Once upon a time, there was a poor soldier returning from war. He went from one village to the next, ragged and hungry, but he was never offered a morsel of bread or a warm soup.
He also went to one house and asked at the other house. In some they let the dog loose on him, in others they pretended to be poor, as if they had nothing.
The soldier decided to go to the first house in the next village, and whoever lived there would cook soup for him. As he entered the village, he picked up a stone from the road and went into the first house. An old woman lived there.
- Hello, old mother!
- God grant it, my valiant sir!
- How does your health serve you?
- Mine serves as it serves, so how does it serve my gallant sir?
- It serves me just as it serves you. But I am very hungry, and I would eat something if someone would give it to me.
- O my soul, my valiant sir, I would give, if I had. But I am as poor as a church mouse. I have nothing, my chamber is empty, my attic is empty, my all is empty. Not a morsel of food in the house.
- "All right," says the soldier, "I'm not as poor as I look, I've got a big stone in my pocket. I could make soup out of it, I just need a pot or a cauldron to cook it in.
The old woman was very curious to know what the stone soup was like.
- "I can give you pot, because I have enough," says the old woman, "but I don't have enough to put in it.
The soldier washed the stone thoroughly and put it in the pot. The old woman built a fire. The soldier poured water on the stone and put it there to boil. From time to time he stirred the water with a long wooden spoon.
The old woman saw what the soldier was doing. When the water was boiling, the soldier tasted the soup.
- "It's delicious," he says, "but if it had a little salt in it, it would be even better.
- "I'll get the salt, I've got some," the old woman urged, and she brought it.
The soldier put the salt in the soup, stirred it well, and said:
- You know, if you had a spoonful of fat, this soup would be really good.
The old woman replied:
- I have that too, I'll get it!
He brought a spoonful of fat, which was also put into the pot. The soldier stirred the soup, tasted it, and the old woman drank it. Then the soldier said:
- You know, I often cook stone soup, and I can tell you that stone soup is best when it has a little sausage in it.
- "I've got some sausage," the old woman admitted, "I'll get some from the pantry.
He went in, and the soldier shouted after him:
- Bring me two pieces, old woman, because I need one piece and you need one piece.
- I'll get it, I'll get it! - the old woman shouted back, and brought back the two sausages.
The soldier put it in the pot. He stirred it slowly, tasting it.
- "You know," he said again, "if you had a few potatoes, we could chop them into the soup. And if there were a little vegetable in it, that would be just superb!
- "I've got that too," the old woman boasted, "I'll get it in a minute.
He quickly brought some vegetables and potatoes, peeled them quickly, and finally said to the old woman:
- Taste it for yourself and see how good it is!
The old woman tastes it too:
- "Oh, I never thought that stone could make such good soup," he clapped his hands together.
They let it cook a little longer, and then the soldier said:
- Even a few grains of rice would be nice, if you had them, but you don't, do you?
- I have that too," nodded the old woman. Soon they added a few grains of rice.
The soldier sighed:
- Well, now this soup is just like the ones I make.
They waited for it to cook, and then the soldier took a big plate for the old woman, one for himself, and they ate it all. The old woman could not help wondering how a stone could make such good soup. When they were full, she asked the soldier:
- Tell me, sir, would you sell this stone? I often have none to cook, and what a good soup I could make of it.
- I'm happy to sell! - said the soldier, smiling under his moustache.
The old woman quickly gave him the hundred forints, took the stone from the soup, wrapped it in a shawl and hid it well.
The soldier turned away with the hundred forints, lest the old woman change her mind. So he was well off and had a hundred forints, and he walked the road until evening, when he found another old woman who didn't know how to cook stone soup. There he was well fed again.
This was the story of the stone soup. Live so that you never have to taste it!
