Fairy tales don't start the same way. The beginnings of the author's tales are especially varied. However, a definite tendency can be traced in the spelling of the beginnings. Perhaps the roots of many of them go back to the well-known words "once upon a time …".
The opening lines of folk tales
If a person is asked the question "What words do fairy tales begin with?", He, most likely, will name the phrase "Once upon a time …". Indeed, this is the most frequent beginning of Russian folk tales. Someone will certainly remember: "In a certain kingdom, in a certain state …" or "In a thirty-tenth kingdom, in a thirty-tenth state …" - and he will also be right.
Some fairy tales begin with the usual word "one day." And in others, as, for example, in the fairy tale "Three kingdoms - copper, silver and gold", the time is described as if more concretely, but still very vaguely, in a fabulous way: "In that ancient time, when the world of God was filled with goblin yes, mermaids, when the rivers were flowing milk, the banks were jelly, and fried partridges flew across the fields …"
Russian folk tales of everyday life, more like anecdotes, do without traditional beginnings. For example, "One man had a quarrelsome wife …" or "Two brothers lived in the same village."
Similar beginnings can be found not only in Russian folk tales, but also in the tales of other peoples.
What do all these sayings say? Everything is very simple. The listener or reader is immediately put into action, learns with whom, where and at what time the fabulous events will take place. And waiting to continue. It is also important that these phrases are rhythmically constructed in such a way as to create a certain melodiousness.
The origins of the author's fairy tales
If we turn to the author's tales, then, of course, you can find a much greater variety of beginnings. Although "Once upon a time …" and will lead here.
A. S. Pushkin's "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel" brings together two fabulous beginnings at once:
“Nowhere, in the distant kingdom, In the thirtieth state, Once upon a time there was a glorious king Dadon."
Many fairy tales do not begin with traditional phrases. For example, the first line in Andersen's fairy tale "Flame" is: "A soldier walked along the road: one or two! one or two!"
Or, for example, the beginnings of fairy tales by Astrid Lindgren: "In Stockholm, on the most ordinary street, in the most ordinary house, lives the most ordinary Swedish family by the name of Svanteson." ("The Kid and Carlson") "Thunder rumbled the night Roni was supposed to be born." ("Roni is the daughter of a robber")
But even here it can be traced that fairy tales begin either with the presentation of the hero, or with the designation of the place of action, or they speak of time.
It is very rare to find fairy tales, the beginning of which is devoted to lengthy descriptions. Usually the beginnings are quite dynamic.
For example, one of the most beloved Russian children's poets Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky, without prefaces, immediately, as if on the run, introduces the reader into the midst of fabulous events. "The blanket ran away, the sheet flew away, and the pillow, like a frog, galloped away from me." ("Moidodyr") "A sieve gallops through the fields, and a trough through the meadows." ("Fedorino grief")
A good start in a fairy tale is important. The mood with which the listener or reader will immerse themselves in the story depends on it.
