Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Venter et Membra (Morris)

SOURCE: A Latin Reading-Book by Charles D'Urban Morris (1873) at GoogleBooks. For more information and other versions, see the links list for Perry 130.

NoDictionaries.com: You can find the word list for this fable online, and use it interactively (here are some tips on how to make best use of the tool). It did not recognize profundior as the comparative of profundus, "deep."

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:

Membra quondam dicēbant ventrī: Nōsne tē semper ministeriō nostrō alēmus, dum tū summō ōtiō frueris? Hōc nōn diūtius faciēmus. Dum igitur ventrī cibum subdūcunt, corpus dēbilitātum est; et membra sērō invidiae suae paenituit.



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):

Membra quondam dicébant ventri: Nosne te semper ministério nostro alémus, dum tu summo ótio frúeris? Hoc non diútius faciémus. Dum ígitur ventri cibum subdúcunt, corpus debilitátum est; et membra sero invídiae suae paenítuit.



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:

Membra quondam
dicebant ventri:
"Nosne te semper
ministerio nostro alemus,
dum tu summo otio frueris?
Hoc non diutius faciemus."
Dum igitur
ventri cibum subducunt,
corpus debilitatum est;
et membra
sero invidiae suae paenituit.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), from a Renaissance edition of Aesop: