| Show how it started by JEAN NEWTON A MISS IS AS GOOD AS A MILE constantly in everyday speech we dept with this saying to ej press the fact that to bare almost achieved something to have just missed reaching a goal Is no better as far as results are concerned than never to have made the attempt it Is a far cry from the significance ofa this saying to the medieval tale in which it had its origin amis et ailles amis and adlle Is a french lyric dating from the twelfth or thirteenth century consisting of about thirty five hundred verses which detail the adventures of the two noble knights the story of their great friendship and mutual sacrifice closer than brothers and resembling each other to a remarkable degree amis and adlle are in the service of charlemagne where they battle against and overcome the opposition I 1 of the treacherous Il ardre and amis wins for his bride the niece of charlemagne Belll cent the emperors daughter loves ailles however so darkest clouds gather over the heads of the knights amis saves his friend and obtains for him the band of the princess in the course of bis efforts on be half of ats friend however amis hat perjured himself for which he Is pun ishad with leprosy adlle then volun tartly sacrifices his two sons that amis may be cured by their blood by a miracle then the sons are restored to life and they all live happily ever after I 1 whether it was in the thought of their resemblance to each other or their great attachment which made them inseparable that our modern saying had its beginning we do not know we do know however that there Is little similarity between its original significance and the sense in which we today say A miss Is as good as a mile copyright |
