tale Copy link Outline I. A narrative1. fābŭla (whether real or fictitious)2. fābella (a short t.3. narrātio (an account, oral or written)4. narrātiuncŭla (dimin. of preced.)5. histŏriaII. A number reckoned • tale: I. A narrative: 1. fābŭla (whether real or fictitious): a t. made up and invented, ficta et commentitia f., Cic. Off. 3, 9, 39: a nursery t., f. puerilis, id. N. D. 1, 13, 34; anilis, Quint. 1, 8, 19: poetical t.s, poeticae f., Liv. praef.: t.s clumsily invented, fictae incondite f., Cic. Rep. 2, 10: to tell a t., f. narrare (de aliquo), Hor. S. 1, 1, 70: those t.s are repeated over and over again in every school, decantatae in omnibus scholis istae sunt fabulae, Sen. Ep. 24, 6: apropos of this a t. must be told, hic locus fabulam poscit, id. Ben. 7, 20, 5. 2. fābella (a short t.: dimin. of preced.): a true t., vera f., Phaedr. 2, 5, 6: old wives' t.s, f. aniles, Hor. S. 2, 6, 77: a fictitious t., commentitia f., Cic. Div. 2, 38, 80: to tell a t., f. referre, Tib. 1, 3, 85; narrare, Cic. de Or. 2, 59, 240. 3. narrātio (an account, oral or written): a short t., n. brevis, Phaedr. 4, 5, 2: to tell t.s in common language, n. quotidiano sermone explicare, Cic. Or. 36, 124. 4. narrātiuncŭla (dimin. of preced.): t.s told by the poets, n. a poetis celebratae, Quint. 1, 9, 6. 5. histŏria: enough of t.s! satis historiarum, Pl. Bac. 1, 2, 50: a long t. about nothing, maxima de nihilo h., Prop. 2, 1, 16: the telling of t.s, enarratio historiarum, Quint. 1, 8, 18: fit to make a t. of, historia dignum, Cic. Att. 2, 8, ad init.: v. story. Phr.: to tell a t. about my leanness, de mea macie narrare, Cic. Att. 3, 15, ad init.: as they tell the t., ut aiunt, Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 49: this is the old t., hoc tralatitium est, Cic. Fam. 3, 8, 4: idle t.s, inania famae, Tac. A. 2, 76. II. A number reckoned: nŭmĕrus: v. number: the t. of the ships is complete, naves suum numerum habent, Cic. Verr. 5, 51, 133.