arranged progressively from the simplest to
the most difficult of treatment. The examples are presented only as
definite illustrations; there is no attempt to classify all short
stories, or all the stories of any particular author.

I. THE TALE is the relation, in an interesting and literary form, of
some simple incident or stirring fact. It has no plot in the sense that
there is any problem to unravel, or any change in the relation of the
characters; it usually contains action, but chiefly accidents or odd
happenings, which depend on their intrinsic interest, without regard to
their influence on the lives of the actors.

(_a_) It is often a genuine _True Story_, jealously observant of facts,
and embellished only to the extent that the author has endeavored to
make his style vivid and picturesque. Such stories are a result of the
tendency of the modern newspaper to present its news in good literary
form. The best illustrations are the occasional contributions of Ray
Stannard Baker to _McClure's Magazine_.

(_b_) It may, however, be an _Imaginative Tale_, which could easily
happen, but which is the work of the author's imagination. It is a
straightforward narration of possible events; if it passes the bounds of
probability, or attempts the utterly impossible, it becomes a _Story of
Ingenuity_. (See Class VIII.) It has no love element and no plot; and
its workmanship is loose. The best examples are the stories of adventure
found in the better class of boys' and children's papers.

II. THE MORAL STORY, in spite of the beautiful examples left us by
Hawthorne, is usually too baldly didactic to attain or hold a high place
in literature. Its avowed purpose is to preach, and, as ordinarily
written, preach it does in the most determined way. Its plot is usually
just sufficient to introduce the moral. It is susceptible of a high
literary polish in the hands of a master; but when attempted by a novice
it is apt to degenerate into a mess of moral platitudes.

(_a_) _The Fable_ makes no attempt to disguise its didactic purpose, but
publishes it by a final labelled "Moral," which epitomizes the lesson it
conveys. In _Fables_ the characters are often animals, endowed with all
the attributes of men. It early lost favor because of its bald
didacticism, and for the last century has been practiced only
occasionally. To-day it is used chiefly for the purpose of burlesque and
satire, as in George Ade's "Fables in Slang." AEsop is o