On the top of a mountain is a small village. The people have houses and barns, goats and chickens, vegetables and fruit trees, rivers and lakes. They have spring, summer, winter and fall. They have 24 hours in every day, 12 months in every year and 1 holiday every month. But they have no school.
When the man gets to the village, he says, “Greetings, Friends! Can I stay one night with you? I am very tired.”
The people answer, “It is our custom to be kind, so you can stay. But are you a teacher? Are you coming to tell us to build a school? Are you coming to teach us things we don’t need to know?”
The teacher answers, “Yes, I am a teacher. But I only teach useful lessons. And, don't worry, you don’t need to feed me. If you will just give me a little water, I will make some stone soup for myself.”The people laugh and whisper to each other, “He must be a little crazy to think you can make soup from stones.”
“If you want,” says the teacher, “I will make enough for all of you.”
The people answer, “You can make enough soup from one stone to feed us all?”
“Yes. All I need is some water, please.”
Two boys bring him water. The teacher makes a fire and hangs his soup pot over the fire. Then he takes a small stone out of his pocket and puts it in the pot.
After a few minutes, the teacher takes a spoon out of his pocket and tries the soup. He says, “It's almost done! What tasty soup! But a little salt would make it better.”
A woman brings him some salt.
The teacher tries the soup again and says, “What wonderful soup. Wait until you try it! But, to be honest, some onion and potatoes would make it better.”
A man calls out, "We have potatoes and onions. Just a minute!” The teacher puts the onions and potatoes into the pot and says, "You know, I made stone soup once with a little meat and it was the best of all."
A young woman brings him a little meat. The teacher smiles and says, “The soup will be ready soon. While we wait, I will play a little song for you on my flute.”
The people smile and say to each other, “What a clever man this is!”
When the soup is ready, everyone is given some. Soon one mother says, “This is the best soup I've ever tasted!”
A man says, “Respected Teacher, sell me your stone! I will give you 100 francs for it!” Another man says, “Don't listen to him! I will give you 200 francs for it!”
The teacher says, “You don’t need a stone. You need a school that will teach you to think!”