Sorrowful narrative. A sorrowful narrative often involves themes like loss, disappointment, or misfortune. Like a story about a character who loses their loved ones and has to struggle alone in the world, that's a sorrowful narrative.
Tragic tale. For example, many classic novels are tragic tales that make readers feel sad.
Tragedy. A tragedy often involves a sad or disastrous event.
Melancholy account. Account here implies a story or a description, and melancholy gives it a sad, pensive feeling.
My '5 words sad story' is 'Hope, gone, dark, fear, end'. A person had hope, perhaps for a better future or for a relationship. But then it was gone. All they could see was darkness. Fear crept in and they felt like it was the end of everything, as if there was no way out of their misery.
For my '5 words sad story': 'Heart, break, tears, cold, night'. One night, a heart was broken. Tears flowed freely. The cold of the night seemed to seep into the very soul. It was a moment of pure sorrow, when the world seemed to stop and all that was left was the pain of a broken heart.
Grief. It directly represents a deep sense of sorrow, often associated with loss, which is a common theme in sad stories.
You could say 'a tragic tale' or 'a sorrowful narrative'.
The following are some sad ancient sayings: Song of Everlasting Regret-Bai Juyi Dream of the Red Chamber-Cao Xueqin 3. The Plum in the Golden Vase-Lanling's Smiling Student Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Luo Guanzhong 5 Water Margins-Shi Nai 'an 6 Journey to the West-Wu Chengen 7 Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-Pu Songling 8 The Scholars-Wu Jingzi Dream of the Red Chamber-Cao Xueqin Legend of the White Snake-Bai Suzhen These novels all described some characters and events in history and showed the complexity of human nature and the depth of emotions in vivid language. Reading these novels could make people feel the weight of history and the impermanence of life, but it could also make people feel the sadness and joy of separation and reunion.
Well, 'mournful story' is one way. Also, 'gloomy yarn' and 'melancholic anecdote' can be used instead of'sad story'. These expressions not only convey the basic meaning of a sad story but also add a bit of a different nuance. For example, 'gloomy yarn' gives a sense of a story that is not just sad but also has a kind of dark and dreary atmosphere around it, like a story told on a foggy, cold night where everything seems a bit more desolate.