Friday, January 15, 2010

Glires et Quercus (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 35 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:

Glīrēs quercum arborem glandiferam dentibus ēruere dēstināvērunt, quō parātiōrem habērent cibum, nē victūs grātiā toties ascendere et dēscendere cōgerentur. Sed quīdam ex hīs quī aetāte et ūsū rērum ac prūdentiā cēterōs longē anteībat, eōs absterruit, dīcēns, "Sī nūtrīcem nostram nunc interfēcerimus, quis futūrīs annīs nōbīs ac posterīs nostrīs alimenta praebēbit?" Fābula haec monet virum prūdentem dēbēre nōn modo praesentia intuērī, vērum etiam futūra longē prōspicere.



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):

Glires quercum árborem glandíferam déntibus erúere destinavérunt, quo paratiórem habérent cibum, ne victus grátia tóties ascéndere et descéndere cogeréntur. Sed quidam ex his qui aetáte et usu rerum ac prudéntia céteros longe anteíbat, eos abstérruit, dicens, "Si nutrícem nostram nunc interfecérimus, quis futúris annis nobis ac pósteris nostris aliménta praebébit?" Fábula haec monet virum prudéntem debére non modo praeséntia intuéri, verum étiam futúra longe prospícere.



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:

Glires
quercum arborem glandiferam
dentibus eruere destinaverunt,
quo
paratiorem haberent cibum,
ne victus gratia
toties ascendere et descendere
cogerentur.
Sed quidam ex his
qui
aetate et usu rerum ac prudentia
ceteros longe anteibat,
eos absterruit, dicens,
"Si nutricem nostram
nunc interfecerimus,
quis futuris annis
nobis ac posteris nostris
alimenta praebebit?"
Fabula haec monet
virum prudentem debere
non modo
praesentia intueri,
verum etiam
futura longe prospicere.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a dormouse, that tiny rodent: