Once upon a time, there was a king who had three daughters. One day, he decided to find out which of them loved him the most. He called them to him and asked each one: “How much do you love me?”
The first daughter answered that she loved him more than the entire kingdom. The second declared that she loved him more than all the jewels and pearls in the world. But when the third daughter said that she loved him more than salt, the king became furious. He ordered his servant to take the girl into the forest and kill her.
However, when they reached the forest, the servant confessed that he would never kill her because he loved her dearly. He agreed to her plan: he made her a coat out of mouse skins and let her find her own way. Once everything was ready, the girl put on the coat and went to a neighboring king, where she asked for a job. She cut her hair short and claimed to be a boy. The king believed her and accepted her as his personal servant.
The king had a strange habit: every evening, when he took off his shoes, he threw them at his servant’s head. One day, he asked the boy in the mouse fur coat where he came from. The servant replied, “From a land where people do not throw shoes at others’ heads.” From that moment, the king began to suspect something and ordered the other servants to spy on him.
When they found a ring in his room, they brought it to the king, thinking it had been stolen. The king summoned Mouse Fur Coat and asked where the ring had come from. At that moment, the girl realized she could no longer hide. She took off her coat made of mouse skins, and her golden hair cascaded down. As she stepped out of the coat, it became clear that she was breathtakingly beautiful. The king was so enchanted that he immediately removed his crown, placed it on her head, and declared her his wife.
A grand wedding was held, inviting all the neighboring kings, including the father of Mouse Fur Coat. The guests had the finest wines, the most beautiful dancers, and the most exquisite dishes, but the food lacked taste. One of the kings grew angry and said, “I would rather die than eat such food!”
As soon as he spoke those words, his daughter, now the new queen, stepped forward and said: “Now you say you cannot live without salt, but when I told you that I loved you more than salt, you wanted me dead.”
At that moment, the king realized that this young woman was his youngest daughter, whom he had believed to be dead. Overjoyed, he kissed her and begged for forgiveness. Now that he had found her again, she was dearer to him than the entire kingdom and all the jewels in the world.
