Thursday, January 21, 2010

Rana Rupta et Bos (Phaedrus)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of Phaedrus with macrons, see the edition by J.H. Drake at GoogleBooks. This is fable 1.24 in Phaedrus. For parallel versions, see Perry 376.

READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons in verse form, or macrons in prose order, or accent marks in prose order, or focusing on the iambic meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)


VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:

Inops, potentem dum vult imitārī, perit.
In prātō quondam rāna cōnspēxit bovem,
et tācta invidiā tantae māgnitūdinis
rūgōsam īnflāvit pellem. Tum nātōs suōs
interrogāvit an bove esset lātior.
Illī negārunt. Rūrsus intendit cutem
māiōre nīsū, et similī quaesīvit modō,
quis māior esset. Illī dīxērunt "bovem."
Novissimē indīgnāta, dum vult validius
īnflāre sēsē, ruptō iacuit corpore.



PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:

Inops perit, dum potentem imitārī vult. Rāna quondam bovem cōnspēxit in prātō, et, invidiā tantae māgnitūdinis tācta, pellem rūgōsam īnflāvit. Tum nātōs suōs interrogāvit an lātior bove esset. Illī negārunt. Rūrsus nīsū māiōre cutem intendit, et similī modō quaesīvit, quis māior esset. Illī dīxērunt bovem. Novissimē indīgnāta, dum validius sēsē īnflāre vult, corpore ruptō, iacuit.


STRESS (ACCENT) MARKS. Here is the prose text with accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):

Inops perit, dum poténtem imitári vult. Rana quondam bovem conspéxit in prato, et, invídia tantae magnitúdinis tacta, pellem rugósam inflávit. Tum natos suos interrogávit an látior bove esset. Illi negárunt. Rursus nisu maióre cutem inténdit, et símili modo quaesívit, quis maior esset. Illi dixérunt bovem. Novíssime indignáta, dum valídius sese infláre vult, córpore rupto, iácuit.


IAMBIC METER. Here is the verse text with some color coding to assist in the iambic meter. The disyllabic elements (iambs/spondees) are not marked, but the trisyllabic elements are color-coded: dactyls are red, anapests are purple, and tribrachs are green (as is any proceleusmaticus, although that is a rare creature):

Inops,· poten·tem dum· vult imi·tārī,· perit.
In prā·tō quon·dam rā·na cōn·spēxit· bovem,
et tāc·t~ invidi·ā tan·tae māg·nitū·dinis
rūgō·s~ īnflā·vit pel·lem. Tum· nātōs· suōs
inter·rogā·vit an· bov~ es·set lā·tior.
Illī· negā·runt. Rūr·sus in·tendit· cutem
māiō·re nī·s~, et simi·lī quae·sīvit· modō,
quis mā·ior es·set. Il·lī dīx·ērunt· bovem.
Novis·sim~ in·dīgnā·ta, dum· vult vali·dius
īnflā·re sē·sē, rup·tō iacu·it cor·pore.



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


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Inops perit, dum potentem imitari vult. Rana quondam bovem conspexit in prato, et, invidia tantae magnitudinis tacta, pellem rugosam inflavit. Tum natos suos interrogavit an latior bove esset. Illi negarunt. Rursus nisu maiore cutem intendit, et simili modo quaesivit, quis maior esset. Illi dixerunt bovem. Novissime indignata, dum validius sese inflare vult, corpore rupto, iacuit.