Anecdote
Procopius of Caesarea, the biographer of Justinian I, also produced a work entitled Ανεκδοτα (variously translated as Unpublished Memoirs or Secret History) which was primarily short incidents from the private life of the Byzantine court. Gradually the term anecdote came to be applied to any short tale utilized to emphasize or illustrate whatever point the author wished to make.
Usually an anecdote is based on real life, an incident involving actual persons or places. However, over time modification in reuse may convert a particular anecdote into a fictional piece. Sometimes humorous, anecdotes are not jokes, because their primary purpose is not to evoke laughter. An anecdote is in the tradition of both the parable and fable, but is distinct from them in several ways. It need not be a metaphor, but only an illustrative incident. It may or may not have a moral, a necessity in both parable and fable. It is unlikely to use animal characters as the fable usually does.
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