B16C. Salt mill, ATU 565.

.14.-.17. (.25.) .26.-.29.31.-.33.38.

The magic mill was ordered to grind salt, but was not commanded to stop. The mill sinks in the sea, and it usually still grinds salt.

Bassa, Morocco, Tunisian Arabs, Egypt, Catalans, Portuguese, Spaniards, Bretons, Flemish, Scots, Irish, French, Germans (Hanover, Austria), Syria, Yemen, Ilokan, Chinese (no place of recording), Koreans, Slovenes, Hungarians, Macedonians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Russians (Arkhangelsk), Ukrainians (Odessa), Karachays and Balkarians, Scandinavians, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Western Sami, Finns, Karelians, Estonians, Livonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Maris, Kyrgyz, Japanese (Tohoku - North Kyushu).

West Africa. Bassa [Guba is rich and childless, his brother Koi is poor; he makes boats and has many children; once he got hurt, could not work, asked G. for food; he gave rice and told him to take him to hell; K. went to look for the trait; the old man asks to give the devil rice for nuts and bring them to him; hell gave nuts, the old man gave a grinder; she grinds gold and whatever you want; G. stole it; he needed salt; the grater began to grind the salt, but did not obey the order to stop; G. threw it into the sea, since then salty]: Pinney 1973:214-216.

North Africa. Morocco, Arabs of Egypt: Uther 2004 (1), No. 56:334; Tunisian Arabs [there was no salt in Tunisia; the young man was hired as a sailor, decided to bring him, was captured by pirates, sold, maid he was seduced, became pregnant, accused of violence, he was imprisoned; there an old magician opened the wall and gave the young man a mill that grinds salt; the young man boarded a ship, gave salt to the bankrupt to a merchant; he stole the mill but did not know the words to stop it; the ship sank, the mill is still grinding salt at the bottom of the sea]: Ayadi 2008, No. 60:105-113.

Southern Europe. Catalans [an old woman gives a man a magic mill; his brother stole it, told him to grind straw, but did not know the words to stop it; the house was filled with straw, it caught fire, he lost everything; sailor stole the mill, started grinding salt, didn't know how to stop it, the ship sank, the mill grinds salt into the sea]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 56:125-126; Portuguese: Cardigos 2006, No. 565 [the devil gives a mill, who grinds whatever you want; a man's brother grinds salt with it on a ship at sea, but doesn't know how to stop it; so the sea is salty]: 142; Correia 2018, No. 16 (Douro) [poor man married to an evil woman, rich his brother helps him, but he is rich because there are salt mines on his land; the rich gave the poor half of the carcass (rather the backbone) of an animal, and his wife became angry and told him to take it to hell; the counter teaches you to knock on the iron door, not go in, but wait for the payment at the door; the devil gave me an old hand mill in return; the same man taught me to say: damn mill, give me bread; bread has appeared; home wife: enough bread! the husband stopped the mill; his rich brother borrowed it, sailed on a ship and told me to grind salt, but did not know how to stop the mill; the ship sank, the sea became salty]; Spaniards: Uther 2004 (1), No. 56:334 .

Western Europe. The Bretons: Kabakova 1998, No. 4 [while the captain was sailing, the castle owner took his wife away; the sea flooded the castle, only this woman escaped; when he returned, the captain thanked the sea and allowed him to go behind him; he went to a place where there was a lot of salt, since then the sea was salty; the captain lived happily with his wife], 6 [the captain stole the mill invented by the wizard; when he went to sea, he told her to grind salt; he did not know how to stop, the ship sank, the mill is still grinding; when the wizard dives looking for it, a storm begins; if the sea phosphorecates, it is the light of his lantern at the bottom]: 13-14, 15-16; Flemish [rich The brother gave the poor a ham; he went home through the forest; the forester advised him to go to the elves, for they are terribly fond of pork, to exchange the ham for a mill that grinds anything; he did so; he became rich; the merchant stole the mill, sailed away on the ship, told it to grind salt, did not know how to stop it; the ship sank, the sea became salty]: Van den Berg 2000, No. 12:16-21; Germans (Hanover) [grandmother gives to a young man a mill that grinds ducats; hired by a cabin boy on a ship, he has a lot of money to play cards; grinds food; the captain took it, ordered it to grind salt, the ship began to sink; the captain broke the mill, but everyone the piece turned into a new one and continued to grind salt; so the sea is salty]: Balzamo, Kaiser 2004, No. 22:35-38; the French [The devil gives the sorcerer a melenka who grinds everything she asks for. A captain from Newfoundland kidnaps her and takes her to the ship. Going out into the open sea, orders to grind salt, melenka listens, fills the hold with salt. The captain does not know the magic words to make Melenka stop, the ship sinks, the melenka continues to salt the sea]: Seignol 2002, No. 947:422; Irish [when the magic mill is stolen, she continues to grind salt; that's why the sea is salty]: Jackson 1936:288; Scots, Germans (Austria): Uther 2004 (1), No. 56:334.

Western Asia. Syria, Yemen {it is not certain that al-Shami has a mill and not another magic item}: El-Shamy 2004, No. 565:324.

Taiwan - Philippines. Ilocan [the first human giant Añgalo, with his wife and three daughters, carried salt across the sea to Manila, stumbled, salt fell into the sea, now it's salty]: Yabes 1958:222 [first man giant Añ ; galo with his wife and three daughters carried salt across the sea to Manila, stumbled, salt fell into the sea, now it is salty], 222-223 [Añgalo saw the goddess of darkness Sipñget, went to her (where he went, there are depressions of the sea ; she asked to build a bright house for her; it was built of salt bricks, but the sea brought it down and washed it away.]

China - Korea. Chinese (no place specified) [the younger brother is poor, lives with his mother, the eldest is an official; the youngest goes to congratulate the elder, is sent to the kitchen to eat, gets a bone with meat; on the way back shares with an old woman, who sends him to share with seven girls in the cave; they offer jewelry, the young man takes a simple pestle; it turns out that he gives salt; when he learns about this, the older brother takes it pestle, sails on a ship, doesn't know how to order to stop rubbing salt; the ship sinks, the sea becomes salty]: Lin Lin, Ustin 1959:198-202; Koreans [the thief stole the king's magic mill, sailed away on the ship, told the mill to grind salt (it's expensive); did not know what to say to stop the mill; the mill grinded everything, the ship went to the bottom because of the weight of salt, the mill still grinds there]: Choi 1979, No. 264:98-99 (=Cho 2001, No. 77:118).

The Balkans. Slovenes, Hungarians, Macedonians: Uther 2004 (1), No. 56:334; Bulgarians [the poor man gets a box from the devil (king) that gives what you ask for; envious rich brother takes it away; sails on the sea on a ship, asks for salt from the box, forgets how to tell her to stop grinding salt; the ship overflows, sinks; the box at the bottom is still grinding salt, so the sea is salty]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 56:212; the Greeks [the rich brother does not give the poor lamb for Easter; finally he gave it, ordering him to go to the damn dam; the poor goes, finds the devil, gives them a lamb, they give a coffee mill that grinds what you want; the poor is rich; the rich asks to sell him a mill; the poor grinded gold, gave the mill; the rich sailed on a ship to Constantinople, ordered grind salt, the ship sank]: Megas 1970, No. 36:104-106.

Central Europe. Poles, Slovaks: Uther 2004 (1), No. 565:334; Czechs (Moravia) []: Lifshits-Artemyeva 2017:388-391; Russians (Arkhangelsk; Lithuanian Russians), Ukrainians (Odessa) [ A wonderful mill, it is stolen from the hero; salt is crushed in the sea]: SUS 1979, No. 565:162.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Karachayevs/Balkarians [a rich brother gave the poor bread, advised him to change it for something from little people; they gave an eternal mill; his rich brother stole it, boarded a ship, became grind salt, the coral drowned, the mill is still grinding salt at the bottom of the sea]: Dzhurtubayev 2007:401-402.

Baltoscandia. Scandinavians [King Frody visited King Fjöotnir in Sweden. There he bought two big and powerful slaves named Fenya and Meña. Denmark had two Grotti's millstones [mill] (given by Frody Hengikjöft [with a saggy jaw, one of Odin's names] that grinded everything you wanted, but they weren't enough a strong man to get them in motion. Frody told his slaves to grind gold, peace, and happiness for themselves, but did not give a rest longer than the cuckoo's silence or her cuckoo's cuckoo's cuckoo's cuckoo's cuckoo's They sang the Song of Grotti (included in Elder Edda) and threshed an army against Frody. That same night, young king Musin killed Frody, took the slaves and told them to grind salt. In the middle of the night, they asked if there was enough salt, but Musing told me to grind more. They also threshed and the ship sank. Where the sea fell into the millstone hole, a whirlpool appeared, and the sea has since become salty]: Younger Edda 1970:79; Danes [Brother Lars is rich, Brother Hans is poor; on Christmas she goes to ask L. food; he gives a piece of bacon and tells him to go to hell with him; G. goes to look for hell; the old man digs a hole, says that this is the entrance to hell; when they learn that G. has brought them lard, the devils give them a mill that grinds whatever you want, and they say three words why she stops; G. and his wife are getting rich, calling their neighbors to a feast; L. persuaded her to sell the mill for 3000 thalers; asked to grind herring and porridge, he does not know how stop the mill, the herring filled the house and yard, G. stopped the mill on condition that it be returned to it; Lars's farm was so damaged that L. went bankrupt; the captain, selling salt, came to G.; persuaded him to sell it a mill for 1000 thalers; told her to grind salt in the sea, did not know how to stop it, the ship sank, the mill still grinds salt, so the sea is salty]: Bødker 1964, No. 21:136-143; Norwegians [in Christmas, a poor brother comes to a rich man to ask for food; he gives a piece of bacon but tells him to go to hell; the old man teaches that there is no meat in hell, we must exchange a piece of meat for a hand mill that grinds everything; the poor brings it to his wife, she gives out any food; the rich brother borrows the mill, asks for fish and broth, does not know how to stop the mill, the poor stops after receiving money from the rich; the sailor asks the mill to grind salt; sails away with it on a ship, doesn't know how to stop it; the ship is sinking, the mill is still grinding at the bottom of the sea]: Dasent 1970:8-13 (same or very similar in Asbjíørsen, Moe 1960:108-111); Karelians (Kalevala District): Concca 1959, No. 11 [the poor brother came to the rich man to ask for seeds; he ordered the demon to be carried to a hare's paw - the demon will give everything you ask for for her; bear gives a log, tells him to give a demon instead of a hand, ask for a mill that grinds salt; the poor brother grinded salt, the rich persuaded him to sell him a mill; he lives with his family in a boat, does not know how to stop the mill, the boat sank, the mill is still shallow, the sea has become salty]: 59-60; Onegin 2010, No. 39 [about as in Konkka 1959]: 355-358; Latvians [poor brother is in the heat with a ham - a handout a rich marriage; in return for a ham, he gets a mill from hell that can grind any food; the poor man, when rich, gives the mill to his brother; he tells him to grind porridge, but does not know how to stop the mill, he does first brother; finally, the mill gets to sailors; it is forced to grind salt, but no one knows how to stop it; the ship sinks and the mill keeps grinding, so the water in the sea is salty]: Aris, Copper 1977, No. 565:302; Swedes, Sami, Finns, Estonians, Livonians, Lithuanians: Uther 2004 (1), No. 565:334.

Volga - Perm. Marie: Uther 2004 (1), No. 565:334.

Turkestan. Kirghiz (Issyklul oblast, p. Tamga, 2003, informant born in 1951, heard from his grandfather) [while hunting, the poor man mimicked a bird; she asked to let it go, promised a gift; the poor man let go, received a hand mill (jargylchak); the elder rich brother the poor man climbed into the poor's yurt, stole the jargylchak; to hide the stolen goods, he decided to transport the jargylchak by boat; the jargylchak began to rotate, salt fell out of it; unable to withstand the weight, the boat sank; since then Issyk-Kul water has been salty]: Dyikanbayeva 2005, No. 37:226.

Japan. The Japanese (14 versions from Tohoku to northern Kyushu) [the poor man was rewarded with a mill that grinds everything at will; the thief stole it, sailed away on a ship, told him to grind salt, does not know how to stop; the ship sank, the mill is still grinding, so the sea is salty]: Ikeda 1971, No. 565:151-152.