Breaking Down Jim Henson's The Storyteller - Part Three

A Story Short

A Story Short is based on the Celtic folk tale Stone Soup. Stone Soup is a story I'm sure most people were told at one point in their childhood. I think we may have even used it for a project at primary school. The first publicized version came from Madame de Noyer in France, 1720. Although Stone Soup has travelled the world, it varies very little over the years - the biggest change being in Eastern Europe where it is known as Axe Soup.

A poor traveller enters a village, with nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon his arrival, the traveller finds that the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food. Annoyed,

the traveller decides to teach them a lesson and goes to a nearby stream - filling the pot with water and a large stone. Once back in the village, the traveller places the pot over a fire to "cook". One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what the traveller is doing. The traveller says that they are making stone soup, the most delicious of soups and they would be happy to share with the villager - they just need a little bit of something to garnish and improve the flavour.

The greedy villager is keen to try the exotic "stone soup" and is happy to part with a few carrots to improve the soup. Another villager walks by and is intrigued by the pot. The traveller explains again that they are making stone soup, but it is not at its best yet. If the villager would only add something to the pot, it would surely make this great soup even better. The villager hurries off to grab the onion from their kitchen to add to the soup for a share.

Soon every villager is wanting a part of the soup, each adding another ingredient. Potatoes, cabbage, peas, celery tomatoes, corn, meat, milk, butter, salt & pepper are all placed in the pot.

Finally, the traveller discretely removes the stone from the pot and serves a deliciously hearty pot of soup to everyone.

Yes, it is a short and sweet one.

You don't have to look too deeply to see the moral of this story - sharing is caring. The traveller may have tricked the villager into sharing their food, but they all have a shared experience and meal together.

Within Cambodia, stone soup is a reality to help relieve iron deficiency anaemia. The lucky iron fish is a cast iron bar shaped into try kantrop dish - which is considered lucky within the villages of Cambodia. When the iron fish is boiled in soup, enough iron dissolves into the soup to add critical amounts of the trace nutrients needed to prevent certain types of anaemia.

Jim Henson's The Storyteller is now streaming on Paramount+