Stone Soup
Two young travellers arrive in a small village in France, carrying nothing but the clothes on their back and a large cooking pot. Hungry from their long journey, they ask the villagers for some food. Unfortunately, none of the townspeople are willing to spare even a modest amount of food to the two young men…
The two men set up camp in the early evening near the center of town. They start a small fire and fill their cooking pot with water. Into the pot, they place two small stones. The many people of the town walk by, staring at the young men, wondering who was foolish enough to give them food to make their soup.
Finally, one villager, a small child, asks the men what is in the pot. One of them explains that they are boiling a couple of stones. When the boy asks why, one of them responds, “We are making stone soup! You are welcome to have some when it’s done, if you’d like!”
The child’s mother inquires, “Stone soup? I’ve never heard of stone soup– is it good?”
The other young man replies, “Oh it is normally fantastic, but unfortunately it is a little bland at present.”
The woman, interested in a free bowl of good soup, offers to contribute just a little cabbage to add some flavor.
Waiting by the pot for her soup, the woman sees one of her friends, an elderly lady and tells her about the soup. The elderly lady scoffs, and says, “A soup with no meat? How terribly unfortunate. My husband is the butcher, I shall get us some chicken.”
Soon, more and more villagers stop by so as not to miss out on an opportunity for free soup. Nearly every single visitor, unsatisfied by the current state of the soup, takes it upon themselves to add their own favorite ingredients. Some carrots, a little pepper, potatoes, noodles, and so on…
Soon, there is a quite hearty stew being made in the once-empty pot. When the entire town lines up for a bowl of stone soup, each of them thanks the two strangers.