Salt blowing mortar

Japanese: 塩吹臼 - しおふきうす

A Japanese folk tale. One of the origin stories that cleverly combines the simple question of why the sea is salty with a tale of karma. A poor younger brother cannot even make it through the New Year, so he goes to his rich older brother to borrow rice, but the greedy older brother mocks him and sends him away. On his way back, he meets an old man who gives him wisdom and some wheat buns. The younger brother trades the buns for a forest dwarf's millstone, but the millstone produces anything he desires, and he becomes rich overnight. The older brother becomes jealous and steals the millstone, puts it on a boat and goes out to sea. He secretly brings out some sweets and eats them, then wants some salt. However, he does not know the spell to stop it, so the salt does not stop even when the boat is full, and the boat sinks and the older brother drowns, but the millstone sinks to the bottom of the sea and continues to blow salt to this day. Although there are some differences in the story, similar stories are found all over Japan, and can also be found in China, Korea, and Eastern and Northern European countries.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

日本の民話。海の水がなぜ塩辛いのかという素朴な疑問を，巧みに因果応報の物語と結びつけた起源説話の一つ。貧しい弟が年越しもできず，長者の兄のところへ米を借りに行くが，欲張りな兄はばかにして追返す。その帰途，出会った老人から知恵と麦饅頭を授かった弟は，その饅頭を森の小人の石臼と交換するが，この石臼がなんでも望みのものを生み出すものであったため，一夜にして長者となる。これをねたんだ兄は石臼を盗み出し，舟に乗せて海へ出ると，こっそり甘い物を出して食べ，次に塩を欲する。ところが，それを止めるまじないを知らなかったため，塩は舟いっぱいになっても止まらず，ついに舟は沈み兄はおぼれ死ぬが，石臼は海底へ沈み，いまでも塩を吹続けているという話。話に多少の異同はあるが類話は全国に分布し，また中国，朝鮮をはじめ東ヨーロッパや北ヨーロッパの諸国でもみられる。

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