Thursday, June 11, 2009

Equus et Homo (Gildersleeve)

SOURCE: A Latin Reader by Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve. For more information and other versions, see the page at Aesopica.net.

READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons or accent marks - and read the text out loud until you feel comfortable and confident. Then, try reading the unmarked text at the bottom. It should be easy for you after practicing with the marked texts. :-)


MACRONS. Here is the text with macrons:

Equus gerēbat bellum cum cervō. Cum equus pulsus esset ē prātō, auxilium petit ab homine. Redit cum homine ac cervum vincit. Sed iam ipse hominī servīre cōgitur, equitem dorsō ferre et ōre frēnum.



ACCENT MARKS. Here is the text with ecclesiastical accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):

Equus gerébat bellum cum cervo. Cum equus pulsus esset e prato, auxílium petit ab hómine. Redit cum hómine ac cervum vincit. Sed iam ipse hómini servíre cógitur, équitem dorso ferre et ore frenum.


UNMARKED TEXT. Here is the unmarked text - after practicing with the marked text that you prefer, you should not have any trouble with the unmarked text:

Equus
gerebat bellum
cum cervo.
Cum equus
pulsus esset e prato,
auxilium petit ab homine.
Redit cum homine
ac cervum vincit.
Sed iam ipse
homini servire cogitur,
equitem dorso ferre
et ore frenum.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) from a 15th-century edition of Aesop's fables: