The Edge of the World

Cultural origins: This is a folktale from the British Isles. It is a simple, hilarious and wise tale meant to remind audiences of the fact that man is never happy. While the folktale originates from Britain it is tale for all countries and can be adapted for any culture with a little tweaking of small details (the wolf, the tree, the woman).

Intended audience: All Ages (11 and up)

Why this audience?: This is an audience appreciated by everyone. Children will appreciate the stupidity of the young man who passes by the opportunity to marry a beautiful woman and dig up a treasure chest. Adults will chuckle at God's cavalier brashness. That being said, this is a story that deals with the idea of God in a very direct way, giving him a character and strong opinions. This will probably offend some people without a decent sense of humor.

Characters:  A young man
                        A wise woman
                        A mangy wolf
                        A small tree
                        A beautiful woman
                       God

Scenes/Settings: A redwood house on top of a mountain
                                 A clearing in the woods
                                 Underneath a small tree
                                 A beautiful house with a garden and a white picket fence
                                 The edge of the world

Synopsis: A young man sitting on top of mountain looks around at all that he has and decides he is unlucky. A wise woman tells him that in order to find out why he is unlucky he must find God. When the young man asks her where to find God she directs him to the edge of the world. On his way he runs into a mangy wolf, a ragged tree and a lonely woman who all ask him to ask God why they are also unlucky in their different ways. The young man promises to ask for them and eventually finds the edge of the world. He asks God why he is unlucky. God tells him he is in fact lucky, and that luck is all around him everywhere he goes he just has to look for it. Then he whispers the answers to the questions of the wolf, the tree and the woman in his ear. The young man returns to the beautiful woman who is so lonely. He tells her that God said to marry someone who is kind to her. She asks him to marry her but he tells her he must go and find his lucky and report back to the tree and the wolf. He tells the tree that the reason he can't grow tall is because he was planted on top of a treasure chest. When the tree asks him to dig him up and plant him somewhere else the young man says he has to find his luck and tell the wolf what God said. Finally, he finds the wolf and tells him that God said that he is not strong because he doesn't have enough protein and to eat a creature much more stupid than he ASAP. The wolf heeds God's word and swallows the young man in two seconds flat.

Story Climaxes/High Points: The young man finds God and asks him why he has no luck and God responds that luck is all around him and he has plenty of it. 

Special Chants/Phrases:
Young man:  "I am going to the edge of the world to see God and ask him why I don't have any luck."

Narrator: "He walked a day, a week, a month, a year, and year-and-a-day until he came to..."

Bibliographic Information:

Walker, Richard. (2000). The Edge of the World. In More Ready-To-Tell Tales from Around the World (pp. 134-139). Little Rock, AK: August House.