Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Rusticus et Anguis (Trinity)

SOURCE: This poem was composed by the anonymous "Trinity Master" who published a lovely little book in 1852 setting Latin fables in prose side-by-side with his verse compositions; read the book at Google Books. This is poem 10 in the collection. For more versions, see Perry 51. You can find the word list for this fable online at NoDictionaries.com, and use it interactively.

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 meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)


VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:

Rusticus ex agrīs raptum nūtrīverat Anguem;
At forte īrātus perculit ēnse feram:
Ille quidem fūgit, sed nōn sine vulnere. Tempus
Rusticus ex lautō post breve pauper erat;
Saevitiaeque memor veteris, causamque malōrum
Hanc reputāns, Anguem lāta per arva petit.
Supplicat inventum ut redeat: cuī rettulit ille,
"Quae tēlīs horret nōn adeunda domus."
Sī monitum quaerās, hostī nē crēde potentī;
Nec cupiās iterum, laesus, adīre locum.


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

Rusticus Anguem, ex agrīs raptum, nūtrīverat. At forte Rusticus, īrātus, feram ēnse perculit: Anguis quidem fūgit, sed nōn sine vulnere. Post tempus breve, Rusticus, ex lautō, pauper erat; et saevitiae veteris memor, et hanc saevitiam reputāns malōrum causam esse, Anguem per arva lāta petit. Rusticus Anguem inventum supplicat ut redeat. Cuī Anguis rettulit: "Domus, quae tēlīs horret, nōn mihi adeunda est." Sī monitum quaerās: nē crēde hostī potentī! Et, laesus, locum adīre iterum ne cupiās.


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):

Rústicus Anguem, ex agris raptum, nutríverat. At forte Rústicus, irátus, feram ense pérculit: Anguis quidem fugit, sed non sine vúlnere. Post tempus breve, Rústicus, ex lauto, pauper erat; et saevítiae véteris memor, et hanc saevítiam réputans malórum causam esse, Anguem per arva lata petit. Rústicus Anguem invéntum súpplicat ut rédeat. Cui Anguis réttulit: "Domus, quae telis horret, non mihi adeúnda est." Si mónitum quaeras: ne crede hosti poténti! Et, laesus, locum adíre íterum ne cúpias.


ELEGIAC COUPLET METER. Below I have used an interpunct dot · to indicate the metrical elements in each line, and a double line || to indicate the hemistichs of the pentameter line.

Rusticus· ex ag·rīs rap·tum nū·trīverat· Anguem;
At for·t~ īrā·tus || perculit· ēnse fe·ram:
Ille qui·dem fū·git, sed· nōn sine· vulnere.· Tempus
Rusticus· ex lau·tō || post breve· pauper e·rat;
Saeviti·aeque me·mor vete·ris, cau·samque ma·lōrum
Hanc repu·tāns, An·guem || lāta per· arva pe·tit.
Supplicat· inven·t~ ut rede·at: cuī· rettulit· ille,
Quae tē·līs ho·rret || nōn ade·unda do·mus.
Sī moni·tum quae·rās, hos·tī nē· crēde po·tentī;
Nec cupi·ās ite·rum, || laesus, a·dīre lo·cum.


IMAGE. Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) - you have to look hard to see the snake:


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches: Rusticus Anguem, ex agris raptum, nutriverat. At forte Rusticus, iratus, feram ense perculit: Anguis quidem fugit, sed non sine vulnere. Post tempus breve, Rusticus, ex lauto, pauper erat; et saevitiae veteris memor, et hanc saevitiam reputans malorum causam esse, Anguem per arva lata petit. Rusticus Anguem inventum supplicat ut redeat. Cui Anguis rettulit: "Domus, quae telis horret, non mihi adeunda est." Si monitum quaeras: ne crede hosti potenti! Et, laesus, locum adire iterum ne cupias.