folk tale, n.All

The Folk tale is simply an abstract story-'pattern, uncomplicated and easy to remember, no more hampered by barriers of language and culture than migrating birds are by customs officers, and made up of interchangeable motifs that can be counted and indexed.

A Folk tale is a sequence of motifemes, (or structural slots in a folktale narrative.

The Folk tale is the primer of the picture-language of the soul.

The Folk tale is filled with stories of people punished for saying the truth. Only the Fool, exempt from society's rules, is allowed to speak with complete freedom.

The Folk tale is a genre in which very strange things happen and there is never much attention given to the whys and wherefores.

The Folk tale is a genre in which the protagonist is always, and intensely, a young person moving through ordeals into adult life. This is why there are no wicked stepchildren in the tales.