Stone Soup Story

Once there was a young woman who was traveling around the country, seeing what she could see. She sometimes did odd jobs to help pay for her trip. But there came a day when she ran out of money and food at the same time.
On the same day that she ran out of money and food, she happened upon a small village. She thought that in this village she was sure to find someone that would give her a bit of food.

She knocked at the door of a friendly looking house. The woman of the house opened the door slightly. The young woman asked if the woman had a bit of food to spare for a weary traveler. Sadly, the woman answered that she did not have any food in the house at all.

The same thing happened at all the other houses the young woman visited. Not a single person in the whole village had so much as crumb of bread in the house. The young woman did not get discouraged, however. Instead she came up with a plan.

The young woman went up to what appeared to be a wealthy house in the center of the village and asked the old man who answered the door if he had a large kettle of water he could spare. The old man asked the young woman why she wonted the kettle of water. She told him that she was so sad about the lack of food in the village that she was going to make the entire village a big pot of soup from the special stone she had found on her travels.

Very curious, the old man got the kettle of water and a large stirring spoon and helped the young woman build a good fire in the barbecue pit he had along the side of his house. The young woman took a smooth stone out of her pocket and put it in the pot of water.

As she stirred the water in the kettle the young woman mentioned to the old man that the magic soup is always very good, but it would be even better with a little onion and cabbage to add some extra flavor. The old man thought he just might have a little bit of onion and cabbage that could be added to the soup. He went inside his house and returned with a handful of onions and a large head of cabbage and added these things to the water in the kettle.

A neighbor nearby stepped out of her house to put some laundry on her line. She smelled the onions and cabbage cooking and became curious about the good smell. She went next door to the old man’s house where she was told about the special soup made from a stone.

The young woman stirred the pot some more and mentioned to the neighbor that the magic soup is always very good, but it would be even better with a little bit of meat to add some extra flavor. The neighbor thought she just might have a bit of meat at home. She went to get it and returned shortly with a large chunk of meat and added this to the kettle of soup.

A young man came down the road walking his dog. He smelled the onions and cabbage and meat cooking and became curious about the good smell. He came to the old man’s house and was told about the special soup made from a stone.
The young woman stirred the pot some more and mentioned to the young man that the magic soup is always very good, but it would be even better with a little bit of carrot and potato to add some flavor. The young man hurried home and returned with a bunch of carrots and a handful of potatoes and added these to the kettle of soup.

A little girl down the street come outside to play and smelled the onions, cabbage, meat, carrots, and potatoes and became curious about the smell . She went over to the old man’s house and was told about the special soup made from a stone.

The young woman sti rred the pot some more and mentioned to the little girl that the magic soup is always very good, but it would be even better with a few beans and a pinch of salt and pepper to add some flavor. The little girl hurried home and returned with her mother and a bowl of beans and some salt and pepper and added these to the kettle of soup.

The woman from the very first house where the young woman had asked for some food came outside with her basket to collect some herbs and mushrooms from her garden and smelled the onions, cabbage, meat, carrots, potatoes, beans, and salt and pepper and became curious about the smell. She walked down the lane to the old man’s house and was told about the special soup made from a stone. The young woman stirred the pot some more and mentioned to the woman from the first house that the magic soup is always very good, but it would be even better with a few mushrooms and some of the sage the woman had in her basket to add some flavor. The woman from the first house took another look at the soup and gladly added her mushrooms and sage to the kettle of soup.

In a little while the soup was done and everyone had a big bowl of the delicious soup. Everyone marveled at how such a wonderful soup could be made from only a stone. The young woman spooned a second helping of the stone soup into her bowl and smiled to herself.


Click to bring up a printable image similar to the one below.  Print it, cut the pictures out and have each girl add to the pot while reading the story.