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Story
According to the story, some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travelers. The travelers fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire in the village square. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor, which they are missing. The villager doesn't mind parting with just a little bit to help them out, so it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which hasn't reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.

In a French version of the tale, the three travelers are soldiers returning home from the (Napoleonic) wars.


[edit] Actual story
A kindly, old stranger was walking through the land when he came upon a village. As he entered, the villagers moved towards their homes locking doors and windows. The stranger smiled and asked, why are you all so frightened. I am a simple traveler, looking for a soft place to stay for the night and a warm place for a meal. "There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," he was told. "We are weak and our children are starving. 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 cloak, filled it with water, and began to build a fire under it. Then, with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone from a silken bag and dropped it into the water. By now, hearing the rumor of food, most of the villagers had come out of their homes or watched from their windows. As the stranger sniffed the "broth" and licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their fear. "Ahh," the stranger 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 small cabbage he'd retrieved from its hiding place, and added it to the pot. "Wonderful!!" cried the stranger. "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 everyone in the village to share. The villager elder offered the stranger a great deal of money for the stone, but he refused to sell it and traveled on the next day. As he left, the stranger came upon a group of village children standing near the road. He gave the silken bag containing the stone to the youngest child, whispering to a group, was not the stone, but the villagers that had performed the magic."





[edit] Portuguese tradition

Stone soupAccording to Portuguese tradition, the events described in the "stone soup" tale took place around Almeirim, Portugal. Nowadays many restaurants in Almeirim serve stone soup, or "sopa de pedra".

In the Portuguese version of the soup the travelers role is played by a monk.


[edit] Nail soup and Axe soup
The story is also known as Nail soup in Scandinavian and Northern European countries. In these versions, the main character is typically a tramp looking for food and lodgings, who convinces an old woman that he'll make nail soup for the both of them if she'd just add a few ingredients for the garnish. In Eastern Europe the variation of the story (having more in common with the Northern European rendition) is called Axe soup, with an axe being the catalyst. In Russian tradition a soldier eats axe kasha (Каша из топора).


[edit] Alternative story
Another story exists about "stone soup", that, in the United States of America, during the Great Depression, families were unable to put food on the table every day. It became a practice to place a large and porous rock in the bottom of the stock pot. On days when there was food, the stone would absorb some of the flavor. On days when there was no food, the stone was boiled up, and the flavor would come out of the stone into the water, producing a weak soup, which was better than not eating.[citation needed] This in theory is similar to China and Japan cooking using ceramic pots which adds flavour to the food after long term usage when the pot absorbed different flavours every time being used.[citation needed]


[edit] New tradition
A somewhat new tradition, growing in popularity in cases where stone soup is made and served among people who gather semi-regularly, is the idea that the person whose portion contains the stone (in recipes in which a real stone is used) will be responsible for starting the pot at the next gathering.[citation needed]


[edit] Historical references
U.S. Army General George S. Patton, Jr. referred to the "rock soup method" of acquiring resources for attacks in the face of official disapproval by his superiors for offensive operations. In the military context, he sent units forward ostensibly on reconnaissance missions, to later reinforce them when resistance was met and eventually turned small scale probes into all out attacks; he notably did this during the Battle of Sicily in the advance on Palermo and again in the campaign in northwest Europe, notably near Metz when his 3rd US Army was officially halted during Operation Market Garden.[1]


[edit] Adaptations
The story was the basis of a 1947 children's book, "Stone Soup" (ISBN 9780689878367), by Marcia Brown, which featured soldiers tricking miserly villages into making them a feast. The book won a Caldecott Medal in 1947. This book was read aloud to the viewers by the Captain (played by Bob Keeshan) on an early episode of Captain Kangaroo in the 1950s.
The story was the basis of another children's book, also called "Stone Soup", by Ann McGovern (ISBN 0590416022), published in 1968.
Another children's book based on the story, also called "Stone Soup", written by Jon J. Muth and set in China, was published in 2003.
A musical stageplay of this fable, set just after the Battle of Waterloo, was written by Gary Peterson and Larry Nestor. [1]
Mickey's Young Readers Library adapted the story as Donald's Magic Stone. In this version, Donald Duck, having no food to make dinner at his house, convinces Goofy to contribute all his groceries into a soup dinner with his "magic" stone.
A 1988 episode of the TV series The Storyteller, "A Story Short", retold this story.
The dub title of episode 36 of Digimon Adventure 02, in which the main characters all pitch in to make soup, is "Stone Soup". Its original title is "Steel Angel, Shakkoumon" (Hagane no Tenshi Shakkoumon).
In episode 14 of Land of the Lost, entitled "Stone Soup", Rick Marshall creates stone soup to encourage his children to contribute to their meal. They also show the Pakuni to make stone soup as a peace offering to rebuild their relationship.

[edit] Other references in popular culture
A cooperative housing project in Chicago is named Stone soup cooperative
A Fractint free software group named itself the "Stone Soup Group".
Stone Soupercomputer cluster is made up of discarded desktops.
WB Yeats' "The Pot Of Broth" (1902) is a short play using the same story.

"The Wonderful Soup Stone" is a song written by Shel Silverstein and recorded by Bobby Bare and Dr. Hook, about children growing up poor and imagining that water and potatoes taste like a gourmet soup, because of a soup stone.
The story is relayed by Caroline Ingalls in an episode of Little House on the Prairie ("Stone Soup"). Having taken over her daughter's (Laura Ingalls Wilder) classroom for a few days (to allow the ailing teacher to recover from heatstroke), Caroline tells the story to remind the children how important it is to work together. At the end of the school's day, the children gather at Laura's house to help care for their teacher's drought stricken orchard.
In 2008 one of the inSide AreaCodes micro business networks, inSide919 in Raleigh, North Carolina, began a monthly Let's Make Stone Soup community project; a project where community members can share their expertise and efforts in helping a worthy project achieve a goal. The first project was a sockathon to raise money for the environment and socks for the homeless while launching of a new line of socks.

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