Folk Tales/As Much As Salt

As Much As Salt appeared as a text story on the Purple Moon Place website. It was featured on Sharla's secret pouch page. On the link to the story Sharla says, "I guess other girls have dad troubles, too, like in this story."

The Story
As Much As Salt

One day Pharaoh called his three daughters to him, for he was old and thinking of the future of his empire.

“The child who loves me best will rule after me,” he said.

“Ah father,” said his daughter Makare, “I love you as I love the sun, rising in the sky. When I do not see you, it is as if the day were dark.”

“That is a great deal of love, and properly worshipful for a pharaoh. Wisely said, my daughter.”

“Dear father,” said his daughter Narome, “I love you as the Nile, flowing through the valley. Without you, life is a desert, dry and joyless.”

“The mighty Nile, source of all life. Surely that is love. You give me joy, daughter.”

“My father,” said his daughter Hatshepsut, “I love you as meat loves salt.”

“Is that all?” cried Pharaoh. “You compare your love for me to common salt? You displease me, daughter – leave the palace and never return.”

So Hatshepsut left the palace, burdened only with two camels, a maid servant, a few clothes, and her paintbox. She traveled for many miles until she came to a great city. But no one believed or cared that she was Pharaoh’s daughter, and so – one by one – she sold her belongings to survive. Desperate, she bought a license to sell wares in the city streets. Then she set out her paints and began to create pictures of the rooms in Pharaoh’s palace. She painted the silks and jewels and golden dishes, the fountains and statues and garden paths. Since few people ever saw the inside of Pharaoh’s palace, the paintings were eagerly purchased. In time, her reputation for art brought her wealthy customers, including a young prince from a neighboring land.

So taken was he by Hatshepsut’s art that he asked her to come to his palace and paint. She painted pictures of his family and his animals – she even painted the walls of his council room. In that time, the prince learned that she was truly a pharaoh’s daughter, and why she had been banished from her home.

As luck would have it, the prince’s family owned the salt mines from which Pharaoh’s people bought salt. To teach her father a lesson, the prince stopped all the salt trade between their two countries. In a few weeks, there was no salt in Pharaoh’s kitchen. His soup was bland; his bread was boring; his meat was plain. Although he searched the streets of his city, not one grain of salt could he find – everyone was eating salt-less food.

Pharaoh became grumpy, then angry, then furious. He gathered his council together and considered making war on the prince’s country. But then he received a wedding invitation from Hatshepsut, saying that she and the prince were about to marry.

“I will talk to this prince in person,” said Pharaoh, and he readied himself and his daughters for the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Hatshepsut ordered a throne built of hammered gold, shaped like the rising sun, for her father to sit on. In front of it she had built a pool of water, decorated with papyrus reeds and water lilies, like the Nile. Her wedding day arrived, and Pharaoh was placed on his golden throne, surrounded by the lovely pool. He was served the finest food on dishes of lapis and gold.

But Pharaoh was not happy, no – he was as grumpy as ever. Hatshepsut came and bowed before him.

“What is the matter, my father?” she asked. “You sit upon a throne like the sun, with the Nile at your feet – yet you are displeased.”

“What good is a golden throne and a river full of water when I am forced to eat such terrible food day after day?” cried Pharaoh.

“Ah,” said Hatshepsut, nodding. Then she clapped her hands, and out of the kitchen came another set of dishes, piled with food. “Perhaps you will like these better.”

Pharaoh took one taste and joy came into his face.

“Forgive me, daughter,” he said. “I now know that every grain of salt is precious in its own way. If you love me as much as salt, then that is love, indeed.”

And so clever Hatshepsut and her prince ruled after Pharaoh was gone.