Monday, January 4, 2010

Pisces in Sartagine (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 20 in the collection, and Perry includes it in his index as Perry 725.

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:

Piscēs adhuc vīvī in sartāgine ferventī oleō coquēbantur, quōrum ūnus "Fugiāmus hinc, frātrēs (inquit), nē pereāmus." Tunc omnēs pariter ē sartāgine exsilientēs, in ardentēs prūnās dēcidērunt. Māiōrī igitur dolōre affectī, damnābant cōnsilium quod cēperant, dīcentēs: "Quantō ātrōciōrī nunc morte perimus." Haec nōs admonet fābula ut ita praesentia vītēmus perīcula, nē incidāmus in graviōra.


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):

Pisces adhuc vivi in sartágine fervénti óleo coquebántur, quorum unus "Fugiámus hinc, fratres (inquit), ne pereámus." Tunc omnes páriter e sartágine exsiliéntes, in ardéntes prunas decidérunt. Maióri ígitur dolóre affécti, damnábant consílium quod céperant, dicéntes: "Quanto atrocióri nunc morte périmus." Haec nos ádmonet fábula ut ita praeséntia vitémus perícula, ne incidámus in gravióra.


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:

Pisces adhuc vivi
in sartagine
ferventi oleo coquebantur,
quorum unus
"Fugiamus hinc, fratres (inquit),
ne pereamus."
Tunc omnes pariter
e sartagine exsilientes,
in ardentes prunas deciderunt.
Maiori igitur dolore affecti,
damnabant consilium
quod ceperant,
dicentes:
"Quanto atrociori nunc morte
perimus."
Haec nos admonet fabula
ut ita praesentia vitemus pericula,
ne incidamus in graviora.



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