Thursday, January 14, 2010

Vir Avarus et Sacculus (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 100 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:

Vir quīdam avārus, quī ingentem aureōrum acervum male partum relictūrus moriēbātur, interrogābat sacculum nummōrum, quem morientī sibi iusserat afferrī, quibus voluptātem esset allātūrus? Cui sacculus: hērēdibus, inquit, tuīs quī nummōs tantō sudōre quaesītōs in scortīs et convīviīs prōfundent, et daemōnibus quī animam tuam aeternīs suppliciīs mancipābunt. Haec indicat fābula stultum esse in iīs labōrāre quae aliīs gaudium nōbīs autem sint allātūra tormentum.



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):

Vir quidam avárus, qui ingéntem aureórum acérvum male partum relictúrus moriebátur, interrogábat sácculum nummórum, quem moriénti sibi iússerat afférri, quibus voluptátem esset allatúrus? Cui sácculus: "Herédibus (inquit) tuis qui nummos tanto sudóre quaesítos in scortis et convíviis profúndent, et daemónibus qui ánimam tuam aetérnis supplíciis mancipábunt." Haec índicat fábula stultum esse in iis laboráre quae áliis gaúdium nobis autem sint allatúra torméntum.



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:

Vir quidam avarus,
qui
ingentem aureorum acervum
male partum
relicturus moriebatur,
interrogabat sacculum nummorum,
quem
morienti sibi iusserat afferri,
quibus voluptatem esset allaturus?
Cui sacculus:
"Heredibus (inquit) tuis
qui
nummos tanto sudore quaesitos
in scortis et conviviis profundent,
et daemonibus
qui animam tuam
aeternis suppliciis mancipabunt."
Haec indicat fabula
stultum esse
in iis laborare
quae
aliis gaudium
nobis autem sint allatura
tormentum.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source); just imagine the sack speaking to you!