Trigger Words

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Bookends of storytelling. Essay. 600 words, 3-minute read.

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Trigger Words

By Ray Tabler

Once upon a time…

Those are magical words. Words to conjure with, to conjure within a listener’s head. Throughout the history of storytelling there have always been specific phrases to signal leaving this world and entering another. Usually gathered round a hearth or a campfire people would listen up, and relax their disbelief. Because it was story time.

Once upon a time is the phrase we are most familiar with because the English language has standardized upon it. And in much of Europe some variation of those words are invoked. But there are numerous other ways to begin a tale.

In Japan Mukashi, mukashi means “Long, long ago.”

In Korea Hoo-jinn-nal, horangi-dam-bae-dae-deon-shi-jeol translates as “Back when the tigers used to smoke.” Which must be an interesting tale in itself.

Armenian, Turkish, and Arabic all use the rather ambiguous opening “There was, or there was not.”

The Poles employ the poetically evocative Za siedmioma górami, za siedmioma lasami “Beyond seven mountains, beyond seven forests.”

Hungarians say, with a sly wink, “On the other side of the Óperenciás Sea, where the short-tailed pig is digging.”

All of these openings are a sort of disclaimer, a warning sign. I’m about to tell you a story. Don’t question it, even in your own head. That’ll ruin the effect, for you and maybe others. Just sit back and enjoy. There will be plenty of time for reality tomorrow when the ashes of the fire are cold and dead. Tonight is for tales. And the more fantastic the better.

How quaint. It’s tempting to look back upon our ancestors with condescension, enraptured by words spoken of witches, wizards, warriors, weirds. But honestly, we are not measurably smarter than they were. Our tools and toys are more complicated, and our lives longer, better in many ways. Deep down, humans are still the same hairless apes, huddled around the fire, wondering at the circle of night beyond the light.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…

These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise…

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it…

There are a million stories in the big city…

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them….maybe you can hire The A-Team…

Or, as an old professor of mine from Newfoundland would say at the start of a sea story, “Now, this ain’t no s#!t…”

Modern day sophistication doesn’t negate the need to hear a good tale. We’ll place ourselves in the hands of the storyteller, the bard, the yarn spinner, because it fills a void we like to pretend we don’t have anymore. Spoken word, song, text, moving or still images, any and all will do the job. And do it well.

Then, when the spell is cast and the tale is told, more magic words waft us gently back down to earth. We are most familiar with “and they lived happily ever after.” But other cultures have different ways.

Afrikaans: Whistle, whistle, the story is done.

Moroccan: And my tale went from valley to valley and I remained with the good people.

Armenian: 3 apples fall from heaven – one for the author, one for the storyteller, one for the listener.

Basque: … and whether it were or it were not, may it come into the pumpkin and come out in the town square.

Bengali: My story ends and the spinach is eaten by the goat.

Icelandic: A cat in the bog put up his tail.

Or, as we say…That’s all, folks!

END.

For a longer list of traditional story opening and closing lines, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_upon_a_time

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