Sunday, January 10, 2010

Anus et Daemon (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 33 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:

Volunt hominēs ut plūrimum, quando sua culpa aliquid sibi acciderit adversī, in fortūnam vel in daemōnem culpam conferre, ut sē crīmine exuant, adeō omnēs sibi indulgent. Hoc daemon aegrē ferēns, cum vidēret anum quandam arborem ascendentem, ex quā illam ruitūram, et in sē culpam collātūram praevīderat, accītīs testibus dīxit: "Vidēte anum illam absque meō cōnsiliō arborem ascendentem, unde eam cāsūram esse prōspiciō. Estōte mihi testēs, mē eī nōn suāsisse, ut soleāta illic ascenderet." Mox anus cecidit, et cum interrogārētur, cum soleāta arborem ascendisset, "Daemon (inquit) mē impulit." Tunc daemon adductīs testibus probāvit id ab anū absque suō factum esse cōnsiliō. Fābula indicat hominēs minimē veniā dignōs, quī, cum līberē peccent, fortūnam vel daemōnem accūsant.


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):

Volunt hómines ut plúrimum, quando sua culpa áliquid sibi accíderit advérsi, in fortúnam vel in daemónem culpam conférre, ut se crímine éxuant, ádeo omnes sibi indúlgent. Hoc daemon aegre ferens, cum vidéret anum quandam árborem ascendéntem, ex qua illam ruitúram, et in se culpam collatúram praevíderat, accítis téstibus dixit: "Vidéte anum illam absque meo consílio árborem ascendéntem, unde eam casúram esse prospício. Estóte mihi testes, me ei non suasísse, ut soleáta illic ascénderet." Mox anus cécidit, et cum interrogarétur, cum soleáta árborem ascendísset, "Daemon (inquit) me ímpulit." Tunc daemon addúctis téstibus probávit id ab anu absque suo factum esse consílio. Fábula índicat hómines mínime vénia dignos, qui, cum líbere peccent, fortúnam vel daemónem accúsant.


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:

Volunt homines ut plurimum,
quando sua culpa
aliquid sibi acciderit adversi,
in fortunam vel in daemonem
culpam conferre,
ut se crimine exuant,
adeo omnes sibi indulgent.
Hoc
daemon aegre ferens,
cum videret anum quandam
arborem ascendentem,
ex qua illam ruituram,
et in se
culpam collaturam praeviderat,
accitis testibus dixit:
"Videte anum illam
absque meo consilio
arborem ascendentem,
unde eam casuram esse
prospicio.
Estote mihi testes,
me ei non suasisse,
ut soleata illic ascenderet."
Mox anus cecidit,
et cum interrogaretur,
cum soleata arborem ascendisset,
"Daemon (inquit) me impulit."
Tunc daemon
adductis testibus probavit
id ab anu
absque suo factum esse consilio.
Fabula indicat
homines minime venia dignos,
qui, cum libere peccent,
fortunam vel daemonem accusant.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), although this is certainly not an old woman, and she looks pretty steady up there in that tree! :-)