Photo by Chrissy H. |
In an elder tale, an older adult serves as the protagonist of the story rather than a minor character.
Elder tales give older adults the focus or the "starring roles," making these characters more rich, complex and nuanced than the stock character "little old man/lady" allows.
The source for this tale comes from Allan B. Chinen's collection In the Ever After: Fairy Tales and the Second Half of Life. Willmette, IL: Chiron Publications, 1989. Chinen cites his source as G. Friedlander's The Jewish Fairy Book. New York: Stokes, 1920. I could not find a separate source for this tale.
Here is my retelling of "The Wise Merchant":