Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Canis Fidelis et Fur (Phaedrus)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of Phaedrus with macrons, see the edition by J.H. Drake at GoogleBooks. This is fable 1.23 in Phaedrus. For parallel versions, see Perry 403.

READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons in verse form, or macrons in prose order, or accent marks in prose order, or focusing on the iambic meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)


VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:

Repente līberālis stultīs grātus est,
vērum perītīs inritōs tendit dolōs.
Nocturnus cum fūr pānem mīsisset canī,
obiectō temptāns an cibō posset capī,
"Heus," inquit "linguam vīs meam praeclūdere,
nē lātrem prō rē dominī? Multum falleris.
Namque ista subita mē iubet benīgnitās
vigilāre, faciās nē meā culpā lucrum."



PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:

Repente līberālis stultīs grātus est; perītīs vērum dolōs inritōs tendit. Cum fūr nocturnus pānem canī mīsisset, temptāns an capī posset cibō obiectō, canis inquit: Heus, linguam meam praeclūdere vīs, nē prō dominī rē lātrem? Multum falleris. Namque ista benīgnitās subita mē iubet vigilāre, nē lucrum faciās culpā meā.


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

Repénte liberális stultis gratus est; perítis verum dolos ínritos tendit. Cum fur noctúrnus panem cani misísset, temptans an capi posset cibo obiécto, canis inquit: Heus, linguam meam praeclúdere vis, ne pro dómini re latrem? Multum fálleris. Namque ista benígnitas súbita me iubet vigiláre, ne lucrum fácias culpa mea.


IAMBIC METER. Here is the verse text with some color coding to assist in the iambic meter. The disyllabic elements (iambs/spondees) are not marked, but the trisyllabic elements are color-coded: dactyls are red, anapests are purple, and tribrachs are green (as is any proceleusmaticus, although that is a rare creature):

Repen·te lī·berā·lis stul·tīs grā·tus est,
vērum· perī·tīs in·ritōs· tendit· dolōs.
Noctur·nus cum· fūr pā·nem mī·sisset· canī,
obiec·tō temp·tāns an· cibō· posset· capī,
Heus, in·quit lin·guam vīs· meam· praeclū·dere,
nē lā·trem prō· rē domi·nī? Mul·tum fal·leris.
Namqu~ is·ta subi·ta mē· iubet· benīg·nitās
vigilā·re, faci·ās nē· meā· culpā· lucrum.



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


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Repente liberalis stultis gratus est; peritis verum dolos inritos tendit. Cum fur nocturnus panem cani misisset, temptans an capi posset cibo obiecto, canis inquit: Heus, linguam meam praecludere vis, ne pro domini re latrem? Multum falleris. Namque ista benignitas subita me iubet vigilare, ne lucrum facias culpa mea.