Friday, January 8, 2010

Rusticus et Torrens (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 5 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:

Rusticus torrentem trānsitūrus, quī forte imbribus excrēverat, quaerēbat vadum. Et cum prīmum eam flūminis partem tentāsset, quae quiētior placidiorque vidēbātur, reperit eam altiōrem quam animō erat opīnātus. Rursus ibi breviōrem tūtiōremque adinvēnit, ubī māiōrī aquārum strepitū fluvius dēcurrēbat. Tunc sēcum "Quam tūtius (inquit) clāmōsīs aquīs, quam quiētīs et silentibus vītam nostram crēdere possumus." Hāc admonēmur fābulā ut minus verbōsōs et minācēs quam quiētōs extimescāmus.



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):

Rústicus torréntem transitúrus, qui forte ímbribus excréverat, quaerébat vadum. Et cum primum eam flúminis partem tentásset, quae quiétior placidiórque videbátur, réperit eam altiórem quam ánimo erat opinátus. Rursus ibi breviórem tutiorémque adinvénit, ubi maióri aquárum strépitu flúvius decurrébat. Tunc secum "Quam tútius (inquit) clamósis aquis, quam quiétis et siléntibus vitam nostram crédere póssumus." Hac admonémur fábula ut minus verbósos et mináces quam quiétos extimescámus.



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:

Rusticus torrentem transiturus,
qui forte imbribus excreverat,
quaerebat vadum.
Et cum primum
eam fluminis partem tentasset,
quae quietior placidiorque videbatur,
reperit eam
altiorem quam animo erat opinatus.
Rursus
ibi breviorem tutioremque adinvenit,
ubi maiori aquarum strepitu
fluvius decurrebat.
Tunc secum
"Quam tutius (inquit)
clamosis aquis,
quam quietis et silentibus
vitam nostram credere possumus."
Hac admonemur fabula
ut minus verbosos et minaces
quam quietos extimescamus.




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