Stone Soup (a folk tale)A long time

Stone Soup (a folk tale)
A long time ago, there was a war between two kingdoms. When the war was over, the surviving soldiers were all sent home.

Now, the soldiers had been given meagre rations, and many ran out of food on their way home and had to resort to hunting in the woods or begging, and many died of hunger before making it home.

There was a group of three soldiers heading home to the same town, and they had run out of food, when they came upon a village. They knocked at every door in the village, but at every one they were told that there was no food.

With no other option, they went to the inn.

"Innkeeper," said the first soldier, "we have no food and have been walking for days."

"If you have money," said the innkeeper, "then I have plenty of food for you."

"Good sir," said the second soldier, "our army was defeated, and our wages taken as spoils of war, so we have no money."

"In that case," replied the innkeeper, "I can be of no help to you."

"But perhaps you still can," said the third soldier, "If you cannot offer us food, perhaps you would be so kind as to let us use one of your cauldrons today."

The innkeeper was perplexed. If they had no food, why would they want a cauldron? But he had a cauldron that he would not need that day, so he so no reason to object. "Alright," he said, and led them to the store where his spare cauldron was.

The three soldiers carried the cauldron out into the village square and began building a fire underneath it. The innkeeper, still perplexed, looked on as the soldiers drew water from the well to fill the cauldron. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Ah," said the first soldier, "we are making stone soup."

"Stone soup!" cried the innkeeper, "why I have never heard such nonsense. You cannot make soup from a stone!"

The soldier smiled, but said nothing. He took a small bag from his backpack, and opened it. Inside were several stones. He took each one in turn, examined it closely, and sniffed it. Eventually he chose three and dropped them in the pot. "Ah," he said, "these will make a good soup."

The innkeeper was stunned, and went back to his inn.

Shortly afterwards, another villager appeared. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Ah," said the second soldier, "we are making stone soup."

"Stone soup!" cried the villager, "why I have never heard such nonsense. You cannot make soup from a stone!"

"Ah no," said the soldier, "that is where you are wrong." He took a spoonful of the soup and tasted it. "Yes, it's coming along quite nicely now."

The villager was intrigued, and wanted to try the soup, but he didn't say anything.

"But there's something missing," the soldier continued, "maybe a little salt and pepper."

The villager jumped in at this point. "I have some salt and pepper at home. I'll give you some in exchange for a bowl of your soup."

The soldiers looked at each other for a while, then eventually agreed. The villager ran off to fetch the salt and pepper, and the soldiers added it to the pot.

Another villager arrived. "What are they doing?" he asked the first villager.

"Ah," said the other, "they are making stone soup."

"Stone soup! Why I have never heard such nonsense. You cannot make soup from a stone!"

"Ah, well," said the first, "I'll tell you when I've tried it. I swapped a little bit of salt and pepper for a whole bowl!"

One of the soldiers took a spoonful of the soup and tasted it. "It's coming along quite nicely now. But there's something missing," the soldier said, "maybe a bit of carrot."

The second villager jumped in at this point. "I have some carrots at home. I'll give you some in exchange for a bowl of your soup."

The soldiers looked at each other for a while, then eventually agreed. The villager ran off to fetch the carrots, and the soldiers added them to the pot.

One by one more villagers arrived, and one by one they swapped something in exchange for a bowl of the miraculous stone soup: potatoes, barley, cabbage, celery, turnips, beans.... As the ingredients were added, the smell of the soup got better and better, until all the villagers wanted to try it, and swapped something for a bowl. But eventually the cauldron was full, but only half of the villagers had given anything.

"Ah," said the first soldier, "it is ready. But you know what? I always like a bit of cheese in my stone soup."

"You're right," said the second soldier, "it is ready. But you know what? I always like a bit of salami in my stone soup."

"You're both right," said the third soldier, "it is ready. But you know what? I always like a bit of bread to soak up every last little bit of my stone soup."

Hearing this, the remaining villagers ran home, each returning with a lump of cheese, a salami or a loaf of bread to exchange for his own bowl of this incredible stone soup.

In the end, everyone in the village -- including the soldiers -- got a bowl of stone soup, with a lump of cheese and a slice of salami in it, and with a hunk of bread to soak up every last bit, and no-one was hungry.

THE END.

It's an old story that one, and it comes in various forms. Some are about beggars rather than soldiers. Some have one instead of three. Some have only one victim of the con, others say that this happened in every village. Some paint the story as a lesson in cooperation, others just leave it as a pure and simple confidence trick.

But the moral of the story for the language learner is a little different. To go back to one of my favourite pieces on language learning, Wilfried Decoo's On the mortality of language learning methods, Decoo points out that:

ผลลัพธ์ (อังกฤษ) 3:

Stone Soup (a folk tale)
A long, time ago there was a war between two kingdoms. When the war, was over the surviving soldiers. Were all sent home.

, Now the soldiers had been given meagre rations and many, ran out of food on their way home and had. To resort to hunting in the woods, or begging and many died of hunger before making it home.

.There was a group of three soldiers heading home to the same town and they, had run out, of food when they came upon a. Village. They knocked at every door in the village but at, every one they were told that there was no food.

With no other. Option they went, to the inn.

"Innkeeper," said the first soldier, "we have no food and have been walking for days."

"If. You, have money"Said the innkeeper," then I have plenty of food for you. "

" Good sir, "said the second soldier," our army, was defeated. And our wages taken as spoils, of war so we have no money. "

" In that case, "replied the innkeeper," I can be of no help. To you. "

" But perhaps you still can, "said the third soldier," If you cannot offer, US FoodPerhaps you would be so kind as to let us use one of your cauldrons today. "

The innkeeper was perplexed. If they had no. Food why would, they want a cauldron? But he had a cauldron that he would not need, that day so he so no reason to, object. "Alright," he said and led, them to the store where his spare cauldron was.

.