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A Wonderful Quern

A Wonderful Quern image
Parent Issue
Day
15
Month
December
Year
1893
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

There is an old fashioned Norwegian folktale that accounts in a very curious way for the salt in the sea. According to the story, the waters of the ocean were not always salt. But long ago, before Columbus sailed in hislittle caravels, before the Vikings crossed over to Iceland and Martha's Vineyard, even before St. Brendan rowed his boat made of skina sewed together across from Ireland to the mouth of the Chesapeake, there were two brothers living away up in the northland. One was very rich, and the other was very poor. One brother had herds of cattle and flocks of fat mountaiu sheep, while the poor one had just about nothing at all except a wife and ever so many children. One Christraas eve there was nothing in the house for them to eat, and the man's wife said to her husband: "If I had a rich brother as you have, I would go and ask him for something for these poor children to eat. Tomorrow will be Christmas day, and there is not a crust of bread in the house." So he went to his brother and told him how much they needed his help. The rich man gave him a nice flitch of bacon and told him to go to an old magician who lived somewhere in the monntains. I do not know why he sent the poor man to tho magician, for the latter did not bear a very good name in the neighborhood. However, when he carne to the magician's stronghold everybody about the place wanted to buy his flitch of bacon. He could not understand why it was, but he thoughtif there was somuch demand for the bacon he would at least make the best bargain he could for it. "Well," he eaid, "I oughtby rights to take this bacon home to my good dame for our dinner tomorrow, but since you all seem to have set your hearts on it I suppose you must have it. If I sell it, however, I want a good price for it." They offered him a good round suin, but that would not do. "I will let you have it," he said, "if you will give me that quern yonder behind the door." A quern is one of the things that it would be very hard to find nowadays because they have gone out of fashion, but if you will look in the dictionary, as I did when 1 first heard this story, you will see that a quern is a mili for grinding corn by hand, and that it consists of two large stones, au upper and a lower one, the upper one having a handle by which it may be turned around on the lower stone, gricding the corn or grain bet ween them. The old magiciau at first laughed outright at the idea of any one's thinking that he would part with his quern, but the owner of the bacon insisted that he would be satisfled with nothing less than that, so he fiually got it. When he reached his own door, the clock was striking 12 and his wife was waiting for him, ready to scold him for staying so long. "Whatin theworld kept you so long?" she asked. "And what are we going to do with that old quern when we haveno corn to grind?" Then he told lier of his trading the bacon for the quern. She was dreadfully put out about it, and especially at tho loss of the bacon, which would have made them a good hot dinner and then would have lasted them a week, sliced cold. "Just wait ii minute," said her husband, "before you begin to complain, and see if I did not do right this time." And putting the quern on the table he told it to grind enough good things to make a first rate dinner for 12 hungry mouths. His wife could hardly believe her eyes as she stood there and watched the quern grindirig out dainties enough to last a week. The rich brother chanced to hear how well his poor brother's family was living, and wlieu he carne and saw what an elegant table they kept he was envious and wanted to know where they got the money to buy the things. For a long time they kept the secret of the old quern, but somehow it got out at last. They were so proud of it that they could not help telling all about it, and the rich brother insisted on buying the quern. Finally they let him have it for $300. It kept on grinciing for its new ownor, but he was afraid of it, never feeling sure of what it would do next, so he made his brother take it back at the same price. The poor man was glad to get it back again, and it ground out úñ- told riches for himself and his family. They liad everyfhina; they desired, among other things a golden house to live in, and the people carne from every land to see the ïuagniiiceni-e of the family that owned the wonderful quern. One day a stranger, au old seaman who had bten all around the then known world, came to see the quern, and wanted it to griri(3 salt. It is snpposed that the owner of the quern was rich euougli by this time, for he let it go for a moderate sum, and fearin that Ue inight repeut of having sold it the old sailor put to sea at once with his prize, anxious to know how it woald work. When he had sailed so far out that no one could reach him, he said to the qUern: "Grind sak. u-nd grind both fast and good." No soouer haii he given the order than the quern began to grind heaps and heaps of salt all over the deck until the ship was ready to sink to the bottom of the sea. Scared half to death, the old sailor begged the quern to stop grinding salt! He got down on his kuees to it. But there was no use talking to it. It went on gritiding, griuding, and soou the vessel went down with its weight of salt. And the quern still keeps on grindiug in the depths of the#cean - and that is why the sea is salt. - Virginia MeSherry.

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News