Long ago, in a village by the coast, there lived two brothers. The elder was wealthy but miserly, while the younger was poor and generous. One day, the younger brother ran out of food and went to ask his elder brother for a scrap of meat to feed his family. The elder brother, scowling, threw him a small, half-rotten ham and told him never to return. Disheartened but grateful, the younger brother took the ham and set off for home. On the way, he met an old man with a long white beard who asked for something to eat. The younger brother, despite his own hunger, shared the ham with the stranger. The old man smiled and said, 'Because you shared what little you had, I will give you a magic hand-mill. It will grind anything you ask for, but only you can stop it. Take it to your home, and may it bring you good fortune.'

The younger brother thanked the old man and hurried home. He placed the hand-mill on the table and said, 'Grind food and drink for a feast!' Immediately, the mill began to turn, and out poured bread, cheese, meat, and fine wine. The family ate until they were full, and still the mill kept grinding. The younger brother said, 'Stop, mill,' and it stopped. From that day on, the family never knew hunger. The younger brother became known for his generosity, sharing his wealth with neighbours in need. News of his good fortune reached his elder brother, who grew jealous. One evening, the elder brother visited and begged to borrow the mill, promising to return it. The younger brother, trusting and kind, lent it to him.

The elder brother took the mill home but did not ask it to grind food. Instead, he wanted to become rich beyond measure. He set the mill in his barn and commanded, 'Grind gold and silver!' The mill obeyed, and soon coins poured out in a glittering stream. The elder brother laughed with greed, but when the barn was full, he realised he did not know how to stop the mill. The mill kept grinding, burying him under a mountain of gold and silver. He cried out, but no one heard. The mill ground on, filling the barn and then bursting through the walls, spilling treasure into the yard. The elder brother finally escaped, but the mill continued to grind, and the weight of the treasure crushed his barn to pieces.

The younger brother became known for his generosity, sharing his wealth with neighbours in need.

The elder brother, furious and ashamed, returned the mill to his younger brother. But the younger brother saw that the mill was too dangerous to keep. He decided to sell it to a merchant who sailed the seas. The merchant, a clever man, paid a great sum and took the mill aboard his ship. Once at sea, the merchant said to the mill, 'Grind salt!' He planned to sell the salt in distant lands for a huge profit. The mill began to grind, and white salt poured out in a steady stream. The merchant laughed, but soon the salt filled the ship's hold. He tried to stop the mill, but he did not know the magic words. The ship grew heavy and began to sink.

The merchant shouted for help, but the crew had already abandoned ship in a small boat. The ship sank beneath the waves, carrying the mill with it. But the mill did not stop. At the bottom of the ocean, it kept grinding salt. And so, to this day, the mill turns endlessly, churning out salt that rises and makes the sea salty. Sailors tell stories of the mill, and some say that if you listen closely near the shore, you can hear the faint grinding sound beneath the waves. The sea remains salty because the mill never stops, and it will keep grinding until someone who knows the right words finds it and commands it to cease.

This tale, collected by Andrew Lang in The Blue Fairy Book, uses a simple but powerful structure: a gift, a misuse, and a permanent consequence. The hand-mill is a motif that appears in many cultures, symbolising both abundance and the danger of unchecked desire. The two brothers represent archetypes of generosity and greed, and the merchant adds a third figure who seeks profit without wisdom. The story explains a natural phenomenon—the saltiness of the sea—through a magical cause, a common feature of folklore. Retellings often change the ending: some versions have the mill stopped, others leave it grinding forever. Each choice shapes the story's theme, whether about the cost of greed or the mystery of nature.