| 释义 |
▪ I. tale, n.|teɪl|
Forms: 1 talu, infl. tale, 2– tale; also 3–5 talle, 3–6 tayle, 4 tayl, taal(e, 4–5 taille, 4–7 tail, 5 tayll(e, 5–6 taill, taile (6 tell(e), 6–9 dial. teale. β. 1–2, 4 tal, 4 tall.
[OE. talu, infl. tale, = OFris. tale, OS. tala, MDu., MLG. tāle, Du. taal speech, LG. tāl, OHG. zala, MHG. zal, Ger. zahl number, ON. tala talk, speech, tale, number, Da. tale speech, discourse; all:—OTeut. *talā strong fem., from verbal stem tal-, in taljan, to mention things in their natural or due order, to relate, enumerate, reckon: see tell v. The ONorthumb. tal and early ME. tal, tall in sense 6, may represent the ON. tal neut. (Sw. tal speech, number, Da. tal number), or the OE. ᵹetæl reckoning, number.]
I.
†1.
a. The action of telling, relating, or saying; discourse, conversation, talk. Obs.
c1000ælfric Saints' Lives (1890) II. 210 Seo modor sæt ᵹeornlice hlystende hire tale. a1225Ancr. R. 66 Eue heold..longe tale mid te neddre. a1250Owl & Night. 3, Iherde ich holde grete tale An hule and one niȝtingale. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 638 As tulk of tale most trwe. c1400Destr. Troy 1941 He turnyt hym tyte withouten tale more. a1547Surrey æneid iv. 144 Quene Iuno then thus tooke her tale againe. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 99 Thou desir'st me to stop in my tale against the haire.
†b. An enumeration, a list. Obs. rare.
c1050Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 437/34 Laterculus, talu.
†2. Speech, language. Obs. rare. (Cf. taal.)
c1250Gen. & Ex. 450 Bigamie is unkinde ðing, On engleis tale, twie-wifing. Ibid. 2526 God schilde hise sowle fro helle bale, Ðe made it ðus on engel tale.
3. a. That which one tells; the relation of a series of events; a narrative, statement, information.
thereby hangs a tale (and such phrases): = ‘about that there is something to tell’. to tell one's tale: see tell v.
a1060Charter of Godwine & Leofwine in Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 266 Ða ða him seo talu cuð wæs, ða sende he ᵹewrit. c1205Lay. 24439 Ne mai hit na mon suggen on his tale [c 1275 in tale]. a1300Cursor M. 24887 (Edin.) Þe angel þus he tald his talle. 13..Ibid. 8697 (Cott.) O þiskin tall [Gött. playnt] him thoght sel-cut[h], Als of a cas þat was vncuth. 1382Wyclif Mark i. 28 And the tale [gloss or tything; 1388 fame; Vulg. rumor] of hym wente forth anoon in to al the cuntree of Galilee. 1412–20Lydg.'s Chron. Troy (Roy. MS.) Rubric bef. l. 1701 Vlixes taile to Achile. c1460Towneley Myst. xx. 105 Vnto vs he takys no tent, bot ilk man trowes vnto his tayll [rimes dayll (= dale), hayll, avayll]. c1470Henryson Mor. Fab. x. (Fox & Wolf) ix, Ane leill man is not tane at half ane taill. 1523Skelton Garl. Laurel 1200 Yet, thoughe I say it, therby lyeth a tale. 1535Coverdale I Kings i. 14 While thou..talkest with the kynge, I wyll come in after the, and tell forth thy tayle. 1583Leg. Bp. St. Androis 363 Sua he..brocht the teale bravelie about. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 60 Gru. Out of their saddles into the durt, and thereby hangs a tale. Curt. Let's ha't, good Grumio. 1600Holland Livy v. xxi. 194 But hereto longeth a tale. 1601Weever Mirr. Mart. A iij b, One tale is good, untill anothers told. 1722De Foe Col. Jack i, It was a good while before we ever heard tale or tidings of him. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 181 Then my fellow takes the tale up. 1891E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 117 Mr. Tournay told his tale without comment.
†b. The subject of common talk; the ‘talk’ (of the town, etc.). Obs.
c1230Hali Meid. 33 Vpbrud in uuel muð tale bimong alle. 1596Drayton Leg. iii. 576, I was the Tale of every common Tongue.
c. pl. Things told so as to violate confidence or secrecy; reports of private matters not proper to be divulged; idle or mischievous gossip; esp. in to tell (bear, bring, carry) tales; tales out of school (see school n.1 1 e); proverbial phr. dead men tell no tales.
c1350Will. Palerne 334 Be no tellere of talis but trewe to þi lord. c1450Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 353 Now we have golde No talys xul be tolde. 1552Huloet, Tales to brynge or tell, perfero. 1560T. Becon Wks. II. 97 He that hath his body laden with meat & drinke is no more mete to prai vnto god then a dead man is to tel a tale. 1639Massinger Unnat. Combat i. i, Peace, infant! Tales out of school! Take heed, you will be breeched else. 1664J. Wilson Andron. Comn. i. iv. 14 'Twere best To knock 'um i' th head, and give it out The Soldiers did it... The dead can tell no tales. 1681Dryden Span. Fryar iv. i. 48 There is a Proverb..which saies, that Dead-men tell no Tales; but let your Souldiers apply it at their own Perils. 1702G. Farquhar Inconstant v. 76 Ay, ay, Dead Men, tell no Tales. 1737L. Clarke Hist. Bible (1740) I. i. 73 Joseph..told tales of them to his father. 1838James Robber vi, Dead men tell no tales. 1850C. Kingsley Alton Locke I. iv. 67 Where are the stories of those who have not risen..who have ended in desperation?.. Dead men tell no tales. 1903Westm. Gaz. 12 Feb. 2/3 Telling tales is reprobated by English public-school boys—rightly, in so far as the condemnation is directed against getting others into trouble for your own profit or pleasure. 1974‘M. Innes’ Appleby's other Story xv. 122 ‘There was only one sure way to do it.’ ‘To kill him?’.. ‘Yes. Dead men, they say, can tell no tales.’
d. in the same tale, in a (= one) tale, in the same enumeration, statement, or category; hence, in agreement; so in two tales. arch.
c1375Cursor M. 683 (Fairf.) Þe bestes were in samen tale [Cott. war samer-tale] Wit-outen hurt in herde ay hale. 1577Holinshed Chron. II. 1656/1 Thou art a false knaue to be in two tales, therfore said he, hang him vp. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iv. ii. 33 'Fore God they are both in a tale. 1642R. Carpenter Experience i. v. 14 Truth must needs be one..and can never be found in two contrary tales. 1860Reade Cloister & H. lv, Which did accuse heavenly truth of falsehood for not being in a tale with him. 1887Lang Myth, Ritual & Relig. II. 333 The Wesleyan missionary..is in the same tale with the Jesuit.
e. tale of woe: see woe n. 1 a.
4. A story or narrative, true or fictitious, drawn up so as to interest or amuse, or to preserve the history of a fact or incident; a literary composition cast in narrative form.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 101 We nime ȝeme of þre þing on þis tale. c1275Passion our Lord 1 in O.E. Misc. 37 Ihereþ nv one lutele tale..As we vyndeþ hit iwrite in þe godspelle. c1290Beket 1 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 106 Wolle ȝe nouþe i-heore þis englische tale? 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 190 Tendeþ how þis tale is titeled. 1375Barbour Bruce ix. 576 [He] tald me this taill as I sall tell. c1386Chaucer Prol. 792 That ech of yow, to shorte with oure weye, In this viage shal telle tales tweye. Ibid., Pard. Prol. 109 For lewed peple louen tales olde. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour F vij, I wold..that ye knewe..the tale of a quene of Fraunce whiche had to name Brunehault. 1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 67 A good tale yll tolde, in the tellyng is marde. 1606Sir G. Goosecappe iii. i. E ij, Indeed Sir the best Tales in England are your Canterburie tales I assure ye. a1771Gray Dante 19 Hates the Tale of Troy for Helen's Sake. 1821Scott Kenilw. xvii, They are spoken in a mad tale of fairies, love-charms, and I wot not what besides.
5. a. A mere story, as opposed to a narrative of fact; a fiction, an idle tale; a falsehood.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 321 He [Satan]..Wente into a wirme, and tolde eue a tale. 1382Wyclif 2 Pet. i. 16 Sotheli we not suynge vnwijse taales, han maad knowun to ȝou the vertu and prescience..of oure Lord Jhesu Crist. 1529More Dyaloge iv. Wks. 269/2 Therfore it is but a tale to saye that faith draweth alway good workes with it. 1553Respublica 727 Vaine woordes beeth but tales. 1619Let. in Eng. & Germ. (Camden) 206 The report of the Marquis of Ansbach his having defeated Coronell Fulkes his regiment (which proves altogeather a tale). 1722De Foe Plague 85 There was more of tale than of truth in those things. 1867London Herald 23 Mar. 222/2 If he had had the sense to..pitch them a tale, he might have got off.
b. In phrases, as a Canterbury Tale, old wives' tales, pipers' tales, travellers' tales, a tale of Robin Hood, tale of a roasted horse, tale of a tub (see tub), etc.
1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 576/1 Thys is a fayre tale of a tubbe tolde vs of hys electes. c1549Cranmer Serm. Rebellion Wks. (Parker Soc.) II. 198 If we take it for a Canterbury tale, why do we not refuse it? 1575Gascoigne Cert. Notes Instruct. in Steele Gl., etc. (Arb.) 36 The verse that is to easie is like a tale of a rosted horse. c1590Marlowe Faust. v. 133 Tush, these are trifles and mere old wives' tales. 1591Harington Orl. Fur. xlv. cv, This is a tale indeed of Robinhood, Which to beleeue, might show my wits but weake. 1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 778 To interpret these to be either fables and Canterbury tales, or true historicall narrations. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Cicogne, Contes de la cicogne, idle histories; vaine relations; tales of a tub, or, of a rosted horse. a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. iii. (1642) 170 Fained leasings and tales of Robin hood. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 97 Having entertained the fellow with a tale of a tub.
c. A thing now existing only in story; a mere matter of history or tradition; a thing of the past.
1780Burke Sp. at Bristol Wks. III. 413 No power..could have prevented a general conflagration; and at this day London would have been a tale. 1855B. Taylor Poems Orient, On the Sea, The world we leave is a tale untold.
II.
6. a. Numerical statement or reckoning; enumeration, counting, numbering; number.
c1200Ormin 4324–5 Ȝiff þu þise taless kannst Inntill an tale sammnenn. c1205Lay. 7397 Swa fele þat nuste na man þe tale. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8100 Folc also wiþoute tale. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxvi. (Nycholas) 237 Þe quhet deliueryt hale in quantyte, mesur & tale. c1450Hymns Virg. 122/165 Alle the stonys grett and smale Thatt byth in erthe withoutyn tale. 1594Carew Tasso (1881) 15 Equall in tale, nor lesse in value tride. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 39 Nothing with-holds, but that from an infinite tale of finites there may at length arise an infinite. 1691Locke Lower. Interest Wks. 1727 II. 53 If you make your Money less in Weight, it must be made up in Tale. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. iii. 51 Once she takes the tale of all the Lambs. 1722De Foe Plague 97 An exact tale of the dead bodies. 1780Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 1 May, There were..Lord Monboddo, and Sir Joshua, and ladies out of tale. 1826G. S. Faber Diffic. Romanism (1853) p. liii, The goodly tale of folios..which now decorate or crowd my penetralè. 1862Trollope N. Amer. I. xi. 249 By measures of forty bushels each, the tale is kept.
βc950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiv. 21 Ðæra etendra..tal [manducantium numerus]. Ibid. John vi. 10 ᵹesetton uutudlice ueras of tal suelce fifo ðusendo. a1300Cursor M. 7174 O þat heþen folk he feld A thusand þat wit tal was teld.
b. by tale: as determined by counting individual objects or articles; by number; as distinguished from by weight, by measure.
c1205Lay. 27606 Fif hundred bi tale. c1300Havelok 2026 He weren bi tale sixti and ten. 13..Guy Warw. (A.) 3430 Bi tale .xx. thousend hauberks of stiel. 1470–85Malory Arthur xiii. ix. 623 Thenne fond they by the tale an honderd and fyfty. 1529More Dyaloge iii. iv. Wks. 212 To way them rather then take them by tale. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 75 Where oysters are..sold by tale. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. iv. (1869) I. 27 This money..was, for a long time, received at the exchequer by weight and not by tale. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxii. IV. 695 The second of May, had been fixed..as the last day on which the clipped crowns..were to be received by talc in payment of taxes.
7. The number or amount made up, or to be made up or accounted for; the number all told; the complete sum, enumeration, or list.
a1225Ancr. R. 42 And siggen þenne hire tale of auez. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2891 Hem-seluen he fetchden ðe chaf,..And ðoȝ holden ðe tiȝeles tale. a1300Cursor M. 18627 Four thusand yere, þat was þe tale, And four hundret and four al hale. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 427 For Nero somtyme wolde wite þe tale and þe nombre of Iewes þat were at Ierusalem. 1539Bible (Great) Exod. v. 18 Yet shal ye delyuer the hole tale of brycke. 1584Fenner Def. Ministers (1587) 10 In generall and whole tale, we will allowe that, part whereof in the particular and seuerall parcelles wee will gayn-say. 1611Bible I Sam. xviii. 27 They gaue them in full tale to the king. a1732T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 98 The one has multiplied the tale of their good works. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 196 He will hardly be able to make up his tale of thirty millions of souls. 1864Sir F. Palgrave Norm. & Eng. III. 70 They had a fair tale of children. 1884May Crommelin Brown-Eyes xiii, Saddened at the increasing tale of years and months.
†8. An account, a reckoning of numbers (of money given and received, etc.). Obs.
1401Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 73 Ȝe wolden that there where oon lesse, Ȝe ȝaue neuer tale. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 197 b/1 They moche doubted that they shold not fynde theyr counte ne tale. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 173 Giue tale and take count, is a huswifelie point. 1602Carew Cornwall i. 33 They keepe a iust tale of the number that euery hogshead contayneth. 1755Smollett Quix. (1803) II. 8 The tale and account of what was both sowed and reaped, passed through my hands. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) vi. 116 You might just as well require me to deliver in a tale of all the pores in my skin.
†9. Reckoning of value; account, estimation, esteem, regard; in phrases, as to hold (make, give, tell) no tale of: to hold of no account. Obs.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 147 Þet he telle swa lutel tale þer of; þet he hit nawicht ne luuie. c1205Lay. 12764 Þæt nis [MS. mis] þer bileued wel neh nan Þæt auere beo æi [c 1275 eni] tale on. a1300Cursor M. 7554 Quen golias on him bi-held, Ful littel tale of him he teld [Trin. litil he set bi him]. Ibid. 10980 He sale Bicum a man of mikel tale [Trin. a greet mon]. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 9 Of oþer heuene þen heer holde þei no tale. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 3923 Dyomedes ȝaf no tale Off alle that sat there In that sale. 1496Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) i. vii. 38/2 The goodes of this worlde..they gaaf no grete tale thereof.
III. 10. attrib. and Comb.: attrib., as tale-book, tale-faculty, tale-monger, tale-story; obj. and obj. gen., as tale-forger, tale-gatherer, tale-maker, tale-writer; tale-gathering, tale-spinning, tale-writing ns. and adjs.; also tale-carrier = talebearer; † tale-craft, numeration, arithmetic; † tale-fish, a fish of such size as to be sold by tale; tale-hearer, a willing listener to scandal or gossip; tale-master, the authority for a report; † tale-money, money reckoned by the tale, i.e. by counting pieces or coins taken at their nominal value, not by weight; tale-piet, a chattering ‘magpie’; a tell-tale (dial.); tale-wright, a constructor or maker of tales. See also talebearer, tale-teller, etc.
1628Prynne Brief Suruay Epist. A ij, For the inhibiting and suppressing of all scurrilous and prophane Play-books, Ballads, Poems, and *Tale-bookes whatsoeuer.
1552Huloet, Tale bearer or *carier, rumigerulus. 1592Nashe P. Penilesse 35 Spirits called spies and tale-carriers. 1643Prynne Sov. Power Parl. App. 32 Common Tale-carriers, and accustomed to talke of trifling matters.
1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 110 Nothing better is it, than pumping two out of one, or taking the greater number out of the rest, in *Talecraft or Arithmetick.
1677W. Hughes Man of Sin iii. iii. 100 Forraign Authors have not the Monopoly of the *Tale-faculty neither.
1482Rolls of Parlt. VI. 222/1 That *tale fissh shuld not be pakked with the lesse fissh called Grilles,..and that the same tale fissh shuld conteigne in lengeth..xxvi ynches.
1553Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 198 It is a harde thing for lyers and *taleforgers to agree.
1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 350 We may often see a philosopher, or a wit, run a *tale-gathering in those idle desarts.
1647Trapp Comm. Matt. xviii. 16 The tale-bearer and the *tale-hearer are both of them abominable, and shut out of heaven. 1810Splendid Follies I. 183 The variety of grimaces exhibited by the tale-bearer and the tale-hearers.
1483Cath. Angl. 377/2 A *Tale maker, fabulo.
1897Q. Rev. July 107 The sale-processes of *tale-makers.
a1661Fuller Worthies, General xxiii. (1662) 64, I tell you my Tale and my *Tale-master, which is essential to the begetting of credit to any Relation.
1758Jos. Harris Coins ii. ii. 50 Increasing the quantity of *tale-money, by giving the old names to smaller pieces of silver. Ibid. 70 All artificial methods of increasing tale-money are..pernicious.
1613Answ. Uncasing of Machivils Instr. E ij, Rather for thy quiets sake, liue with bread, Then mongst *talemongers seeke to be fed.
1796W. Marshall Yorksh. (ed. 2) Gloss., *Teyl-peyat, or Tel-pie, a tell-tale..one who divulges secrets; spoken chiefly of children. 1816Scott Antiq. iv, Never mind me, sir, I am no tale-pyet. 1895Crockett Men of Moss-Hags xiii, A Gordon—Covenant or no Covenant—is no tale-piet.
a1661Fuller Worthies, Wilts. (1662) iii. 158 Such a Medly Cloth is the *Tale-story of this Clothier.
1570–76W. Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 326 This Clerkly µυθοπλάστης, this *Talewright (I say) and Fableforger.
1845Poe in Broadway Jrnl. 7 June 354/2 If we except..Mr. Hawthorne..and..one or two others..there is not even a respectably skilful *tale-writer on this side the Atlantic. 1904Daily Chron. 11 May 4/6 A tale-writer who moves through the magazines.
1837H. Martineau Soc. Amer. III. 213 *Tale-writing is her forte.
▪ II. tale, v. Now rare.|teɪl|
Forms: 1 talian, 3 talie(n, 4 talen; 3– tale.
[OE. talian to reckon, impute, enumerate, = OS. talôn to reckon (MDu. tālen to speak, Du. talen to ask), OHG. zalôn to number, reckon (MHG. zalen, zaln, Ger. zahlen to pay), ON. tala (Sw. tala, Da. tale) to speak, talk, discourse:—OTeut. *talôjan, f. stem tal-: see tale n.]
I.
†1. trans. To account, reckon, consider (something) to be (so and so). Obs.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxxiii. 226 [He] hit ðonne swiðe unaberendlic talað. a900tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xiii. §3 Nis ðis seo hel, swa ðu talest and wenest. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 53 Ðu tales..þæt ic ne mæᵹe ᵹebidda fader min. c1000Wulfstan Hom. vii. (Napier) 52 He talaþ..hine sylfne wærne and wisne. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 208 Se man..talaþ, þæt he þonne hal sie. c1400Cato's Mor. 100 in Cursor M. p. 1670 (Fairf.) Þai þat talis miche riches maste in nede and bisines beggis in þis life.
†2. To lay to the account of some one, to charge or impute (a thing) to. Only OE.
a900tr. Bæda's Hist. ii. ix. §4 Ne tala þu me, þæt ic ne cunne þone intingan þinre unrotnisse. c1000ælfric Hom. (Thorpe) I. 114 Ne taliᵹe nan man his yfelan dæda to Gode.
†3. To reckon, enumerate, relate. Only OE.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt., Pref. (1887) 5/7 Ðæt æt ægiptum..& ða æfterra..to talanna longsum is.
4. To count up; to deal out by number.
(In quot. 1626 the sense is not clear: cf. tally v.1 1.)
1626B. Jonson Staple of N. i. iii. Stage Direct., He tales the bils, and puts them vp in his pockets. 1828W. Irving Columbus (1849) III. 135 He..ordered the brawling ruffian to be rewarded with a hundred lashes, which were taled out roundly to him upon the shoulders. 1881G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Tale, to count. ‘I tale them ship [= sheep] to forty—'ow many bin a?’
II.
†5. trans. To say, speak, utter, tell. Obs.
c1205Lay. 787 Nan swa unwitti þat word talie..ær he ihere minne horn. c1420Chron. Vilod. 2157 And when þis blessud virgyn had talyd tys. Ibid. 3677 Bot he couthe nowther tale ny telle What þat euer was in his þouȝt. 1593Queen Elizabeth Boethius iii. Met. xi. 69 If Platoes Musis tales the trueth.
†6. intr. To discourse, talk, gossip; to tell (of); to tell tales. Obs.
c1205Lay. 3800 He[o] taleden wið Morgan. a1225Leg. Kath. 795 Þis meiden..toc on toward þeos fif siðe tene to talien o þis wise. a1225Ancr. R. 356 Þet is eadie scheome þet ich of talie [MS. T spekie]. c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 182 (231) Al þat glade nyght By Troilus he lay with mery chere To tale. 1390Gower Conf. III. 329 The toun therof hath spoke and taled. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 14524 Priamus ran to halle a-valed, Ther these kynges to-gedur taled. a1500Chaucer's Dream 1896 [They] gan reherse Each one to other that they had seene And taling thus [etc.].
†b. To shout. Obs.
c1205Lay. 20857 Hunten þar talieð; hundes þer galieð. 13..K. Alis. 1415 (Bodl. MS.) Þe maryneres crieþ & taleþ, Ancres in to shippe þai haleþ.
▪ III. tale
variant of tael; obs. form of tail. |