Once upon a time

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other meanings, see Once Upon a Time.

Frontispiece to The How and Why Library, 1909

"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase that has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) in storytelling in the English language, and seems to have become a widely accepted convention for opening oral narratives by around 1600. These stories often then end with "... and they all lived happily ever after", or, originally, "happily until their deaths." These are examples of the narrative form, and occur most frequently in the narratives produced by children aged between 6 and 8.^[1]

It is particularly apparent in fairytales for younger children, where it is almost always the opening line of a tale. It was commonly used in the original translations of the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, or the Brothers Grimm as a translation for the German es war einmal (literally "it was once").

The phrase is also frequently used in oral storytelling, such as retellings of myths, fables, and folklore.

[edit] Other languages

Equivalent phrases are also used in many other languages to begin a fable or tale:

Afrikaans: Eendag, lank gelede... 'One day, a long time ago...'
Algerian Arabic: Hajitek ma jitek (حجيتك ما جيتك) 'I've told you what's coming'
Classical Arabic: kân yâ mâ kân fî qadîmi zzamân wsalifî al`aSri wal'awân...(كان يا ما كان،في قديم الزمان، وسالف العصر والأوان) 'There was, oh what there was (or there wasn't) in the oldest of days and ages and times...'
Azeri: Biri var idi, biri yox idi... 'There was, (and) there was not...'
Bulgarian: Имало едно време... 'There was, once upon a time...'
Catalan: Hi havia/això era una vegada 'There was a time...'Temps era temps... 'Time was time...'
Chinese: "在很久很久以前..." ("Before a very long very long time..."), "从前有一个..." ("formerly had...")
Croatian: Jednom davno... 'Once, a long time ago...' Common ending: ... i živjeli su dugo i sretno. '...and they lived long and happily.
Czech: Bylo nebylo,... 'There was, there was not...'
Ekoti (Mozambique, Bantu): Rakú z'éepo waarí-vó oswááipu nwúlw'eéne saána 'Once upon a time, there was a truly great friendship...'.
Danish: Der var engang... or Engang for længe siden... 'There was, once...' or 'Once a long time ago...', respectively.
Dutch: Er was eens... 'Once there was...' Common ending ... en ze leefden nog lang en gelukkig '... and they lived a long and happy life'.
Esperanto: Iam estis... 'Once there was'
Finnish: Olipa kerran... 'Once there was...'
French: Il était une fois 'There was, once... '
German: Es war einmal... 'Once there was...' ... ...und sie lebten glücklich und zufrieden bis ans Ende ihrer Tage. '...and they lived happily and contentedly until the end of their days.', alternatively ...und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute. '...and if they haven't died yet, they are still living today.'
Georgian: "Iko da ara iko ra, iko..." 'There was, and there was not, there was...'
Goemai (Nigeria, West Chadic): Tamtis noe lat/ dok ba muaan yi wa 'My tale has finished, (it) has returned to go (and) come home.'
Greek: Μια φορά κι έναν καιρό... 'Once, in another time...'
Hebrew: Hayo hayah pa'am... (היו היה פעם) 'Once there was a time...'
Hindi किसी ज़माने में ('In one era, ...') or बहुत पुरानी बात है ('It's an old story, ...')
Hungarian: Egyszer volt, hol nem volt, volt egyszer egy... 'Once there was, where there wasn't, there was a...'
Icelandic: Einu sinni var… 'Once there was…'
Indonesian: Pada suatu hari... 'One day...'
Iraqw (Tanzania, Kenya, Cushitic) tokaro-yâ 'once upon a time'.
- In oral literature, phrases like "I remember something that our father told me and that is this:" are common (Iraqw: Kar aníng te-'ée' to-ká a inhláw ar aakó doo-rén ni alki'-a i tí).
Irish: Fadó, fadó, fadó a bhí ann (agus bhí rí i nGaillimh) 'A long, long, long time ago it was (and there was a king in Galway.)
Italian: C'era una volta... 'Once there was...'
Japanese: Mukashi mukashi (昔昔, 昔々, むかしむかし). 'A long time ago...'
Korean: Yet-nal Yet-jeok-e... (옛날 옛적에...). 'A long, long time ago...'
Kannada: Ondanondu kaaladalli... (옛날 옛적에...). 'Once, in a long past age,...'
Latvian: Reiz sen senos laikos... 'Once long ago in times long gone'
Lithuanian: Vieną kartą... 'Once upon a time'
Malayalam: Pandu Oridathu... 'Long ago...'
Mandarin (Chinese): 很久, 很久以前 'Long, long time ago...' or "从前" 'once upon a time'
Maragoli Kenyan language related to other Luhya languages. Mmadikhu ga khaare (in olden days).
Norwegian: Det var en gang... 'There was, once...'
Persian: "روزی روزگاری" (Rouzii, Rouzegaarii). 'One day, One time'; or: "یکی بود، یکی نبود، غیر از خدا هیچ کس نبود" (yekii boud, yekii naboud, gheyr az Khoda hich kas naboud). 'There was one, there wasn't one, there was no one beside the Lord'
Pashto: "داسي کار وو چي" (Daasi kaar wo che) or "داسي چل وو چي" (Daasi chal wo che). 'There was this work that...'
Polish: Dawno, dawno temu... 'Long, long time ago...' Common ending: ... i żyli długo i szczęśliwie. '...and they lived long and happily.'
Portuguese: Era uma vez... 'There was, once...'
Romanian: A fost odata, ca niciodata... 'There once was (as never before)...'
Russian: Varies by the gender and number of the character(s) introduced at the beginning: Жил был (zhil bwil) (one male), жила была (zhila bwila) (one female), жило было (zhilo bwilo) (one neuter), жили были (zhili bwili) (plural): Correctly "had lived" (a stray survival of the disused Russian pluperfect tense), but nowadays liable to be understood as "lived, was".
Sanskrit: Pūrākāle (पुराकाले) 'In the ancient time...', Kadājit (कदाचित्) 'Once upon a time'/'At any time'
Serbian: Једном давно... 'Once, a long time ago...'
Shona:"Paivapo"....(a long time ago,there existed)
Slovak: Kde bolo - tam bolo... 'Where it was - there it was...'
Slovene: Pred davnimi časi ... 'A long time ago...' or Nekoč ... 'Once...'
Spanish: Érase/Había una vez... 'There was, once...'
Swahili (east African): "Hapo zamani za kale..." (a long time ago).
Swedish: Det var en gång... ("There was, once...")
Tagalog: Noong unang panahon... 'At the first time (a long time ago)...'
Thai: กาลครั้งหนึ่งนานมาแล้ว 'Once upon a time (long ago)...'
Turkish: Bir varmış, bir yokmuş. Evvel zaman içinde, kalbur saman içinde... 'Once there was, once there wasn't. In the old times, in a stack of hay...' *[1]
Vietnamese: Ngày xửa ngày xưa... 'A long, long time ago...'
Welsh: Amser maith yn ôl... 'A long time ago...'