Friday, January 8, 2010

Aranea et Hirundo (Abstemius)

SOURCE: This fable comes from the first Hecatomythium ("100 Fables") of Laurentius Abstemius (Lorenzo Bevilaqua), a fifteenth-century Italian scholar. Of all the neo-Latin fable collections, Abstemius's was the most popular, and his stories are frequently anthologized in the 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century collections of Aesop's fables in Latin. Here is a 1499 edition of the book online. This is fable 4 in the collection.

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:

Arānea in hirundinem excandescēns, quae muscās, quī suus est cibus, capiēbat, rētia in foribus, per quās volitāre solēbat, ut eam caperet, suspenderat. Hirundo vērō advolāns, rētia cum textrīce per āera portābat. Tunc arānea in āere pendēns et sē iamiam peritūram intelligēns, "Quam iustē haec patior (dīcēbat) quae minima volātilia magnō labōre vix capiēns, crēdidī tam magnās avēs comprehendere." Hāc monēmur fābulā nē vīribus māiōra aggrediāmur.



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

Aránea in hirúndinem excandéscens, quae muscas, qui suus est cibus, capiébat, rétia in fóribus, per quas volitáre solébat, ut eam cáperet, suspénderat. Hirúndo vero ádvolans, rétia cum textríce per áera portábat. Tunc aránea in áere pendens et se iamiam peritúram intélligens, "Quam iuste haec patior (dicébat) quae mínima volatília magno labóre vix cápiens, crédidi tam magnas aves comprehéndere." Hac monémur fábula ne víribus maióra aggrediámur.



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. I've put in some line breaks to show the natural pauses in the story:

Aranea
in hirundinem excandescens,
quae muscas,
qui suus est cibus,
capiebat,
retia in foribus,
per quas volitare solebat,
ut eam caperet,
suspenderat.
Hirundo vero advolans,
retia cum textrice per aera portabat.
Tunc aranea
in aere pendens
et se iamiam perituram intelligens,
"Quam iuste haec patior (dicebat)
quae
minima volatilia
magno labore vix capiens,
credidi
tam magnas aves comprehendere."
Hac monemur fabula
ne viribus maiora aggrediamur.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source):