Stone Soup
A kindly, old stranger was walking through the land when he came upon a village. As he entered, the villagers moved towards their homes locking doors and windows.
The stranger smiled and asked, why are you all so frightened. I am a simple traveler, looking for a soft place to stay for the night and a warm place for a meal.

"There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," he was told. "We are weak and our children are starving. Better keep moving on."

"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you." He pulled an iron cauldron from his cloak, filled it with water, and began to build a fire under it.

Then, with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone from a silken bag and dropped it into the water.

By now, hearing the rumor of food, most of the villagers had come out of their homes or watched from their windows. As the stranger sniffed the "broth" and licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their fear.

"Ahh," the stranger said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage -- that's hard to beat."

Soon a villager approached hesitantly, holding a small cabbage he'd retrieved from its hiding place, and added it to the pot.

"Wonderful!!" cried the stranger. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of salt beef as well, and it was fit for a king."

The village butcher managed to find some salt beef . . . and so it went, through potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on, until there was indeed a delicious meal for everyone in the village to share.

The villager elder offered the stranger a great deal of money for the magical stone, but he refused to sell it and traveled on the next day.

As he left, the stranger came upon a group of village children standing near the road. He gave the silken bag containing the stone to the youngest child, whispering to a group, "It was not the stone, but the villagers that had performed the magic."

Moral: By working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved.

Stone Salad
Once upon a time there was a handsome gentleman known as DH. He lived in a small kingdom with his beautiful and talented wife, Marg. One evening his beautiful and talented wife served him a salad she had purchased at the market place (Safeway). This salad had been made with care (allegedly) in a kingdom far, far away called Salinas, California. This particular evening as they were enjoying their dinner. DH suddenly exclaimed, "What the Hell?" and spat his mouthful of salad onto a fine china (Corelle) plate. Somthing hard hit the plate and a definite "clink" was heard. There amongst the semi chewed pieces of lettuce, bacon, croutons and dehydrated cheese powder was what appeared to be a bit of bacon. However, DH was not deceived. It was not a bit of bacon but a small, brown stone. Careful examination, by tongue, (DH's) revealed no damage to his teeth and the next morning his beautiful and talented wife informed the maker of the salad in Salinas, California as to what had transpired. The kind lady who was employed by the salad maker was shocked and saddened to hear of DH's experience and after confirming the the salad maker would not be brought before the Magistrate she offered many coupons for more Stone Salad.

Moral: There isn't one.