The magic stone soup

Time to share one of my favourite bedtime stories.. Stumbled upon it when I was around 6... Was one of the stories in a very well painted story book I borrowed from the library... It's called the magic stone soup...

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Once upon a time, there was a young traveller, a hungry traveller. He stumbled upon a house with a remarkable garden filled with onions, carrots, brocolli, tomatoes and many other vegetables. He knocked on the door to see if anyone was home. He wanted to ask for some food.

To his surprise, a very thin old lady opened the door. He said nicely,"Mam, I am very hungry. Is it alright that you let me in and give me some food please. I will be very grateful."

The old lady was grouchy. She replied, "I am very hungry myself. Have no food. Haven't eaten in days. Please go away now."

The traveller was surprised... He thought to himself.. is it possible that that old lady doesn't know that her garden is so rich with food... He came up with a plan to get himself some food...

He said, "Mam, I have a magic rock. This magic rock makes great soup with just water. All you have to do is to put the rock into a pot of water and boil. Since we are so hungry, shall we try it?"

The old lady, as hungry as she was, agreed and allowed the young traveller into her home... The traveller bought a pot of water to boil and added the rock in... He tasted the soup and said...

"It's good. But if we added some onions, it will taste much better."

The old lady said,"But I have no onions."

Traveller replied, "Of course you have. It's outside. Let me show you." He went outside and took some onions and added it into the soup.

Then he tasted the soup again and said, "It's good, but if we added some tomatoes, it will taste much better."

The old lady said,"But I have no tomatoes."

The traveller replied, "Of course you do. It's outside. Let me show you." He went outside and took some tomatoes and added it into the soup.

This cycle continued until the soup was so filled with ingredients... that it smelled and tasted wonderful. Then the traveller asked the old lady to try to soup... The lady was amazed.. She was so impressed by the magic rock that she wanted to buy it from the traveller... Then the traveller said.. This is no magic rock.. It's just an ordinary rock.. It is your ingredients that made the soup taste so good...

They both laughed.. Sat down and had a great meal..

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The reason why I like this story so much is because most of us are like this old lady... We have so many gifts and talents but we are literally 'starving to death'... Sometimes all we need is for someone to come into our lives to remind us of what we have and what we can do with these gifts...

I feel that that's really the duty of our friends, family and teachers.. to uncover the talents behind every one of us and to teach us how to use these talents to feed ourselves and those around us...

Yap, so if you are feeling lonely, miserable or out of touch... Remember that you probably already have the solution for your problems.. And your duty is to make use of your talents to go out and inspire and help others....

And every once in a while, just take the extra step to become the traveller yourself.. do not simply stomp to the garden, grab some vegetables and walk away... make it point to show the old lady what she's got.. It will be so much more fulfilling...