Tuesday 24 November 2015

ABC Wednesday, T for Tales




With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words beginning with T.

 
 
 
 I was looking for an appropriate word beginning with "T", when my eye caught a series of books for children written by Beatrix Potter, all of them containing the word "Tale"or "Tales" in the title. Then I also saw a novel written by Charles Dickens:"A Tale of Two Cities".
First we should find out what the word "tale" means.
Well here are a few meanings:
 
noun

1.a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story:

a tale of two Cities.

2.a literary composition having the form of such a narrative.

3.a falsehood; lie.

4.a rumor or piece of gossip, often malicious or untrue.

5.the full number or amount.

6.Archaic. enumeration; count.

7.Obsolete. talk; discourse.

Origin of tale

900

before 900; Middle English; Old English talu (series, list, narrative, story); cognate with Dutch taal ( speech, language), German Zahl ( number), Old Norse tala (number, speech). See tell



" The Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer.  Between 1386 and 1389 Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The Canterbury Tales. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from London to Canterbury in order to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral."

Tales are very old sometimes, even before 900 there were tales to be found. Very difficult to read,but the modern tales are very popular especially if they are written as fairy tales and for children, like those of Beatrix Potter, who illustrated her books herself. These books have nothing to do with history, like the Canterbury Tales.

 

 

One of the many novels of Charles Dickens is a historical novel called "A Tale of Two Cities". 

   "A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same period. It follows the lives of several characters through these events."




These are the first sentences of the book

10 comments:

Trubes said...

'It was the best of times it was the worst of times...An opening etched in my mind as I studied Dickens in my English exams, ( I think you may have gathered that)!
Beatrix Potter was a great favourite of mine and our three daughters, whilst growing up.
Her former home, Hilltop Cottage in The Lake District is just about an 80min. drive from our home so we get to see it from time to time, whenever we take a trip to The Lakes.
Hope all is good with you Wil,
Best wishes,
Di,
ABCW team.

Unknown said...

Mooie bijdrage Wil.

Kom maar op met "tales", ik hou er wel van, vooral de fictieve en geniale qua verzinsels van dingen die (nog) niet bestaan.

Lieve groet
♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫

ellen b. said...

Well I must say that I've read a whole lot more of Beatrix Potter's Tales than Dickens! I have collected lots of the Tales of Beatrix Potter over the years including the figurines. Thanks for all the background info on "tales". Have a great week!

Roger Owen Green said...

You've given a THOROUGH description!
ROG, ABCW

Photo Cache said...

Great T post. Happy Thanksgiving.

My ABC WEDNESDAY

Hildred said...

Love Beautrix Potter and have made sure all my grands and great grands make her acquaintance.

Leslie: said...

I must say I like Beatrix Potter's Tales better than Canterbury Tales, seeing as how we were forced to read it in the Old English. Maybe it's an okay story if I could understand it. Even these days, kids are forced to read parts of it in the OE! Why??? Shakespeare is bad enough to decipher! Oh well, my girls enjoyed Beatrix Potter, too.

Leslie
abcw team

Powell River Books said...

When my mom went to England she brought me back three figurines from the Beatrix Potter collection. They bring back thoughts of "tales" she told me as a child. - Margy

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

How neat- I have read all of these books at one time or another in my life...thanks for reminding me about them.

Obsessivemom said...

I haven't read her books but the name Beatrix reminds me of an unpleasant character from the Harry Potter books.
BeatAboutThe Book