THE BOND OF SALT

The Bond of Salt

The salt bond epitomizes Tahari hospitality and the mutual responsibility of host and guest. When a guest ingests salt offered by a host, the bond becomes formal. The host has vowed to protect the guest from harm for the duration of the salt bond.

The guest in turn has his or her own obligations. By accepting the salt, the guest agrees not to bring harm to the host. Furthermore, a polite guest should leave when it becomes apparent that remaining will stress the host's ability to continue to offer hospitality, or when three days have passed.

The bond of salt is so strong that there are several tales surrounding it. One tells of a thief in the guise of a merchant who enters the modest home a textile worker, who recognizing the merchant as a thief in disguise offers the thief a meal. The "merchant" does not wish to accept the offer of the meal and claims that he is fasting at the urging of the initiates. The textile worker insists that the "merchant" must share a meal with him before he can discuss business. The "merchant" relents and states that he cannot eat meat nor salt, nor drink of milk. Even the unscrupulous merchant would refrain from violating the laws of hospitality. If he were to consume salt he would then be honor bound to bring no harm to the textile worker!

The textile worker arranges for a tale teller to come to entertain while the meal is being prepared. The tale teller using a scimitar as a prop begins to tell a story of adventure and great deeds, and as he ends the story plunges the scimitar into the heart of the thief. The thief having purposely avoided the bond of salt allowed the host the option of killing him because he was not a guest and had come to the textile workers house to cause him harm. The story may have had a very different ending had the thief chosen the bond of salt.

"Bring salt," he said to the judge.
The judge gestured to a boy, who brought him a small dish of salt.
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"Let there be salt between us," he said.
"Let there be salt between us," I said.
He placed salt from the small dish on the back of his right wrist. He looked at me. His eyes were narrow. "I trust," said he, "you have not made jest of me."
"No," I said.
"In your hand," he said, "steel is alive, like a bird."
The judge nodded assent. The boy's eyes shone. He stood back.
"I have never seen this, to this extent, in another man." He looked at me. "Who are you?" he asked.
I placed salt on the back of my right wrist. "One who shares salt with you," I said.
"It is enough," he said.
I touched my tongue to the salt in the sweat of his right wrist, and he touched his tongue to the salt on my right wrist. "We have shared salt," he said.
He then placed in my hand the golden tarn disk, of Ar, with which I had purchased my instruction.
"It is yours," I said.
"How can that be?" he asked.
"I do not understand," I said.
He smiled. "We have shared salt," he said. ~ Tribesmen of Gor