No fairy tale: Origins of some famous stories go back thousands of years
Statistical analysis of language evolution helps estimate storytelling dates
![illustrations of folktales](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/011916_cs_fairytale_free.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
ONCE UPON A TIME Some folktales such as “Rumpelstiltskin” (left) and “Beauty and the Beast” (right) may have been told in some form for thousands of years, statistical analysis shows.
Borisblue/Wikimedia Commons (Rumpelstiltskin), Garabombo/Wikimedia Commons (Beauty and the Beast)