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All societies have their own unique folktales and fairytales. They are the true mirror of the people because they are personal and are passed down from one generation to another verbally. Mothers tell them to their children at bedtime, entertaining them while at the same time teaching them important principles and lesson that they will need later on in life. The stories differ in many ways, but all express the moral and ethical belief of the culture that spawned them. “Green Willow,” the Japanese folktale, and “The White Snake,” a German Brothers Grimm fairytale are two such tales that share many things in common while also being different in many ways. Most interesting are the parallels of these two narratives that exist in the most prominent features of the storyline because even when coming from widely different backgrounds, people can always find something to agree about. For instance, both tales start out in the same general fashion: the main character is introduced as a servant for a Lord who embarks on an unspecified quest into the wilderness; one is named Tomotada, while the second is only referred to as “the servant”.
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