Dickens, Charles. _A Tale of Two Cities_, Book I, Chapter V, _The Wine-Shop_; and Book III, Chapter VI, _Triumph_. Macaulay, Thomas Babington. _The Lays of Ancient Rome._ Rossetti, Dante Gabriel. _The White Ship._ CHAPTER V _Tales and Legends_ The derivations of the words _tale_ and _legend_ hold within themselves several of the features that distinguish the one from the other. A tale (As. _talu_, speech) means literally that which is told by oral relation or recital; a legend (L. _legendus_, to be read) that which is apprehended by the eye and not by the ear. Originally, then, the tale was an oral recital, though the term was afterwards applied to narrative whether oral or written, whereas the legend, which in the history of narrative is later than the tale, was a written chronicle that in its earliest form recorded the lives of the saints and was read in monastic houses for spiritual edification. Like the tale, however, the legend has long since lost its original meaning, and is now broadly applied to many a story of ancient origin which possesses an incredible, or seemingly miraculous character. And yet the tale and the legend possess certain distinguishing traits as types of narrative which their derivations suggest and their histories corroborate. Since the tale was an oral recital, the narrator must, of course, have employed all means in his power to impress his audience. Events which took place in many and strange lands, episodes of thrilling adventure, which, although they usually centered about one character, might be tacked on indefinitely so long as his audience was interested, humorous situations and escapades which not infrequently degenerated into horseplay, often illustrated by grotesque mimicry and pantomime--such were the distinctive features of the early tale. Nor are those earlier attributes absent from the more modern tales. In these also there is often no unity of setting; there are always incredible incidents and episodes which, as in the case of Mr. James Stevens’s _Paul Bunyon_, center about one main character; there are frequently features grotesque and humorous. Even so is the legend, to a large extent, true to its derivation and early history. Written as it was for a religious assembly, it centered about the life of some saint whose spirituality it strove to glorify by the portrayal of some one remarkable incident rather than by the relation of several. Instead of the marvelous it dealt with the miraculous; instead of the humorous and grotesque, although these elements were not always absent, it dealt with romantic fancy; instead of merely diverting or amusing an audience, it sought to instruct and edify. And, as with the tale, these earlier features are easily apparent in the legends of our own time. Here, too, are the inexplicable, even the seemingly miraculous; here are romantic fancy and æsthetic charm; and here are often lessons in constancy,