Porridge from an Axe

An old soldier was heading home on leave. He was tired from the journey and hungry. He reached a village and knocked on the door of the last hut:

"Let a weary traveler rest!" The door was opened by an old woman.
"Come in, soldier."
"Don’t you have anything to eat, hostess?" The old woman had plenty of food but was too stingy to feed the soldier, so she pretended to be poor.
"Oh, kind man, I haven’t eaten anything myself today—I have nothing to eat."
"Well, if there’s nothing, there’s nothing," the soldier said. Then he noticed an axe under the bench.
"If there’s nothing else, we can cook porridge from the axe."

The old woman threw up her hands in surprise:
"How can you cook porridge from an axe?"
"Like this—bring me a pot."

The old woman brought a pot. The soldier washed the axe, put it in the pot, filled it with water, and set it over the fire. The old woman watched the soldier intently, not taking her eyes off him. The soldier took out a spoon and stirred the brew. He tasted it.

"Well, how is it?" asked the old woman.
"It’ll be ready soon," the soldier replied. "It’s a pity, though, that there’s nothing to salt it with."
"I have salt—go ahead and salt it."

The soldier salted the porridge and tasted it again.
"Not bad! If only we had a handful of grain!" The old woman bustled about and brought a small bag of grain from somewhere.
"Take it, add as much as you need." He added the grain to the pot. He cooked and stirred, then tasted it again. The old woman kept staring at the soldier, unable to look away.
"Oh, this porridge is good!" the soldier licked his lips. "If only we had a bit of butter—it would be a real treat."

The old woman found some butter. They enriched the porridge with it.
"Well, old woman, now bring some bread and grab a spoon—let’s eat the porridge!"
"I never thought such good porridge could be made from an axe," the old woman marveled.

The two of them ate the porridge. The old woman asked:
"Soldier! When are we going to eat the axe?"
"Well, you see, it’s not cooked through yet," the soldier replied. "I’ll finish cooking it somewhere on the road and have it for breakfast!"

He immediately hid the axe in his knapsack, said goodbye to the hostess, and headed to the next village. And that’s how the soldier got his porridge and kept the axe!

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Porridge from an Axe

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