石頭湯 Stone Soup

很久以前，有一個農村，

Once upon a time, there was a village,

這裡的村民都很自私又很小氣，所以大家很少有往來。The villagers were all very selfish and stingy, so they hardly saw one another.

(So they rarely communicate)

有一年冬天，有個老人來到這裡，

One winter, an old man came here,

他帶來一個大鍋子，He brought a big cauldron,

他把冰塊和雪放進鍋子裡，

He placed ice cubes and snow into the pot,

就在路邊生火煮了起來。

They built a fire by the side of the road and started cooking.

老人又從皮箱裡拿出一個小石頭，放進鍋里。

The old man took out a small stone from the suitcase and put it into the cauldron.

他高聲叫道：美味的石頭湯唷！
He shouted: “Delicious stone soup!”

快來吃，不要錢唷。 Come and have some, free of charge.(no money required.)

大家一聽，不要錢！ 就連忙打開大門，拿著碗出來，

When everyone heard it was free, they hurriedly opened the doors and rushed out with their bowls,

大家圍著大鍋子等著喝美味的石頭湯。

Everyone gathered around the cauldron and couldn’t wait to taste the delicious stone soup.

老人用大湯杓攪著攪著鍋里的湯，自言自語地說：

The old man stirred the soup with a ladle and murmured to himself,

如果再加點兒胡椒，蔥和油，

If we add a little ground pepper, scallions, and oil,

就是世界上最美味的湯了！

It will be the most delicious soup in the world!

有人想：這些都是小東西，要不了幾個錢，

Some people thought: These are trivial and don’t cost much.

於是，他們就回家拿來了。

So, they returned home and fetch them.

老人把這些東西加進湯里。

The old man added these ingredients to the soup.

老人喝了一口湯，說道：不錯！ 不錯！

The old man took one sip of the soup and said: Not bad! good!

假如湯里有自己最愛吃的東西，那就更好喝了！

If the soup has everyone’s favorite thing, it would be even better!

大家聽了，覺得老人說的話很有道理。

Everyone listened and felt that what the old man said was very reasonable. (thought it made sense.)

於是，匆忙回家把自己最愛吃的東西都拿來了。

So, they hurried home and brought back their favorite food.

老人把大家拿來的肉、玉米、白菜、青豆、杏仁、洋蔥芹菜、番茄—都加進湯裡。

The old man added the meat, corn, cabbage, green beans, almonds, onions, celery, and tomatoes into the soup.

石頭湯果然更香了。

Which of course smelled even better.

於是，大家高高興興地吃著。

So, everyone happily consumed the soup.

這時候老人忽然不見了，

At this moment, the old man suddenly disappeared.

只見鍋子上有“合作”兩個字。

I saw the word “cooperation” on the caldron.

這時候大家才明白：

Then everyone finally understood:

每個人拿出一點兒食物，

Everyone chipped in a little food,

合在一起才煮成這麼美味的湯，

Combined to make such a delicious soup,

從此以後，村民們互助合作，過著幸福快樂的人日子。

Since then (from then on), the villagers learned to help and cooperate with one another and lived happily ever after.