Short stories in the Middle Ages known as exempla (moralized tales) have entertained and instructed Spaniards and others from the Middle Ages until today. The Libro de los enxienplos por a.b.c. (Book of Tales by A.B.C.), the richest collection of prose tales, numbering more than 500, was the creation of the fifteenth-century Archdeacon, Clemente Sanches. Some stories he translated almost literally, others he retold in his own words as he read ancient and medieval documents, some of which are lost in their original form, and some he recast from the oral literature of the folk - all in excellent style. Many of his stories are among the best tales ever told in world literature.