Page 46 - Exercise 2

Page 46 - Exercise 2

Stone soup

One day a tramp came to an old woman’s house and knocked on the door. ‘Excuse me,’ he said when she opened the door. ‘I’m very hungry. Have you got anything to eat?’ The old woman had a lot of food in the house, but she was very mean. ‘Go away,’ she said. ‘I haven’t got any food for you.’ ‘Oh,’ said the tramp, ‘well, have you got any water? You see. I’ve got a magic stone and I can make soup with it. But I need some water.’ ‘A magic stone, eh?’ said the mean old woman. ‘Yes, I’ve got some water.’ She fetched a big saucepan of water and put it on the cooker.

The tramp took the stone out of his pocket and put it into the saucepan. After a while he tasted the soup. ‘Mmm. It’s very good,’ he said. ‘Have you got any salt and pepper?’ The old woman fetched some salt and pepper. ‘Mmm. That’s better,’ said the tramp. ‘It really needs some vegetables. It’s a pity you haven’t got any vegetables. ‘Oh, I can find some vegetables.’ said the old woman. She ran into the garden and brought back some potatoes, carrots, beans and a big onion. The tramp cut up the vegetables and put them into the saucepan.

‘Is it ready now?’ asked the old woman. ‘Almost,’ said the tramp. ‘It really needs some meat. It’s a pity you haven’t got any meat.’ ‘Oh, I can find some meat,’ said the old woman.

She ran to the cellar and came back with some ham and some sausages. The tramp put them into the saucepan. ‘Right,’ said the tramp after a while. ‘I can’t see the stone now, so the soup is ready. Bread is very good with stone soup. It’s a pity you haven’t got any bread.’ ‘Oh, I can find some bread,’ said the woman. She went to the cupboard and fetched a loaf of bread, some butter and a bottle of wine. She put them on the table with some knives, forks and spoons. ‘Mmm, this is delicious,’ said the old woman when she tasted the soup. ‘And you made it with just that magic stone.’ The tramp smiled, picked up his knife and cut another slice of bread.