There was a young boatman named A-Yi who lived in the village. He was good-natured and kind. Sometimes, his passengers paid him very little. But even if they did not pay him at all, A-Yi didn't mind.

One day, an old man got off A-Yi's boat without paying him. A-Yi didn't get upset and even told the old man, “Have a safe journey ahead!” After a while, the old man returned and told A-Yi, “You are a really kind lad, take this tiny stone grinder as payment for riding your boat. If you wish for anything, just tell the stone grinder: ‘Stone grinder! Stone grinder! East West South North, North East North – Appear!’ And the stone grinder will make it appear. If you wish it to stop, just say, ‘Stone grinder! Stone grinder! East West South North – Stop!’ And it will stop turning. Remember the magic words!” A-Yi looked at the tiny stone grinder and thought to himself, “This stone grinder is as small as my palm, could it really work magic?” Just as the old man promised, the stone grinder could make anything appear by magic. A-Yi used the stone grinder to make food and clothes, and gave them to the poor.

After A-Yi became rich, he hired a boatman called A-Ding to ferry people across the river for free. But A-Ding was a greedy man. When he learned the stone grinder's secret, he stole the stone grinder and jumped onto his boat. He rowed quickly towards the sea. Once A-Ding reached the sea, he could wait no longer. He took the stone grinder out and said eagerly, “Stone grinder! Stone grinder! East West South North, North East North – Make Salt!” Magically, the stone grinder started to spin and salt flowed out from it. A-Ding was overjoyed. Before long, the boat was so full of salt that A-Ding feared that the boat would sink. But sadly, he forgot the magic words to make the stone grinder stop. In the end, the boat sank into the sea with A-Ding and the stone grinder. Without the magic words, the stone grinder continued to make salt at the bottom of the ocean. From then on, seawater turned salty.

村裡有個叫阿義的船夫，他是個忠厚善良的年輕人，客人少給錢，甚至沒給錢，他都不會計較。

有一天，有位老公公下船後沒給錢，阿義還對老公公說：「走路要小心喔！」過一會兒，已經離開的老公公又回來，對阿義說：「你的心地真善良，我給你一個小石磨，就當作船費吧！你想要什麼東西，只要對石磨說：『石磨！石磨！東西南北北東北，變』石磨就會變出來，要停止就說：『石磨！石磨！東西南北，停！』它就會停下來，一定要記住喔！」阿義看著小石磨，心想：「小石磨像掌心一樣小，真有那麼神奇嗎？」結果，真的像老公公說的一樣，想要什麼就變出什麼，阿義就把變出來的食物和衣物，拿去幫助窮苦的人。

阿義有錢後，就請一位叫阿丁的船夫，免費載客人渡河。貪心的阿丁知道小石磨的秘密後，就把小石磨偷走。阿丁划著船往大海的方向走，才划到大海，阿丁已經等不及，便拿出小石磨，唸著：「石磨！石磨！東西南北北東北，變鹽巴。」果然，開始流出鹽巴，阿丁高興得不得了，沒多久，眼看船快裝不下，阿丁一急就忘記停止的口訣。最後，阿丁、小石磨和船都沈到海裡去了，小石磨還在海底下，不停地磨出鹽巴來，從此以後，海水就變成鹹的。