Friday, January 29, 2010

Trabs et Boves (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 42 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:

Trabs, quae currū vehēbātur, bovēs ut lentulōs increpābat, dīcēns: "Currite, pigrī; onus enim leve portātis." Cui bovēs, "Irrīdēs nōs (rēspondērunt) ignāra quae tē poena maneat. Onus hoc nōs cito dēpōnēmus, tuum autem tū quoad rumpāris sustinēre cōgeris." Indoluit trabs nec amplius bovēs convīciīs lacessere ausa est. Haec fābula quemlibet monet nē aliōrum īnsultet calamitātibus, cum ipse possit māiōribus subiacēre.



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):

Trabs, quae curru vehebátur, boves ut léntulos increpábat, dicens: "Cúrrite, pigri; onus enim leve portátis." Cui boves, "Irrídes nos (respondérunt) ignára quae te poena máneat. Onus hoc nos cito deponémus, tuum autem tu quoad rumpáris sustinére cógeris." Indóluit trabs nec ámplius boves convíciis lacéssere ausa est. Haec fábula quémlibet monet ne aliórum insúltet calamitátibus, cum ipse possit maióribus subiacére.



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:

Trabs, quae curru vehebatur,
boves ut lentulos increpabat,
dicens:
"Currite, pigri;
onus enim leve portatis."
Cui boves,
"Irrides nos (responderunt)
ignara
quae te poena maneat.
Onus hoc
nos cito deponemus,
tuum autem
tu quoad rumparis
sustinere cogeris."
Indoluit trabs
nec amplius boves conviciis lacessere
ausa est.
Haec fabula quemlibet monet
ne aliorum insultet calamitatibus,
cum ipse possit maioribus subiacere.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing oxen hauling a log: