Merry, I think, must have told me this one, or else I read it in one of her books.

Once there was a king who had three daughters, and he asked each how much she loved him.

The eldest spoke first: "Why, as I love my life."

And that answer pleased the king.

So the second daughter answered: "Why, better than all the world."

And that answer pleased the king.

Then the youngest answered: "I love you as fresh meat loves salt."

And that answer did not please the king. What kind of a love was salt? Her sisters would have given him their lives and the world, but his youngest daughter's love was only as worthy as common salt? So he drove the youngest daughter out of the castle, and she was forced to make her own way in the world.

It was autumn, then, and very cold, and she went on until she came to a river. There at the river, she gathered up reeds and rushes to make a kind of cape to keep the cold out, and went on until she came to a manor house.

She begged for work there and they put her to work in the kitchens, scraping the lids and scouring the pots. And because she gave no name, they called her Cap O' Rushes.

One night, there was a grand ball held at the her father's castle, and the commoners and servants were allowed into the corridors to glimpse the guests and the king. But that night, Cap O' Rushes was too tired to go, so she stayed at home while all the other servants left.