Stone Soup

Today I got to visit Eli's preschool and be a parent helper. They were learning a lesson on sharing and how when everyone lends a hand, everyone can benefit. All the kids were told to bring a little of their favorite vegetable to contribute to the soup. So once everyone gathered in the fellowship hall they were told this story.

The Story of Stone Soup

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Once upon a time, somewhere in post-war Eastern Europe, there was a great famine in which people jealously hoarded whatever food they could find, hiding it even from their friends and neighbors. One day a wandering soldier came into a village and began asking questions as if he planned to stay for the night.

"There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," he was told. "Better keep moving on."

"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you." He pulled an iron cauldron from his wagon, filled it with water, and built a fire under it. Then, with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone from a velvet bag and dropped it into the water.

By now, hearing the rumor of food, most of the villagers had come to the square or watched from their windows. As the soldier sniffed the "broth" and licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their skepticism.

"Ahh," the soldier said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage -- that's hard to beat."

Soon a villager approached hesitantly, holding a cabbage he'd retrieved from its hiding place, and added it to the pot. "Capital!" cried the soldier. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of salt beef as well, and it was fit for a king."

The village butcher managed to find some salt beef . . . and so it went, through potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on, until there was indeed a delicious meal for all. The villagers offered the soldier a great deal of money for the magic stone, but he refused to sell and traveled on the next day. The moral is that by working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved.


So one by one different foods were called and the kids that had brought that item went up and dumped theirs into the pot. We had a lot of carrots! and once it was all full the other parents and I returned to the kitchen with the pot added some broth and season and cooked up the soup. The kids went to play and to chapel time and then came back to the hall to find that their little bag a vegetables had turned into enough soup for everyone to have some! It was a lot of fun and I "think" they got the point.