Once upon a time, deep in the woods, an old woman went walking; she wasn’t lost, but she had wandered far from her friends and family and home, she had nowhere particular to go. She hadn’t eaten for many days and she was very hungry. After some time, she came to a village. She knocked at the first house she saw. A woman opened the door.

“Please may I have something to eat?” the old woman begged.

“Food?” snarled the villager. “We’re all starving here, didn’t you know? We haven’t enough food for our own families! Go away!”

The old woman went to the next house.

“We have too little to give any away,” a man told her sadly.

“We need the little we have,” said a young farmer and his wife.

One by one, the villagers shut their doors on the old woman, but she just nodded and headed back into the woods.

Under the great trees she gathered sticks, branches and some logs and staggered back with them to the village square, where she built a big strong fire. From under her cloak she brought out a cooking pot and filled it with water at the village fountain and set the pot on the fire. A little boy called Ralph stopped to watch. As the water started to boil he saw the old woman reach deep into the pocket of her skirt and bring out…a stone. Smooth and round and polished. She dropped it into the pot. Splosh! Ralph crept closer. The old woman stirred the pot and sniffed and nodded. She tasted a few drops and smiled.

“What are you doing?” Ralph asked.

“Making stone soup of course,” replied the old woman.

“What’s that?”

“It’s delicious, that’s what.”

The old woman tasted a few more drops. Ralph’s mouth watered and his empty little tummy rumbled.

“But you know…” said the old woman.  “…it would taste so much nicer with just a little onion…”

“We’ve got an onion at home!” Ralph cried and raced off back to his house.

“Wonderful!” the old woman said and took out her knife.

Chip, chop, choppetty chop,

Cut off the bottom and cut off the top

Chop up the middle and into the pot!

Plop!

In went the onion. The pot bubbled. The old woman stirred and Ralph watched. And one by one, the villagers came out of their houses to see what was going on. They smelled the faint oniony smell in the air and their mouths watered, their stomachs rumbled. The old woman tasted the soup again.

“Lovely,” she declared. “But it needs a touch of something more, just a little…”

“I’ve got a cabbage, if you want,” offered the woman from the first house. “It’s not big enough for much. You might as well have it.”

“I’ve got a few carrots you can have,” added a man.

“I have some potatoes,” a young woman said.

Everyone else joined in:

“I’ve got peas!”

“We have parsnips!”

“A little barley, perhaps?”

“Radish!”

“Turnip!”

“Spinach!”

“Broccoli!”

“Pumpkin!”

People rushed to bring out their offerings. Soon a rich hearty broth bubbled in the pot.

“Go and get your bowls and spoons,” the old woman called.

She ladled out soup and kept on going until everyone had eaten their fill. People sat back, talking and laughing, for the first time in months forgetting their troubles. The children played peacefully, not hungry for once. Meanwhile, the old woman took out her stone and washed it at the pump. She cleaned the cooking pot and her utensils, tucked them under her cloak and started up the road out of the village. The villagers ran after her.

“Don’t go! Please stay!” they pleaded. “You’ve brought us luck!”

“But you have everything you need now,” the old woman replied. “And over the mountains there’s another village, I hear, where no one knows how to make Stone Soup.”

And with that she went on her way.  (As retold by Amanthi.)

Seven tips for initiating change as learned from Stone Soup:

1. If nobody appears interested in your idea, start doing it anyway

One by one, the villagers shut their doors on the old woman, but she just nodded and headed back into the woods.

2. Do it with purpose;

Under the great trees she gathered sticks, branches and some logs and staggered back with them

3. Do it in public

… to the village square

 4. Do it well.

…where she built a big strong fire.

5. Tell people about it.

“What are you doing?” Ralph asked.

“Making stone soup of course,” replied the old woman

 6. Sing its praises.

“Lovely,” she declared.

7. Suggest ways in which others might help.

“But it needs a touch of something more…”

Happy cooking!