The Taste of The Water

 The Taste of the Water

- Infinity

Once upon a time, there were two brothers in a village, near the seashore. The elder one, Sato, always used to scold and treat him like his slave. He wished that his younger one should be obedient to him and do whatever he says without a word. The younger brother, Trio, always listened to his brother. Sometimes, he thought that he was being treated by Sato badly. But, the next moment, he told himself that he can bear anything for his brother, even the mistreatment from him.

Time flew and both brothers aged to their youth. Sato got married. Trio thought that his mother, who died in his infancy, came as his brother’s wife. But it turned to be the beginning of the living hell of his life. Now, he had to do the chores and orders from his brother and brother’s wife.

One day, Sato’s wife cried, “Oh god, where did I keep that? I could not see my necklace anywhere. God, I can’t live in this hell”. Without any investigation, everyone’s glare fell upon Trio. Sato drove Trio off of his house. Trio’s crying and attempt at explanation were seen as mere drama. At last, Trio decided to leave the village.

When he walked on the path to the nearer town, Trio was interrupted by a voice. He was stunned by that voice. He turned in the direction from where the voice came. He could find nobody there. Then, he started to move again.

“Hey young man, stop” this time, the voice was clearer. A cold chillness ran through his spine in fear. Again, he searched for who spoke with him. He could not find anyone, but a frog. With fear and curiosity, he asked the frog, “Did you…”

“Yes, I’d spoke to you” the frog interrupted.

“Impossible, how could you speak fluently?”, asked Trio, “What do you want?”

“Me, I don’t want anything. Tell me what do you want?” asked the frog.

Trio stood there in silence. He didn’t know what he wanted actually.

The frog continued, “I think you definitely need this” and showed a stone in its hand. Trio could not recognize what was that. The frog threw the stone to its left and the stone turned into the stone grinder, which is used to make the rice flour.

Trio’s curiosity and enthusiasm drained in a second and asked with a sigh, “Huh, what I will do with this?”

The frog asked him to come closer. He climbed on his hand and then to his shoulder. It said, “I am going to tell three spells. This grinder will give you whatever you want. But, you can not lift the grinder when it is giving.”

                Trio didn’t believe what he heard. He could not believe that the frog could speak too. Anyhow, he decided to believe and said to the frog, “My world tells me I am a thief. If I could get a chance, I will bring back that necklace and clear my name.”

                “If you go into the village with the necklace, everyone will decide that you are the real thief. It’s the time to start your life from scratch, a fresh life.” The frog suggested. Trio nodded to agree.     

                The frog changed its voice into a serious tone and added, “Hear clearly. Turn to its left side, say ENEMSONT and say what you wish to get. It will give it. To stop from giving, you have to turn the grinder to its right and say TONEMSAND. If you keep your hand at the top of it and say PEELS, it will become the stone again which you could carry anywhere”

                Trio understood all the three spells and turned the grinder to its left and said, “ENEMSONT Give me a Horse cart”. The Horse cart came out of nowhere. The horse shook his head up and down. The frog hinted at him and Immediately, he turned the grinder to its right and said, “TONEMSAND”. The frog said to Trio, “I know you are a good-hearted person and that’s why I chose you to give this. Please use this when you absolutely need something. Don’t get sunk by the greediness, Bye” and the frog jumped into the woods.

                Trio stood there and stared in the woods for some time. He came to the grinder and placed his palm on it. “PEELS” It became a small stone. Trio picked it up and kept it in his pocket. His horse cart started to move towards the next town.

After some years, Trio came back to his village on a yacht. When the yacht stood in the harbor, the village people were surprised and excited to see its owner. When they saw Trio coming out of the yacht, the villagers were shocked in awe. The news reached Sato in no time. Sato’s old business got ruined in loss and he was in large debt. When Trio came to know about this, he settled all of his brother’s debt. He bought a bigger house in the village and asked Sato to come and live with him.

Sato never talked about the past with his brother. Though he was happy that Trio settled his debts and saved him, Sato would like to know how his brother got richer. When he comes to the village, Trio knew that the village festival was about to start. During the festival, he arranged for a feast and invited the whole village.

As a host, Trio welcomed and treated everyone with respect and kindness. Trio became much popular in the village within a week. The feast was a blast. The dining went on for more than two and a half hours. When Trio came to the dining hall, he saw Sato was sitting at the dining table. With a smile on his face, he saw Sato. He asked about the main dishes. Sato said, “Just now, I had the starters. I think the salt is lesser” and smiled.

At the time, one of the servers came to Trio and complained, “the soup got finished”. Trio turned to his brother, “Excuse me, brother, I will come back in a minute” and ran towards the kitchen. Sato started to eat again and suddenly, he got up and followed his brother.

When Sato came to the window of the kitchen, he stood along the wall and peeked inside. Trio turned the grinder to its left and said, “ENEMSONT give me some soup”. The soup started pouring from the grinder. Sato saw this and became happy to know the secret of his brother. But he didn’t want to get caught and so returned to the table. When Trio returned to the table, he found his brother already finished eating. When he tried to ask his brother about the feast, Sato said, “You are being a good host for a long time. Now, I will take care of everything. You sit down and eat”. Trio accepted as always.

After washing his hands, Sato went straight to the kitchen and started packing the grinder in a sack along with rice and dishes. Then, he picked his wife up and left the house from the back entrance. No one really noticed the elder brother of Trio left the house in the middle of the feast.

Sato and his wife went to the yacht, took the anchor out, and start to sail. When the village was unable to see, his wife started to ask where they were going. He was reluctant to answer anything to her. She kept on blabbering.

“Why are we running away? I didn’t even finish my feast.” She cried.

Sato opened the sack and said, “Here is the food, have it”

She started to eat. He also joined her. When he took his first bite, he told himself, “Where is the salt?”

His wife complained, “The food is okay, you always take more salt. It’s not healthy, you know?”

Sato didn’t listen to her. He went to the grinder and turned it to its left. “ENEMSONT Give me the salt”

The salt started pouring salt. He started to laugh and his wife got stunned. His laugh didn’t last long. The grinder kept on pouring salt. Sato shouted, “STOP”. He turned it to the right and to the left.

“ENEMSONT STOP”

                “NO SALT”

                Within no time, the yacht filled with salt and started to sink. Sato and his wife also sank with the yacht. Nobody knew about this event. But the frog knew. Just remember its parting words. “Don’t get sunk by the greediness”.

THE END?

                Ah, you want to know what happened to the grinder, don’t you? It got sunk into the sea. It is giving the salt continuously. Now, we know why the seawater is salty, right?