Stories and Poems

The Country Witch's version of....

Stone Soup
Once Upon a time there was a wise old man traveling from town to town. He was getting low on supplies and hungry when he arrived to a little town called Miserville. When he approached a little house there was a woman tending her garden. The wise old man asked her if she could spare some food for him. She scowled at him and said "We cannot spare any food sir, my family is only able to grow carrots and we are starving as is." The man appologized for bothering her and wished her family well.

The wise old man knocked on the door of the next house. A grumbly bear of a man answered the door. The wise old man asked him if he could spare some food. "We cannot spare any food sir, we spend all our spare time growing potatoes enough to feed my family. We are almost starving as is".

The wise man went from house to house, hearing almost the same excuse from everyone he encountered. Being that he was a wise old man, he quickly got a bright idea. He picked up a palm sized rock off the ground as he went to a house that he hadn't visited yet, located near the town center. A little old lady answered the door. She looked at him and before he could say a word, said "I am just a helpless widow sir, I have sore joints and so cannot do anything for you,  and since I live off the charity of others, I have nothing to give you. I live alone and rarely interact with others and so I am sorry, but I am even unable to point you in the right direction of anyone of aid"

The wise man smirked at the lady. "Lovely lady, I would like to make dinner for you. Being that you do not know me, I ask that you let me borrow your largest cauldron, and I will cook your meal out here instead of entering in your humble home.

With a gleam in her eye she smiled back at him. "How kind you are sir, I haven't had anyone cook for me in so long. I will be right back." She quickly brought her largest cauldron to him. He asked where he could find some clean water to use, and after she pointed him the way, he rinsed off his rock and filled the cauldron with water.

Making a large fire close to the road, the wise man placed the cauldron over the flames, throwing the rock in the water, and began the process of boiling the large quantity of water.

Soon after, one of the children from a house the wise man had already been regected from, came up to him. "Sir why are you boiling that there rock, in that there water, in that there huge pot?"

"Why young man, I am making the best dinner you ever had! Stone Soup!" The wise man kneeled down to be able to look the young boy in the face. "I see by the expression on your face that you have never had a try of Stone Soup."

"No sir." The boy answered. "We eats only the celery that we can grow in the dirt." The boys eyes sparkled with hope as he looked the wise man in the face. "I would loves to try your soup, sir. I can even make sure you have some celerys to add to it. Soups is better with celery, sir."

"Now young buck, I do believe that I agree with you" The wise man winked at the boy and added "I reckon that if you can bring me a large amount of celery, I will have enough soup to share with your whole family".

"Oh sir! That would be lovelys. My bestest friend in the whole world would love to try this Stone Soup too, I bet. His family only grows them onions, and he is always tellin me how sicks of them onions he is." The excited little boy bounced around the wise man.

The wise man grabbed on to the boys shoulders holding him still enough to listen to his words. "I reckon that if your friend can spare a bunch of onions for the soup that I will have enough for him and his family too." The wise man let go of the boy and took a step back from him. "Why don't you go ask if your family and your friends' family are interested."

"Yes sirs! You won'ts be displeased. I will be so fasts!" The boy ran as if his life depended upon it, and was quickly out of sight.

Soon, not only the boys' family and that of his best buddy, but every family in the town came to see what the big deal was. And soon the cauldron was filled with all sorts of diced vegetables, grains, and cubed meats added to the water by curious families wanting to try this wonderful Stone Soup.

The Town's people milled around and chatted with each other while the soup cooked. Friendships were created, deals were made, ideas were discussed, and fun was shared. After dinner and everyone was full, the wise man packed up his rock, and a large amount of leftovers for the road, thanking the Town's people for sharing. The people looked around at eachother, their mouths opening into "O's", as they realized that was what they did. They shared! It took a stranger, wise man or not, to teach them the importance of being together, and how their "bounties" multiplied when shared.


Blessed Be!