Once upon a time there lived a king. And he had three daughters. One day he called them to him and asked:
- Do you love me deeply? One says:
- I love you more than life itself, father. Other:
- I love you more than my heart. And the youngest said:
- I love you more than salt.
The king was angry with his youngest daughter: how did she dare to say that she loved him more than salt? And the king sent her away.
What was the poor girl to do? She changed into a man's dress, left the palace and hired herself to go to another king to fetch chickens and turkeys. And she hid her royal dress.
The princess served there for three days, and on the third night one of the royal workers suddenly heard a noise in the poultry yard. He looked there and saw a girl standing there, dressed like a princess. And the noise was because the birds did not recognize her when she put on a woman’s dress, and they started screaming.
Then the worker went to the king and said:
- Wonderful things are happening! Our new employee is not a man, but a woman. The King says:
- How is that a woman? The worker tells him:
“She was wearing a dress I had never seen before, but it was a woman’s dress.” The King says:
- I'll keep an eye on her. The next night the king waylaid her as she came out dressed as a princess and said:
- Come here. Why are you doing this? She replied:
“I’ll explain now, Your Royal Majesty.”
The king asks:
- Who are you? She answers:
- I'm a princess. I told my father that I loved him more than salt, and he kicked me out.
“Go to the kitchen,” the king tells her, “and prepare dinner.”
And he ordered her to cook the soup without salt, and invited the princess’s father to dinner.
When the king-father arrived, they began to set the table.
The host king says;
- I ask you to dine with us! The King Father answered him:
- With pleasure!
The princess set the table, served dinner, and then the king ordered her to stand opposite her father and look at him.
The kings began to dine. The king father eats the soup through force.
The owner asks him:
- What happened, Your Majesty, why aren’t you eating?
“I’ll tell you with honor,” the king-father answers, “the soup is completely without salt.” Then the owner says to him:
- It’s strange for me to hear such speeches from you! What would you give to see your daughter who loves you more than salt?
The King Father answers:
- Crown!
Then their daughter was brought to him, the king-father recognized her and hugged her tightly.
So the king-father found his daughter and lost his crown.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru