout the day, he was chipping salt blocks from the mine walls, and after finishing work, he would sail a boat to the other side, where there was a magical mill with a magical crank, which was turning all day long, grinding large salt blocks into fine salt. When Grandfather wanted to start the mill, he would utter a magical spell:
"Mill, mill, listen to the spells, mill, mill, turn the crank"
and when he wanted to stop, he would say:
Mill, mill, it's time to rest, stop turning the crank, mill
A certain boy helped the grandfather in the mine. When the boy grew up, he wanted to go to a bigger city to learn to write and read. Grandfather then gave him his most precious treasure - the magical mill and taught him the spells that start and stop the mill.
The boy went out into the world and paid people with salt for every help - and salt was very valuable and expensive back then. Once, when he was staying overnight at an inn - the innkeeper saw the mill and wanted to have it. At night, while the boy was sleeping, he sneaked into his room and stole the magical mill, and since the crank was turning at that time, salt was constantly pouring out of the mill. Delighted with this, the innkeeper grabbed the mill and wanting to escape, jumped onto a ship. However, he couldn't stop the mill. The ship was getting heavier and heavier until it finally sank to the bottom with the mill. To this day, the mill's crank is still turning, and the sea is getting more and more salty...
Based on the story by: Wanda Chotomska
Why is the sea salty?
For a long time, people have been asking themselves why the sea is salty? There is even a legend that speaks of a salt mill submerged in the sea ...
Publish Date: 2016-12-31