Stone Soup

One day, a traveler was passing through a village. Times were hard, and people were not particularly warm or hospitable to strangers, or to each other for that matter. Hardly anyone responded to the traveler’s hearty greeting or to his cheery attitude. Unfazed by the lukewarm reception, he sat down in a corner and got busy. He took out a large iron pot, whistling a merry tune as he did so. He proceeded to light a fire. He filled the pot with water. While waiting for the water to boil, he made a big to-do about taking a knife, a soup ladle, and a polished stone, whistling all the while. All this activity attracted the attention of passersby.
“What are you cooking?” asked a curious onlooker.
“Stone soup, ” was the cheerful reply.
“Stone soup! I’ve never heard of such a thing,” said another.
“Stick around and have some when it’s done,” was the warm response.
A crowd was starting to gather around the traveler, curious about the so-called stone soup. He continued to whistle away as he dropped the stone into the huge pot of water.
Finally, the water started to boil. The traveler took his ladle and took a sip of the soup.
“How does it taste?” asked a voice from the crowd.
“It tastes good,” said the traveler, ” but it would taste even better if it had a couple of potatoes,” he added wistfully.
“I have some potatoes,” volunteered an elderly lady. She came forward and handed them over to the traveler. He peeled and chopped them expertly, and added them to the soup. Then he took another sip.
He declared it the best stone soup ever, but conceded that it would taste even better if it had carrots in it.
“I think I have some carrots somewhere ” said a man who was watching the whole thing. He ran home and quickly came back with a handful, which he handed over to the traveler.
The traveler continued to stir his concoction. Every time he would taste the soup, he would smack his lips and declare it the best ever, but would add that it would taste better if only it had this ingredient or that. Cries of “I have leftover meat,” or “I have some onions,” “salt,” “pepper,” etc, rang through the crowd.
People offered all kinds of stuff from their garden or pantry in the hope that the soup would taste better.

In the meantime, the waiting crowd sat down, exchanged pleasantries and even played music. Everyone agreed that it was the most fun they’ve had in a long time. Pretty soon, the soup was starting to smell really good. The traveler took another sip of the soup and declared it done. He ladled generous servings of it into bowls and handed them around.

Everyone thanked the traveler for the marvelous stone soup and asked him for the secret. The traveler revealed to them that it was not the stone that made the soup taste good, but all the other ingredients that everyone contributed. He added that in life, as in the case of the soup, if everyone pitched in a little something, a  wondrous thing will come out of such an undertaking. The villagers  thanked the traveler again for his words of wisdom. From that time on, the villagers became kinder and more helpful to one another. So the traveler, satisfied,  went on his merry way, determined more than ever to share the secret of his stone soup to anyone who cared to listen

A Fish Story

Once upon a time in India there was a very rich and prosperous king who ruled over the land south of the Vindhyas. The king was very fond of food. His requirement from his chief kitchen chef was that at every meal he should be served something that was not only succulent and delicious but also new and novel. If the dish served to him was not satisfactory then the chef soon found himself thrown out of the kitchen or worse in the kindom’s jail. In this way many chefs entered and then after a few months service left the king’s service, no longer being able to satisfy the king’s insatiable appetite for new and novel dishes. No meat, vegetable or fruit could be served to him a second time. Once he had tasted something he remembered it and no matter how differently the cook tried to make it, how much ever masalas he put in it, the king would remember the taste of the main ingredient and refuse to touch any more. The poor cook would be cast in chains, taken to the kingdom’s boundary by the king’s guards, and told to leave the kingdom and never come back. In this manner the king had exhausted the services of a score of chefs, all excellent cooks, who could no longer satisfy the king’s lust for novelty in his food. Apart from this aberration, the king had an excellent nature. He was a good ruler, a brave warrior and an able administrator and the people were prosperous and happy under his rule.
    It so happened that the latest of the king’s chef, a talented cook had cooked his last novel dish the previous day and was now at his wits end as to what to cook for the king’s lunch that day. He had already been told that the king was expecting some special guests at lunch that day and so the dishes served should be not only delicious but also novel and eye catching. The poor cook was at his wit’s end. He had already kept his bags packed the previous night and decided that if he did not get any new ideas in the morning, he would try to escape from the king’s kitchen and go back to his village. The thought of returning back to his family as a failure, depressed him further. Looking through the window he saw a mancoming toward him. He had a bag with him in which he was carrying something. He saluted the cook and said “Good Morning to you, good sir. I understand you are looking for a dish to serve the king for lunch. I have something for you.” The cook expressed his interest to see the novel dish, “what is it and what is it called?” he asked.
“It is called fish, and I caught it in the waters of the lake nearby” replied the fisherman.
“But, how do you cook it, ” asked the cook, “I have never seen nor cooked such a thing before”.  “That is easy,” replied the fisherman. “First you have to remove the scales, then clean it and cut it, smother it in masalas and fry it. After that you only have to garnish it with coriander leaves, mint leaves and serve it with a salad. The cook was quite pleased with the fisherman’s idea and decided to buy the fish from him. So he quickly set to work as per the fisherman’s instructions and soon the dish was ready for the king’s lunch. He and the other cooks had already prepared many other favourite dishes of the king .
     When lunchtime came the cook and his assistants assembled in the dining hall where the sumptuous lunch was to be served to the king, queen and their guests. The dishes were served in silver platters on a enormous gold plated dining table. The cutlery was of the finest bone china. As soon as the gong announcing the king’s arrival sounded, a shiver of apprehension ran down the spine of the cook and his staff. They were scared of what the king would say. The doors of the dining area opened and the king and his entourage entered the dining hall. The king’s eyes darted here and there looking over the dishes assembled on the dining table. The cook was watching the king anxiously. “What is new today, what is it you have cooked for me heh?” he asked the cook. “Sire, it is an absolutely new thing - called fish.”  the cook said , pointing at the largest silver platter where he had laid out the fried fish and garnished and decorated just as the fisherman had instructed him. “ I will taste it” declared the king. So he took one piece on his plate and started to taste it. He finished it all. “How was it, your majesty?” asked the cook. “Humph, I could’nt tell. I must taste another piece,” replied the king. He took another and then another and again another till all the fish on the platter was gone. “It is a good dish, ” he said, “what is it called? ” he asked. The cook was delighted. This was the first time that the king had asked him the name of any dish. “Fish, sir, it is called fish,” he replied. “You must make it again tomorrow” , said the king. From that day onwards all the cooks problems were solved. The king required that he be served fish everyday. The cook was happy that he did not have to think of cooking new things everyday. The fisherman was happy as he now sold his catch at the palace at a good price. The king was very happy as he now liked to eat fish every day.