I'm just getting into trying to read Japanese literature and I came across this sentence on the opening page of ゆきの物語第一章.
[昔々]{むかし}、ある[小]{ちい}さな[村]{むら}にゆきという[娘]{むすめ}がおばあさんと[二人]{ふたり}で[暮]{く}らしていました。
I have roughly translated this as:
Once upon a time, a daughter, called Yuki, and her grandmother lived together in a small village.
However, I have no idea why ある is required in this sentence. (Any help with the translation would also be greatly appreciated)
