February 22, 2023

Notes by Aarya Mishra

Review

Last week, we talked about 2 ants that found 2 cookies, one for them each. The 1st ant broke the cookie up into pieces and managed to bring the whole cookie back, while the 2nd ant tried to bring the whole cookie back in one time, and ended up with nothing. From that, we learnt that when we have big goals that we need to achieve, we should try to break it up into pieces to make it easier. Life will take away from us, and we have to grow to have the tools to deal with it.

Story

There was a wise old man who had spent lots of his life traveling from place to place, and had learned a lot. One day, he visited a small village of farmers. He asked them if they could provide him with shelter and food. The kind villagers said that they could offer him shelter, but they were unable to supply food. They said that their harvests had not gone well, and that they were experiencing a great famine. The old man said that that was okay, and that he had his own food. “In fact,” he said, “I could show you how to make stone soup!” He said that all he needed was a pot, water, and a fire. Soon, the villagers supply him with these materials. When everything is set up, and the water is boiling, the wise man pulls out a beautiful silk pouch. Opening it, he pulled out a seemingly normal stone, and dropped it into the pot. Then, he began to stir it, before stopping and looking thoughtful. “This soup,” he claimed, “Would taste like heaven if we added a cabbage!” A villager called out that he had one, and brought it to the old man, who cut it up and dropped it in the pot, and kept stirring. Then he stopped again, saying that this soup would taste even better with some onion. Another villager said he had one, and brought it to the old man. The old man kept on adding more and more ingredients, and several different villagers supplied him with them. A baker even brought in some fresh bread and butter! Soon, the pot was filled to the brim, and the old man portioned out the delicious soup to all the villagers. There was enough to last the villagers many days! Later, the mayor of the village came to the wise old man, and offered a large bag of gold in exchange for the ‘magic’ stone. The wise man refused the gold, and said that if the villagers figured out how to make the soup without the stone, he would come back one day, and give them the stone for free. Early the next morning, he packed up and walked outside. Seeing a kid playing outside, he handed them the stone, and whispered in his ear, “The stone didn’t make the soup, the villagers did.”

Lesson

The lesson is about teamwork. Some people think that they are completely independent, and does not rely on anyone else, but the truth is, everyone is part of a team. When you are eating your food, you are part of a huge process of teamwork that brought you the food, the farmer, the people who packaged it, the person who built the store, and many more.

This story shows that teamwork is important, so that you can put the goals of your team in front of your own needs, to help others, and yourself, like the villagers sacrificed the scarce food so they all could have a feast! It also showed the importance of leadership. If the old man hadn’t shown up, and showed the villagers how to get food, many would’ve starved! But the old man brought the village together, and united them over a goal they all wanted to achieve.

RAW

Ask your parents for one chore you can help with around the house. Treat it as a game, in which your family is your team.