Question

Ajuda aqui nessa frase em ingles: once there lived a merchant with his three daughters. Eu n entendi o “Once there”, segundo oque eu pesquisei, ele quer dizer “Uma vez lá”.

Answer 1

Your phrase is confusing and ambiguous.
Besides "uma vez", "once" may have other meanings, such as "uma vez que", "anteriormente", among other meanings. The problem is that your phrase is confusing, thereby the clause should be examined in its full context