and mixed folk music with rock and
roll. These singers made folk music
popular with young people.
#More to explore
Music • Musical Instruments
Folktale
Folktales are a kind of story that gets
passed on from generation to generation.
True folktales do not have a single
author. They develop as different people
tell them over time. As such, they are
creations of “the folk,” or the people.
Many folktales are very old. For generations
the tales were spoken aloud and
never written down. Storytellers would
memorize the stories and keep them
alive.
Modern authors may write their own
versions of popular kinds of traditional
tales, such as fables and fairy tales. Also,
folktales that began as ancient spoken
stories may now be written down in
books. For example, the stories called
the Arabian Nights were told aloud long
ago in many places in the Middle East
European art
music, also
known as
classical
music, often
borrows tunes
from folk
music.
Young folk musicians perform in Budapest,
Hungary.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Folktale 41
and elsewhere. A variety of entertaining
stories in the group tell of characters
such as Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad
the Sailor. People began collecting and
writing down these colorful tales more
than 1,000 years ago.
Subjects
Folktales tell about many different parts
of life. They may tell about joys and
sorrows, animals and magic beings, and
heroes and villains. They can be scary,
funny, or exciting. Different types of
folktales may entertain or teach a lesson.
They may also try to explain things that
people do not understand. Myths are
similar to folktales. They are traditional
stories about a culture’s beliefs about
life.
Different cultures tell different stories.
However, some similar themes appear in
folktales told in many different places
and cultures. For example, folktales
about clever “tricksters” are common in
western Africa, the Americas, and other
places. Trickster tales usually involve a
weaker animal using its wits to get the
better of a stronger one.
Stories of heroes are also common in
many cultures. Heroic tales help bind a
people together and help them remember
their history. For example, King
Arthur and the Knights of the Round
Table are the heroes of many French and
English legends.
Fables
A fable is a type of folktale that teaches a
lesson. Fables are usually entertaining
tales featuring animals that talk and
behave as people do. Because they have
humanlike qualities, the animals show
how foolish or wise people can be. For
A collection of
Indian folktales
about
animals
called the
Panchatantra
was written
perhaps
2,000 years
ago.
Anansi the spider is a trickster character
that appears in many western African folktales.
In one story he lures a swarm of hornets
into a gourd, where he will trap them.
42 Folktale BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
example, “The Three Little Pigs” teaches
that hard work is important: The house
built by the hardest-working pig is the
only one that survives the wolf’s attacks.
Some of the oldest fables came from
India and Greece thousands of years ago.
Many fables that are familiar in English
today are said to have been written in
ancient Greece by a man named Aesop.
Fairy Tales
Fairy tales are a kind of folk story about
magical events and creatures. They often
tell about a young person meeting fantastic
beings such as fairies, witches,
giants, or dragons. Stories such as “Cinderella,”
“Little Red Riding Hood,” and
“Sleeping Beauty” began as spoken folktales
with no one author. Two German
brothers called the Brothers Grimm
collected and wrote down many fairy
tales in the 1800s. Some modern writers,
such as Hans Christian Andersen,
invented their own fairy tales.
#More to explore
Aesop • Andersen, Hans Christian
• Arthurian Legend • Grimm Brothers
• Mythology • Storytelling
Food and
Nutrition
Plants make their own food with the
sun’s help. Animals, including humans,
do not. Instead they eat food—plants
or other animals—to get what their
bodies need to live and grow. Nutrition
is the science of how the body uses
food.
Calories
Food gives the body the energy it needs
for everything it does, from repairing
damaged cells to sleeping. The amount
of energy a food can produce is measured
in calories.
Nutrients
Food also provides the nutrients that the
body needs to function and maintain
itself. These nutrients are proteins, carbohydrates,
fats and oils, minerals, vitamins,
and water.
Proteins are needed for body tissue to
grow and repair itself. Carbohydrates
give the body most of the energy it
needs. Starches and sugars are carbohydrates.
If a person
takes in more
food than the
body needs,
the extra
calories are
changed into
fat—a stored
form of
energy.
In the story of “Little Red Riding
Hood” a wolf tries to trick a
young girl by dressing up as the
girl’s grandmother.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Food and Nutrition 43
The body uses fats to maintain its temperature
and to cushion organs. Fats also
help the body use certain vitamins. But
fats can also be harmful. For example,
some kinds of fats can raise the level of
cholesterol in the blood. Cholesterol is
an important substance in the body.
