beautiful story; elegant tale
A literary term coined by Kafū Nagai for a beautifully told or elegant story. Rare in everyday speech; encountered mainly in literary contexts or discussions of Nagai's works.
Kafū Nagai's '綺譚' is known as a term for a beautiful story.
Coined by the Japanese author Kafū Nagai (1879–1959) from 綺 (beautiful, figured cloth) and 譚 (tale, story). The exact derivation is uncertain beyond this attribution.