A Tale of Stone Soup ....
One day a traveller arrived in the village. She knocked on a few doors and asked for something to eat, offering to do some odd jobs to pay her way. The villagers were suspicious and lacked compassion. They turned her down for both.
So .... she went and sat in a vacant area of land in the middle of the village. They watched her from behind their curtains.
After a while, she fossicked amidst the stuff she carried in an old bag, and pulled out a cooking pot. She gathers some stones to make a hearth, and made a fire with sticks, old leaves and dried grass. Still the villagers watched from behind their curtains.
Once the fire was doing well, the traveller took her pot to a small stream nearby, and lugged it back full of water. She had something else with her - a small, smooth river stone. She held it up to the light for a moment, checked it all over, then placed it in the pot of water over the fire.
There she sat, waiting for the pot to boil. There they sat, watching her, quizzically ....
When the pot had been boiling for a few minutes, the traveller pulled out a spoon and tasted the water, blowing on it to cool it a bit, they way you do .... this was getting too much for the villagers, who started to come out of their houses.
"What are you doing ?" one asked .....
"Making Stone Soup ....." she casually replied .....
"What's that ?" another asked .....
"Well, I'm really hungry, and when there is nothing to eat, I make Stone Soup," she said, "but I am happy to show you how, and even share it with you. The pot is big, there's plenty for everyone ...."
The villagers snorted, rolled their eyes, sneered a bit, but their curiosity remained .... was she stupid or delusional ? They waited to see .....
She offered them a taste of the soup. One tried it and spat it straight out.
"That doesn't taste like anything !" they said ....
"Well, without any salt or pepper, yes, it is rather bland ..." replied the traveller.
"I'll go and get some salt and pepper for you ...." said one woman, and returned with some to add to the pot. The traveller tasted it, and nodded .... yes, better .....
A few people tried it and nodded as well ....
One of them said, "Okay, it has got some taste, but you know soup always needs some vegetables to bring up the flavour. I haven't go much, but I can give you a small carrot." Another offered a small onion, another a stick of celery .... off they went, returned, and added their diced vegetables to the pot ..... which simmered away, and started to smell nice ...
Several villagers brought their spoons and started it .... more carrot was added, then onion and celery, along wth a few herbs ..... then someone had the bright idea of adding in some chicken to really boost the flavour ... as they chatted away and began to ask the traveller about places she had been and things she had seen ....
Out came some serving dishes, bread, a little wine and cheese to follow along, and the community meal was complete .... the traveller offered a bed of hay in somebody's barn .....
It takes a community to make a community.
