ABSTRACT
FABLE, TALE, NOVEL, ROMANCE. Fable, in Latin fabula, from fari, to speak or tell, and tale, from to tell, both designate a species of narration; novel, from the Italian novella, comes from Latin novellus, a diminutive of novus, new, and signifies news from real life, or simply something new in the way of a story; romance meant a tale in verse, embodying the adventures of some hero of chivalry, written in the vernacular—i. e., Italian or Old French—instead of Latin, and derives its name from Romanicus, Roman, the general designation of the various Latin dialects, French, Italian, etc., as opposed to classical Latin.
