One day, two brothers lived in the same village. The elder was extremely rich, while the younger was extremely poor. Both spent their money extravagantly. As for the other, he didn’t have the power of his day, nor did he have suitable clothes to wear, and his family was almost dying of hunger in view of the tightness of his condition.
One day, he decided to seek help from his brother and said to him: “My brother, my children are suffering from hunger. Lend me some money to buy food for them.” The brother said: “You ask me for money always, and I won’t give you anything. Go away from here.” The younger brother felt sadness because of this and left. On his way, he met an old man carrying a bundle of firewood. He said to him: “Wait, you seem tired. I will help you.” He said to him: “Thank you.” Then he said to him: “What’s wrong with you? You seem extremely tired.”
He said: “I feel weakness. My family is starving, and I have no money to buy food for them. I am despairing. What do you see?” The man said: “I understood the matter. I will help you if you carry the bundle of firewood to my house. I will give you something that will make you very happy.” The man carried the bundle of firewood and followed the old man to his house. The old man thanked him: “I wish you all goodness.” He gave the old man a small box. He said: “Take it and go away from here. You will find three chests on the way. Gather them, and you will find a millstone. If you pay attention, you will see a small hut, and you will find three cranes who love the box and will want to buy it from you.”
Don’t ask for money but ask for a hand mill. The man followed the old man’s instructions until he reached the cranes. They said to him: “We will buy the box for you.” He said: “Good, I will give it to you. I want the hand mill in exchange.” They said: “We agree, but beware that it’s not ordinary and will fulfill what you wish. When you finish with it, cover it with a red rug until it stops.”
He took the hand mill from the cranes and went to his house. He found his wife and children suffering from hunger. He asked his wife to place a rug on the ground, asked the hand mill to give him rice, then covered it with the rug, then called the people and invited everyone. They all ate until they were full. Every day, the brother would grind what he needed of flour, rice, and beans, then take everything and sell it in the market. He earned a lot of money until he became extremely rich.
He built a large house for himself and his family, provided them with everything they needed, and they all became happy, except the elder brother who felt envy of his brother. The elder brother fled to his brother’s house until he discovered the secret and the speed of what he knew. The next day, he stole the hand mill and decided to flee the village with his family. On the way out of the village, there was a sea. He and his family boarded boats to an island. On the way, the mill said: “Give me salt.” The hand mill began immediately producing salt. But he didn’t know how to stop it, so it continued producing salt until the weight increased on the boat, and it sank with everyone on it.
If he hadn’t envied his brother, the elder brother would have lived in happiness. Therefore, we should never envy anyone and always be happy with what we have.
Translated from the story: The Salty Sea Story