“Once upon a time” is a stock narrative phrase for beginning stories. Here are some interesting ones in different international languages for ending them.
Kurdish—
“Çîroka min çû diyaran, rehmet li dê û bavê guhdaran.”
“My story went to other homes, god bless the mothers and fathers of its listeners.”
Bengali—
“Aamaar kothati furolo; Notey gaachhti murolo”
“My story ends and the spinach is eaten by the goat.”
(Goats eat the herbs from the root making it irreversible as a process.)
Spanish—
“…y vivieron felices y comieron perdices.”
“..and they lived happy and ate partridges.”
Persian—
،قصهی ما به سر رسید
.کلاغه به خونش نرسید
Qesse ye mā be sar resid,
kalāqe be xunaš naresid.
“Our tale has come to end,
(but) the crow hasn’t arrived at his house.”
Icelandic—
“Köttur úti í mýri, setti upp á sér stýri, úti er ævintýri”
“Cat out in the swamp, lifted its tail, the adventure is finished.”
Dutch—
“En toen kwam er een olifant met een hele lange snuit en die blies het verhaaltje uit.”
“And then came an elephant with a very long snout, and it blew the story out (over).”
Amharic—
“ተረቴን መልሱ አፌን በዳቦ አብሱ::”
“Return my story and feed me bread.”
(It is a way of saying tell me a story for the one I have told you.)
Georgian—
“Čiri – ik′a, lxini – ak′a, k′at′o – ik′a, p′k′vili – ak′a”
(Disaster there, feast here… bran there, flour here…)
(via salvadorbonaparte)
