The Salt Prince

Το πιο κάτω παραμύθι το προτοείδα σαν τηλεοπτική ταινία στις αρχές του '90 από το ΡΙΚ. Είναι βασισμένο σε ένα Τσέχικο παραδοσιακό παραμύθι το οποίο δείχνει τις δοκιμασίες και την δύναμη της αγάπης, μεταξύ γονιού-παιδιού και μεταξύ δυο ερωτευμένων. 

Θα σας βάλω το κειμενάκι το οποίο βρήκα στα αγγλικά. Η τηλεταινία υπάρχει και στο youtube αλλά στα Γερμανικά (κάπου μέσα στις χίλιες και τηλεταινίες VHS που έχουμε στο σπίτι, την έχω και ντουμπλαρισμένη but alas no VCR anymore to play it.... *sigh*) 

Μια μικρή εισαγωγή για την "δύναμη" και τα πιστεύω για το αλάτι ανά τον κόσμο πρώτα...

Around the world and throughout history, salt has been cherished both as a healer, preserver and vital symbol of life and blood. It has been considered a token of love and a guard against evil. The Native Americans considered salt a gift of the deity and by keeping it safely in a box, it had the power to ward off evil; in Andalusia, salt is synonymous with grace and charm and to pay a lover a high compliment you call her your "salt box"; and in Morocco people carry salt on them for protection against evil spirits.

  The great historic value of salt is also depicted in the following Czech fairytale:


Και το παραμύθι....
(σε κείμενο αυτή τη φορά...)

The Salt Prince 

        The story begins with a king who had three daughters, each of whom were to seek suitors. The two oldest daughters found wealthy and powerful men who could show their wealth to the king. The youngest, however, had met and fallen in love with a young man in secret, who found her one day crying that she needed a man to show her father. When she explained, he said that she was not to worry, that he would appear before her father and show his wealth, she was very relieved.     On the fateful day, the two older girls presented their suitors and the king was very pleased. When he began to question his younger daughter, he was very upset to learn that she did not even know his name or where he came from. Suddenly he appeared, dressed well and presented himself to the king. When asked who he was, he said he was the Prince of Salt and he would inherit his father's kingdom of salt. When the father heard this, he grew very angry and yelled that salt was worthless and his daughter could not marry him. The younger daughter proclaimed that she loved her father just like she loved her Prince and his salt.

The king got so infuriated he banished them from his kingdom but before he managed to, the prince's father appeared and laid a curse on the kingdom because the king did not know the value of salt. "From henceforth, there would be no salt in the land and every bit of salt would turn to gold. The prince will never be allowed to marry the daughter of someone who did not value salt." And in a whirl they both the prince and his father disappeared, and the daughter was exiled.      

At first the king thought nothing of the curse, but slowly the fields withered without salt, the people grew ill and left the kingdom in droves. The food had no flavor, and illness spread. In vain they tried to import salt from a neighboring kingdom, but the minute the wagons of salt crossed the border, the salt would turn into gold, which was now worthless. The wealth of the king's sons-in-law was to no avail.     Meanwhile, the youngest daughter was stricken with grief at the loss of her beloved. She vowed to try and find him. She left the castle and began her wanderings, searching everywhere for the kingdom of salt. After many trials, she finally found a deep cave and discovered the location of the kingdom of salt. The King of Salt was still very angry and at first refused to see her. Finally, when she begged enough, he told her that his son had become a pillar of salt. And sure enough, in the cave there she saw a life-sized pillar of salt. At first horrified, she finally succeeded in finding out that only the dew drops of all the flowers in the kingdom, which were in fact the tears of all the people who had suffered from her father's outburst and discounting of salt, had to be collected and brought back to the cave and poured over the pillar of salt to rescue the prince.     So the daughter went out and tirelessly collected the drops in a pitcher, working until she could not stay awake, falling asleep in the fields, and again and again persevering, until finally she collected all the drops in her pitcher and sneaked inside the cave. The king tried to stop her, but she was finally able to pour the pitcher over the pillar of salt and her loved one emerged. Finally, the king was convinced of her devotion to his son and salt, and he lifted the curse.     When they both returned to the castle with some salt, they found her father and courtiers all ailing. When she handed her father the salt, he told her he had been mistaken, that "salt was more precious than gold," and with that, he embraced his daughter and future son-in-law and they all lived happily ever after.

               *****************************************************************

Εκ τότε, είναι αλήθεια πως κάθε τόσο θα γυρίσω τη μάμα μου και θα της πως ότι την αγαπώ σαν το αλάτι. Και μέχρι σήμερα το έχω συνήθει να κρατώ ένα μικρό αλάτι πάντοτε στο υπνοδωμάτιο μου (όσο unheigenic κι' αν ακούγεται). Το βλέπω σαν η ζωή σ' ένα χώρο, όποιος χώρος κι' αν είναι αυτός. 

Το folk tale θυμίζει υπέρ του δέοντος τη ιστορία του Βασιλιά Ληρ από τον Σαίξπηρ, αλλά από την άλλη τα λαογραφικά παραμύθια της κάθε περιοχής έχουν τον δικό τους χαρακτήρα και ύφος. 

Και στις δυο ιστορίες όμως, μπορούμενα δούμε θέματα όπως η ανθρώπινη ματαιότητα, ο εγωισμός, η επιμονή, η αγνότητα της αγάπης και η δύναμη της στο τέλος. Ακόμα κι' αν τελειώνει καλά το παραμύθι, σου δείχνει τις δυσκολίες και τις αντίξοότητες που πρέπει να περάσεις για να φτάσεις στην ηρεμία και την ευτυχία. 

Είπαμε - Κόλαση, Καθαρτήριο και Παράδεισος. Έτσι πάει...

Υπάρχουν επίσης πολλά άλλα variations αυτού του παραμυθιού. Από τη Γαλλία, Ιταλία, Γερμανία, Ινδία, Αυστρία, Ρουμανία κλπ. Σας βάζω μερικές ιστοσελίδες όποιος ενδιαφέρεται να διαβάσει περισσότερα.

• http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/salt.html
• http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/54514/ 

Καλή εβδομαδά σε όλους σας.

The Salt Prince 

(German Language)

Για όσους ξέρουν :)