This greatly pleased the monarch, who gave her a valuable gift as a token of his pleasure.

Next the king inquired of his second daughter if she loved him.  “Oh, yes,” she said without hesitation.  “You are more precious to me than gold or precious gems.”  This also touched the king, who likewise gave her an expensive present.

Finally he turned to the youngest daughter and posed the same question: “Do you love me?”  “Yes, Father,” answered the young girl.  “In truth you are as important to me as the salt I put on my food.”  This remark made the father furious, and he ordered the impudent girl to be banished from the castle.  One of the royal guards was called to take her out into the desert and abandon her to be eaten by the wolves.  The guard led the frightened girl away and, once in the desert, bound her in chains and left her to the fate commanded.  Then he returned to the king.

The girl remained in her chains without the slightest movement.  After awhile she began to despair from hunger, thirst, and fear.  Eventually a group of peasants happened to pass by.  When they saw her, one of them ran over to her and quickly released the chains.  “Listen to me, my sister,” he consoled her.  “My mother will take care of you, for she is always lamenting that she has no daughter and has no one else but me.”  The girl was so relieved to be free that she gladly followed the peasant to his hut and lived with the two of them.

Time passed and the girl blossomed into a beautiful young lady.  One day a handsome prince passed by the village as he was returning from a hunting trip far from his own land.  It just so happened that he pitched his tent near the peasant’s hut and rested for several days with his hunting party and servants.  Each day he gave the servants money to buy food and water from the nearby peasants.

The young girl helped her foster mother to grind the flour, knead the dough, and bake the bread for the prince.  One day her ring slipped off her finger as she was forming the bread and landed in one of the flat loaves.  The piece with the ring in it ended up in the hands of the prince.  When he examined it, he quickly saw that it belonged to the daughter of a king, but how had it shown up in this poor village?  After inquiring, he called for the girl and demanded to know where the ring came from.  The girl was frightened at this, because she knew the secret could not be hidden any longer.  So she related her story of woe from beginning to end.

The prince was astounded by her tale and her striking beauty, which shone through even though she wore peasant garb.