Monday, January 18, 2010

Arbores Pulchrae et Una Deformis (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 12 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:

Arborēs complūrēs in eōdem crēverant locō prōcērae, rectae ēnōdēsque, praeter ūnam humilem, parvam nōdōsamque, quam ut dēformem pusillamque cēterae lūdībriō habēre solitae erant. Aedificātūrus domum locī dominus iubet omnēs excīdī, praeter eam quae brevitāte et dēformitāte sua aedificium indecōrum redditūra vidēbātur. Cēterīs excīsīs, dēformis haec sēcum dīcēbat, "Dē tē nōn amplius querar, Nātūra, quod mē turpem genueris, cum formōsīs tam magna videam imminēre discrīmina." Haec fābula nōs admonet nē doleāmus nōs nātōs esse dēformēs, cum multīs formōsitas saepe nocuerit.



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):

Árbores complúres in eódem créverant loco procérae, rectae enodésque, praeter unam húmilem, parvam nodosámque, quam ut defórmem pusillámque céterae ludíbrio habére sólitae erant. Aedificatúrus domum loci dóminus iubet omnes excídi, praeter eam quae brevitáte et deformitáte sua aedifícium indecórum redditúra videbátur. Céteris excísis, defórmis haec secum dicébat, "De te non ámplius querar, Natúra, quod me turpem genúeris, cum formósis tam magna vídeam imminére discrímina." Haec fábula nos ádmonet ne doleámus nos natos esse defórmes, cum multis formósitas saepe nocúerit.



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:

Arbores complures
in eodem creverant loco
procerae, rectae enodesque,
praeter unam
humilem, parvam nodosamque,
quam ut deformem pusillamque
ceterae
ludibrio habere solitae erant.
Aedificaturus domum
loci dominus iubet
omnes excidi,
praeter eam
quae
brevitate et deformitate sua
aedificium
indecorum redditura videbatur.
Ceteris excisis,
deformis haec secum dicebat,
"De te non amplius querar,
Natura,
quod me turpem genueris,
cum
formosis
tam magna
videam imminere discrimina."
Haec fabula nos admonet
ne doleamus
nos natos esse deformes,
cum
multis
formositas saepe nocuerit.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a bent tree: