Stone Soup is a European folk story in which hungry strangers convince the people of a town to each share a small amount of their food in order to make a meal. In varying traditions, the stone has been replaced with other common inedible objects, and therefore the parable is also known as axe soup, button soup, nail soup, bolt soup, and wood soup.
Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the very hungry travelers. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful and which they would be delighted to share with the villager, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor.
The villager, who anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not yet reached its full potential. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient, like potatoes, onions, cabbages, peas, celery, tomatoes, sweetcorn, meat (like chicken, pork and beef), milk, butter, salt and pepper. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by travelers and villagers alike. Although the travelers have thus tricked the villagers into sharing their food with them, they have successfully transformed it into a tasty meal which they share with the donors.
In the Aarne–Thompson–Uther folktale classification system, this tale and set of variants is type 1548. [4]
There are many examples of projects referencing the "Stone Soup" story's theme of making something significant by accumulating many small contributions. Examples include:
The film Fandango (1985) contains a wedding sequence towards the end which builds on the Stone Soup theme. The protagonists need to hold a wedding ceremony, but they lack the necessary funds. Therefore, they set up a folding card table by the main street of a sleepy Texas town, dust it off, and invite passersby to come to the wedding. As they concoct stories of delinquent caterers and crashed champagne trucks, the friendly townspeople contribute their time and resources, the result being a magical wedding ceremony.
Gerald P. Murphy's stage adaptation of "Stone Soup" was published by Lazy Bee Scripts in 2008 and has had successful productions in US, UK and France.
Gerald Griffin wrote "The Collegians" (1829) which includes a version of limestone soup in chapter 30.
William Butler Yeats' play The Pot of Broth (1904) tells a version of the story in which a clever Irish tramp uses his wits to swindle a shrewish medieval housewife out of her dinner. [10]
The story is the basis of Marcia Brown's 1947 children's book Stone Soup: An Old Tale (1947), [11] which features soldiers tricking miserly villagers into cooking them a feast. The book was a Caldecott Honor book in 1948 [12] and was read aloud by the Captain (played by Bob Keeshan) on an early episode of Captain Kangaroo in the 1950s, as well as at least once in the 1960s or early 1970s. [13] [14]
In 1965, Gordon R. Dickson published a short story called "Soupstone", where a headstrong pilot is sent to solve a problem on a planet under the guise of a highly educated and competent official. He succeeds by pretending to understand everything, but actually merely making the locals apply their already present knowledge and abilities to the task.
"Stone Soup" (1968), [15] written by Ann McGovern and illustrated by Nola Langner, tells the story of a little old lady and a hungry young man at the door asking for food, and how he tricks her into making stone soup. The book was reprinted and reissued in 1986 with Winslow Pinney Pels as the illustrator.
In 1975, Walt Disney Productions published a Wonderful World of Reading book titled Button Soup. Daisy Duck tricks Scrooge McDuck to share his food to help flavor her Button Soup.
Canadian children's author Aubrey Davis adapted the story to a Jewish context in his book Bone Button Borscht (1996). According to Davis, he wrote the story when he was unable to find a story that he liked for a Hanukkah reading. [16] Barbara Budd's narration of Bone Button Borscht traditionally airs across Canada on CBC Radio One's As It Happens , on the first day of Hanukkah.
French author and illustrator Anais Vaugelade published a children's picture book, Une soupe au caillou, in which the tramp from the original folktale is replaced by a wandering wolf, and the old woman by a curious hen. All characters in the story are animals, gathering to help making the stone soup, each of them carrying an ingredient for the final dish.
Jon J. Muth's children's book based on the story, also called Stone Soup (2003), [17] is set in China, as is Ying Chang's The Real Story of Stone Soup (2007). [18]
Robert Rankin's book Nostradamus Ate My Hamster features a version of the story introduced as an old Irish tale.
Shel Silverstein's song "The Wonderful Soup Stone" tells a version of this story. Bobby Bare included the song on his album Lullabys, Legends and Lies (1973). [19] and Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show included the song on their album Belly Up! (1973).
A version of the tale written by Tom Chapin and John Forster appears on Chapin's album Mother Earth (1990).
Stone Soup – an album released in November 2001 by the UK artist Moss (a.k.a. Bernard Moss) on Pork Recordings (catalogue ref. PORK 091).
"Stone Soup" - A song featured on the album Mr. Supernatural in 2004 by the artist King Khan and the Shrines on Hazelwood Records
US Army General George S. Patton 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, where he knew resistance was to be met. "Surprised" at the enemy resistance, Patton would later request support for his scouts, and these missions eventually turned into small scale probing attacks. Then, once full combat had begun, Patton would request (or make the executive decision) to encircle or push full force against enemy resistance, under the rationale that the reinforcements were either bogged down or unable to retreat. He did this during the Battle of Sicily, in the advance on Palermo, and again in the campaign in northwest Europe, near Metz when his 3rd US Army was officially halted during Operation Market Garden. [21]
A large pool located on Karl Johan street in Oslo, funded by the steel company Christiania Spigerverk ("Christiania Nail Factory"), is nicknamed Spikersuppa ("Nail Soup") as a humorous reference to the story. [ citation needed ]
Anansi or Ananse is an Akan folktale character associated with stories, wisdom, knowledge, and trickery, most commonly depicted as a spider, in Akan folklore. Taking the role of a trickster, he is also one of the most important characters of West African, African American and West Indian folklore. Originating in Ghana, these spider tales were transmitted to the Caribbean by way of the transatlantic slave trade.
Borscht is a sour soup, made with meat stock, vegetables and seasonings, common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word borscht is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which give the dish its distinctive red color. The same name, however, is also used for a wide selection of sour-tasting soups without beetroots, such as sorrel-based green borscht, rye-based white borscht, and cabbage borscht.
Little Red Riding Hood is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th-century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.
A teaching story is a narrative that has been deliberately created as a vehicle for the transmission of wisdom. The practice has been used in a number of religious and other traditions, though writer Idries Shah's use of it was in the context of Sufi teaching and learning, within which this body of material has been described as the "most valuable of the treasures in the human heritage". The range of teaching stories is enormous, including anecdotes, accounts of meetings between teachers and pupils, biographies, myths, fairy tales, fables and jokes. Such stories frequently have a long life beyond the initial teaching situation and have contributed vastly to the world's store of folklore and literature.
The StoryTeller is a live-action/puppet television series that originally aired in 1987 and which was created and produced by Jim Henson.
Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of the people of Ukraine, one of the largest and most populous European countries. It is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil from which its ingredients come, and often involves many components. Traditional Ukrainian dishes often experience a complex heating process – "at first they are fried or boiled, and then stewed or baked. This is the most distinctive feature of Ukrainian cuisine".
Solyanka is a thick and sour soup of Russian origin. It is a common dish in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, and other post-Soviet states and other parts of the former Eastern Bloc. It was one of the most reliably available dishes in the former East Germany.
Mulligan stew, also known as hobo stew, is a type of stew said to have been prepared by American hobos in camps in the early 1900s.
Pepper Pot is a thick stew of beef tripe, vegetables, pepper and other seasonings. The soup was first made in West Africa and the Caribbean before being brought to North America through slave trade and made into a distinctively Philadelphian dish by colonial Black women during the nineteenth century.
Tomato soup is a soup with tomatoes as the primary ingredient. It can be served hot or cold, and may be made in a variety of ways. It may be smooth in texture, and there are also recipes that include chunks of tomato, cream, chicken or vegetable stock, vermicelli, chunks of other vegetables and meatballs. Many companies have their own versions of tomato soup which all vary in taste, portions and ingredients.
"The Brave Little Tailor" or "The Valiant Little Tailor" or "The Gallant Tailor" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. "The Brave Little Tailor" is a story of Aarne–Thompson Type 1640, with individual episodes classified in other story types.
Anthousa, Xanthousa, Chrisomalousa or Anthousa the Fair with Golden Hair is a Greek fairy tale collected by Greek folklorist Georgios A. Megas in Folktales of Greece. Other variants were collected by Michalis Meraklis and Anna Angelopoulou.
Chicken curry or curry/curriedchicken is a South Asian dish originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is common in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, Caribbean, Southeast Asia, Great Britain, and Kenya. A typical curry from the Indian subcontinent consists of chicken stewed in an onion- and tomato-based sauce, flavoured with ginger, garlic, tomato puree, chilli peppers and a variety of spices, often including turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cardamom. Outside of South Asia, chicken curry is often made with a pre-made spice mixture known as curry powder.
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot, that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling or simmering solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth. Soups are similar to stews, and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two; however, soups generally have more liquid (broth) than stews.
Malatang is a common type of Chinese street food. It originated in Sichuan, China, but it differs mainly from the Sichuanese version in that the Sichuanese version is more similar to what in northern China would be described as hot pot.
Acquacotta is a hot broth-based bread soup in Italian cuisine that was originally a peasant food. Its preparation and consumption dates back to ancient history, and it originated in the coastal area known as the Maremma, in southern Tuscany and northern Lazio. The dish was invented in part as a means to make hardened, stale bread edible. In contemporary times, ingredients can vary, and additional ingredients are sometimes used. Variations of the dish include acquacotta con funghi and acquacotta con peperoni.
Chim chum is a Southeast Asian street food, popular especially in Thailand. It is traditionally made with chicken or pork and fresh herbs such as galangal, sweet basil, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, cooked in a small clay pot on a charcoal stove. It is often served with nam chim.
Spinach soup is a soup prepared using spinach as a primary ingredient. A common dish around the world, the soup can be prepared as a broth-based or cream-based soup, and the latter can be referred to as "cream of spinach soup." In China, a spinach and tofu soup is also known as "emerald and white jade soup"; spinach and tofu represent emerald and white jade respectively, and thus the spinach soup itself can be called "emerald soup". Fresh, canned or frozen spinach can be used, and the spinach can be used whole, puréed or chopped. Additional ingredients can include onion, green onion, carrot, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, seasonings, salt and pepper. Spinach soup is typically served hot, but can also be served as a cold soup. Prior to being served, it can be topped or garnished with ingredients such as sour cream and crème fraîche.
Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Central, Eastern, Northwestern and Northern Europe, and their descendants, particularly in the United States and other Western countries.
Mr. Kotsky is an 1891 children's opera, based on the traditional Ukrainian fairy tale. The Ukrainian fairy tale is also called "The Story of Mr Kotsky", Sir Cat-o-Puss, Pan Kotsky, or Sir Puss O'Cat. The 1891 children's opera, Mr Kotsky, is by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko, with a libretto by Dniprova Chayka.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)