Once upon a time, there was a poor homeless man. He made no many for food. But he was clever.

One day, he was feeling very hungry. He had an idea. He picked up a small smooth stone and knocked on the door of the nearest house.

A woman opened the door. She did not like strangers but was interest in the stone in the man’s hand.

`Good morning, kind lady!’ said the man.

`Good morning! What is that you have got?’ She asked.

`It is a soup stone,’ said the man, holding it up for her to see.

`I have never heard of one of those before’, said the woman, her eyes fixed on the stone. `Dose it make good soup?’

The man was waiting or this. ` I will show you if you let me come in, he offered.

The woman let the man into the house. She took him to the kitchen and gave him a pot and some water. The man put the stone in the pot and put it over the fire. Then he waited for it to boil.

`It is going, to be the best soup you have ever tasted, he said. `Have you got such a thing as a carrot? I think that a carrot would really improve the soup/.

The woman was anxious to see how the soup would turn out. She fetched a carrot and popped it into the pot.

`Have you got an onion, by any chance?’ the man spoke again. ` I am sure that it would bring out the flavor of the soup.’

The woman could hardly wait for the soup. She quickly got an onion and put it into the soup.

The man spoke again, `It just needs a chicken. Do you have one?’

She did. And she put it into pot a once.

`Now I need some salt and pepper to finish it, said the man.

The woman put these things into the pot. Soon she could smell the delicious soup. The man waited for some time and then announced, `it is ready to eat’. He served the soup to the woman and filled a bowl for himself.

`This is marvelous,’ said the woman. `I wish I had a soup stone like your!’

The man replied, `as you have been so kind to me, you can have mine as a special gift’.

The man thanked the woman for her kindness and left. The woman held the stone tightly as she waved goodbye to him.

The next day when the man felt hungry, do you know what he did?

Anxious- very worried about something, so that you think about it all the time.