THE STONE SOUP
One day, a man came to a town and asked for the houses to eat, but the people told him that they had nothing to give him. Seeing that he did not achieve his goal, he changed his strategy. I called a woman’s house to get something to eat.
– “Good afternoon, Mrs. Can I have something to eat, please?”
– “I’m sorry, but I don’t have anything at home right now,” she said.
– “Don’t worry – said the stranger kindly -, I have a stone in my backpack with which I could make a soup. If you would allow me to put it in a pot of boiling water, I would make the best soup in the world.
– With a stone are you going to make a soup? You’re kidding me!
– Not at all, Lady, I promise. Give me a very big pout, please, and I’ll show it to you.”
The woman found the largest pot and placed it in the middle of the square. The stranger prepared the fire and they placed the pot with water. When the water began to boil the whole neighborhood was already around that stranger who, after dropping the stone in the water, tried a spoonful exclaiming:
– Delicious! All you need is some potatoes.”
A woman immediately offered to bring them from her house. The man tasted the soup again, which already tasted much better, but he missed a bit of meat.
Another woman volunteer ran to her house to look for her. And with the same enthusiasm and curiosity she repeated the scene asking for some vegetables and salt. She finally asked: “Dishes for everyone!”.
People went home to look for them and even brought bread and fruit. Then they all sat down to a splendid meal, feeling strangely happy to share their food for the first time.
And that strange man disappeared, leaving them with the miraculous stone, which they could use whenever they wanted to make the most delicious soup in the world.
Moral: Remarkable results are achieved with cooperation, even when starting from small or even insignificant contributions. This is the miraculous force that SHARING has. Each of us can put some of our virtues at the service of others and the result can be spectacular.
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