Fortune and the Woodcutter
One man’s way to ensure Fortune blessed him
A text version can be found in Andrew Lang’s The Brown Fairy Book (London, 1904). Lang gives Traditions Populaires de l’ Asie Mineure as his source.
But like so many of the tales I tell, I was first pointed to the story by the Storytell listserv. Years ago long-term member Batsy Bybell posted about the story and its source, commenting she found plenty of comic opportunities. Yesterday I re-read it in Andrew Lang, and sure enough the performance possibilities opened up.
The tale is also included in Allen Chinen’s In the Ever After – Fairy Tales and the Second Half of Life.
More comic tales
The video gallery has become very extensive. So if you would enjoy more tales like this, here are a few suggestions.
The video clips here are all amateur quality, shot in various theatres or, as here, in my home studio.
Their intention is just to show the range of my storytelling and give a flavour of a live performance.
Permission is granted for use in non-commercial educational contexts.
The videos are © Richard Martin.
Professionally recorded CDs and DVDs are available here.
Go here for tales to watch
Go here for a list of all tales included on this site
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Permission to tell outlines my views on copyright
For those who are teachers: Telling stories in the classroom: basing language teaching on storytelling