Reading Notes: Water and Salt, Extra Credit
As an extra credit assignment, I chose to read Water and Salt which is a part of the Italian Popular Tales unit. I wanted to read this because I am Italian!
This story is about a king and his three daughters. The father asks his daughters one day how much they loves them, to which the three daughters replied:
Daughter 1) "I love you as much as my eyes."
Daughter 2) "I love you as much as my heart."
Daughter 3) "I love you as much as water and salt."
The king ordered for the third daughter to be executed for her comparing him to water and salt. The two other sisters ordered the executioners to kill a dog instead, and to take their third sister to a cave to be hidden. The two sisters ordered that the executioners take the tongue off of the dog, and take one of the clothing items off their sister to give to the king. This made the king think the third sister had been killed, though it was a dog's tongue.
Much longer, third daughter was found in the forest and taken to a house away from the royal palace. The king's son fell in love with her, and the two shared those feelings. The man who brought the third daughter out to this house ordered that they would kill him before the wedding, and ordered that they'd refuse to give water and salt to the king. The prince and princess promised they'd do this.
Much later, the king was notified that his daughter was going to have a wedding. This was one of his daughters that he did not keep up with daily. He did not necessarily understand why he'd be invited, since he was not part of her life. He decided to attend the wedding to avoid offending the prince that would marry his "daughter." The day of the wedding, the man that took the princess to the house was killed as ordered. The prince and princess got married, and, as asked, the prince ordered that no water and salt be given to the king.
The king did not like any of the food, because he could not eat it without salt or enjoy himself without water. When they told stories at the wedding, the daughter asked the king if he could still recognize her (since she was the daughter that was ordered to be killed, but was clearly still alive). The King had no idea that it was this daughter, and she ultimately told him:
"You caused me to be killed because I told you I loved you as much as salt and water. Now you have seen what it is to eat without salt and water."
This story explained how the loving daughter of a king was exiled from the family, simply because her father didn't understand her analogy of love to him. I believe the theme of this was to give everyone a chance to explain themselves. If I were to recreate this story, I'd love for the daughter to have been able to explain this to the King before her wedding day. It would be a much happier ending than a getting-back-at-you scene, like this story.
Bibliography
"Water and Salt." Italian Popular Tales. Thomas Frederick Crane, 1885.
This story is about a king and his three daughters. The father asks his daughters one day how much they loves them, to which the three daughters replied:
Daughter 1) "I love you as much as my eyes."
Daughter 2) "I love you as much as my heart."
Daughter 3) "I love you as much as water and salt."
The king ordered for the third daughter to be executed for her comparing him to water and salt. The two other sisters ordered the executioners to kill a dog instead, and to take their third sister to a cave to be hidden. The two sisters ordered that the executioners take the tongue off of the dog, and take one of the clothing items off their sister to give to the king. This made the king think the third sister had been killed, though it was a dog's tongue.
Much longer, third daughter was found in the forest and taken to a house away from the royal palace. The king's son fell in love with her, and the two shared those feelings. The man who brought the third daughter out to this house ordered that they would kill him before the wedding, and ordered that they'd refuse to give water and salt to the king. The prince and princess promised they'd do this.
Much later, the king was notified that his daughter was going to have a wedding. This was one of his daughters that he did not keep up with daily. He did not necessarily understand why he'd be invited, since he was not part of her life. He decided to attend the wedding to avoid offending the prince that would marry his "daughter." The day of the wedding, the man that took the princess to the house was killed as ordered. The prince and princess got married, and, as asked, the prince ordered that no water and salt be given to the king.
The king did not like any of the food, because he could not eat it without salt or enjoy himself without water. When they told stories at the wedding, the daughter asked the king if he could still recognize her (since she was the daughter that was ordered to be killed, but was clearly still alive). The King had no idea that it was this daughter, and she ultimately told him:
"You caused me to be killed because I told you I loved you as much as salt and water. Now you have seen what it is to eat without salt and water."
This story explained how the loving daughter of a king was exiled from the family, simply because her father didn't understand her analogy of love to him. I believe the theme of this was to give everyone a chance to explain themselves. If I were to recreate this story, I'd love for the daughter to have been able to explain this to the King before her wedding day. It would be a much happier ending than a getting-back-at-you scene, like this story.
Bibliography
"Water and Salt." Italian Popular Tales. Thomas Frederick Crane, 1885.
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