New Stone Soup Story

A long long time ago, there was a very smart man. But he was very poor and desperately hungry.

One day, he had a great idea.

He went to the King and told him that he had a magic stone that can produce the best tasting soup in the Kingdom. No other ingredients necessary, just add boiling water.

The King was obviously skeptical, but he agreed to try. All he stands to lose is just a pot of water, so why not?

When the water arrived, the poor man quickly plopped something on a string into the pot. He stirred and stirred. Then he had a taste.

"Hmm marvellous! But it would be even better if you added some salt."

The King's men added some salt.

"Superb taste! But it would be even better if you added some carrots..."

And so on. You know the story.

Eventually the soup was served to everyone, including the King. It was the best tasting soup in the Kingdom. The poor man drank his fill. It was his first full meal in months.

"What an amazing soup made from a stone! A magical stone!" the people chanted.

But when the poor man raised his string from the pot, there was no stone. It was only an empty loop of string.

You see the poor man wasn't stupid enough to plop a real, dirty stone into a pot that he would drink from. But he didn't pull out the string fast enough, and was discovered.

The poor man became worried as the people encircled him, staring at the empty loop. Suddenly someone chanted "the magic stone is invisible! This man is an angel!"

The excited crowd threw the King off his throne and made the poor man a new King. He has an invisible magic stone that can turn water into soup.

No one will be hungry for all eternity.