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Why the Sea Is Salt

A Norwegian folktale from The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

This story comes from a Norwegian folktale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, and retold in Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book, first published in 1889. It explains in the way of a pourquoi tale why the sea is salt, but it is also a story about greed, wisdom and consequence. The poor brother learns patience and gratitude; the rich brother and the captain do not, and both pay the price. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.

Band

Green · Independent readers, earlyTypical starting range: ages 9–11

Length

long · about 850 words in 6 sections · 3 pictures

Source

The Blue Fairy Book, Andrew Lang

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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