Sentence:  The relation of Tristram's death is thus distanced from the narrative to which it belongs, and it is also distanced in that we do not see it happen with our own eyes, but hear of it by a <WSD>second-hand</WSD> report which introduces it incidentally, not for its own sake. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Indirect; from a secondary source; not firsthand.