Endless

Lugging enormous boulders over the steep hill, pausing briefly only to repeat the grueling effort—that constituted the majority of his day. His second task forced him into the nearby salt mines, the worst of all his duties. 

He was compelled to remain in those dismal caverns until he managed to fill two large crates; whether he would spend hours or days depended entirely on the speed of his labor.

Moreover, no tools were provided—they were forced to extract the salt with their bare hands, for using implements might shatter the salt blocks and generate even more waste.

"Yur, you must work a bit faster, or they won't feed you," came the urgent call from nearby. 

His father, bound to a wall by heavy chains, was assigned the same dreadful task. 

Unfortunately, a guard stood close by, forbidding them from sharing the work; instead, his father was forced to fill a total of five crates.