Tips for Telling

An Italian folktale

This story is based on an Italian folktale. I adapted it to be used as a midrash based of the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). In Jewish tradition, Rabbis would often create stories that commented on the biblical text they were studying in order to clarify a point. Jesus used this method of teaching time and again in his ministry. His parables might be seen as a midrash or exploration of issues brought to him by his friends and opponents.

A midrash story is never intended to replace the biblical text. Rather it should be used to encourage discussion of the original biblical story. So I encourage you to learn to tell the biblical story of Zachaeus first. Then, when you find it useful, use this story as a way of getting young audiences to think about and discuss God’s willingness to give Zachaeus, Marco the Marble Lender and all of us a second, third and many more chances. Several years ago I was picking up a mess in our family room. Frustrated at the amount of work involved, I asked my then seven year old son, “How many times do I have to ask you to pick up your things?” He replied with a smile, “Seven times seventy?” Perhaps forgiveness is supposed to become a habit!

In the original folktale, the dishonest merchant used black and white pebbles in his contest. I chose to use green and blue marbles because they were handy in our house (I had just picked them up off the floor). That led me to rework the story and imagine a land where marbles were money, eventually leading to the character of Marco the Marble Lender.

Feel free to create your own adaptation and characters. I have had some fun playing with alliteration and rhymes in the story. As you learn the tale, you may want to skip the alliteration early on. As you get comfortable with the story sequence, you can reintroduce the word play in a manner that suites your style of telling. Enjoy!