once all of the food in the kingdom has become utterly unpalatable due to lack of salt, the two bridegrooms start quarrelling about money and the people of the kingdom strive to find any ingredient which would make their bread comestible. When illnesses start to spread, Pravoslav decides to sell gold in exchange for salt from the neighboring country. However, as carriages with gold cross the border, the contents change to salt – and as salt (re)enters Pravoslav's kingdom, it returns to gold. After realizing that this is happening, they recognize that their kingdom is cursed. After being in the underworld, Maruška meets a group of nymphs who help her to find an old wise woman, who will advise her where to look for the Salt Prince. Here, Maruška is given a test in order to prove that she is capable of fighting for her love and able to resist temptation: she is tasked to fill an old, dry well with water from a nearby stream. The well proves to be incapable of being filled in this manner, so she becomes distraught, but persists because of the love she feels. While being exhausted and dirty from her labors, a prince comes with some companions and ask her to marry him, but she refuses because she loves the Salt Prince. After this, the old woman advises her that she has to collect the tears of the people from her father's country, which are concentrated in the underworld meadow of oblivion. After collecting the tears, she revives the Salt Prince, whom she marries. As a marriage gift from the King of the Nature, the young couple is given a bag of salt which can never become depleted. They depart from the kingdom of the underworld to Pravoslav's country, where they give the people salt. Pravoslav passes his crown to them and decrees that, in order to remind the people and guarantee that such a story should never repeat, people shall from that time welcome each stranger not only with bread, but also with salt. Themes One of the themes is the depiction of old Slovak tradition of welcoming guests with bread and salt. Bread symbolizes utility necessary for life whereas salt symbolizes love and the act of giving, which makes life meaningful. Wisdom stemming from life experience, especially that of common people, as collected by Dobšinský, are featured in the narrative. The