Twice-Told Tales

"Twice-Told Tales" is a short story collection in two volumes by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first volume was published in the spring of 1837 and the second in 1842. The title, Twice-Told Tales, was based on a line from William Shakespeare's King John, «Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.» The quote referenced may also be Hawthorne's way of acknowledging a belief that many of his stories were ironic retellings of familiar tropes. The title also alludes to the last four lines of Book XII of the Odyssey by Homer.