Once Upon A Time
From The Paris Review : Walter Crane, Beauty and the Beast, 1875. We take the phrase “once upon a time” for granted, but if you think about it, it’s quite oddball English. Upon a time —? That’s just a strange construction. It would be pleasant to know its history: When, more or less, does it get up on its legs? Around when does it become standard procedure? My researches into this question, however, have yielded nothing conclusive. Forget “upon a time.” Look at the “once.” That part really is standard from the beginning, and not only in English. Just this past weekend, I paged through fifteen volumes of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library, and I’m here to tell you: The word once is in the first sentence of almost every single folktale every recorded, from China to Peru. There is some law of physics involved. Folktales get right down to business, no fooling around. Once there was an old king who had two sons. Once there was a poor lace m...