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A pourquoi story [a] (French pronunciation: ⓘ; "pourquoi" meaning "why" in French) is a fictional narrative that explains why something is the way it is, for example why snakes have no legs or why tigers have striped coats.
In science and philosophy, a just-so story is an untestable narrative explanation for a cultural practice, a biological trait, or behavior of humans or other animals. The pejorative [1] nature of the expression is an implicit criticism that reminds the listener of the fictional and unprovable nature of such an explanation.
In a tale collected in 1966, in Los Angeles, with the title El pájaro que habla, three kings take shelter during a storm in the house where three princesses live. The princesses see the kings and profess their wishes: the first will sew clothes for the king that can fit in a nutshell; the second a cape that can fit in a pine nut; and the third ...
A founding myth or etiological myth (Greek aition) explains either: the origins of a ritual or the founding of a city; the ethnogenesis of a group presented as a genealogy [9] with a founding father, and thus the origin of a nation (natio 'birth') the spiritual origins of a belief, philosophy, discipline, or idea – presented as a narrative
On the other hand, the women in the tales who do speak up are framed as wicked. Cinderella's stepsisters' language is decidedly more declarative than hers, and the woman at the center of the tale "The Lazy Spinner" is a slothful character who, to the Grimms' apparent chagrin, is "always ready with her tongue."
Another etiological tale, from a Slavic source, is The Seven Stars: a princess is kidnapped by a dragon, so the high chamberlain seeks a "Dragon-mother" and her sons, who each possess extraordinary abilities, to rescue her. At the end of the tale, the rescuers and the chamberlain enter a dispute on who should have the princess, but the "Dragon ...
The tale of a little girl being gifted a nutcracker for Christmas (who then comes to life and defends her honor from a giant mouse no less!) reinforced the enduring link between the toy soldier ...
An etiological myth, or origin myth, is a myth intended to explain the origins of cult practices, natural phenomena, proper names and the like. For example, the name Delphi and its associated deity, Apollon Delphinios , are explained in the Homeric Hymn which tells of how Apollo, in the shape of a dolphin ( delphis ), propelled Cretans over the ...