Lord Gurr is taught a lesson about greed when he takes Minnie's magic grinder.

This is another well known folktale given the Disney treatment in order to consolidate it into the Mickey Mouse franchise.

The Magic Grinder is based on 'The Magic Millstone' type stories such as the Chinese 'Water Mother' tale, or the Norwegian 'Why the Sea is Salt' (which was included in Andrew Lang's 'Blue Fairy Book') and 'The Magic Porridge Pot' (collected by the Brothers Grimm), all of which are a late derivation of the Old Norse poem Grottasöngr.

In this story, a dragon takes the place of the aged woman/man or even devils depending on which version you have read; who gives the grinder to the young girl/Minnie along with the magical words. In both versions the children innocently betray the secret to a greedy person who uses it incorrectly with disastrous consequences. Traditionally, the millstone or grinder ends up on a ship producing an endless supply of salt which sinks the ship along with the millstone which then keeps on spilling out salt to this day.
In the Disney version, nothing so dramatic occurs. The greedy man ends up with a house to clean and Minnie and her nephews live happily ever after.

I can't knock these Wonderful World of Reading books too badly, as they offer children a lot of entertainment and do help with their reading skills. But, it is also nice to know from where they originate. ( )

I wonderful read. Marie and I read this when we were children.