Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Turdus et Hirundo (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 27 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:

Glōriābātur turdus sē amīcitiam contraxisse cum hirundine. Cui māter, "Stultus es, filī (inquit), sī crēdis cum eā posse convenīre, cum uterque vestrum dīversa soleat appetere loca. Tū enim frīgidīs, illa tepidīs dēlectātur locīs." Hāc monēmur fābulā nē eōs nōbīs faciāmus amīcōs, quōrum vīta ā nostrā dissentit.



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):

Gloriabátur turdus se amicítiam contraxísse cum hirúndine. Cui mater, "Stultus es, fili (inquit), si credis cum ea posse conveníre, cum utérque vestrum divérsa sóleat appétere loca. Tu enim frígidis, illa tépidis delectátur locis." Hac monémur fábula ne eos nobis faciámus amícos, quorum vita a nostra disséntit.



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:

Gloriabatur turdus
se amicitiam contraxisse
cum hirundine.
Cui mater,
"Stultus es, fili (inquit),
si credis cum ea posse convenire,
cum uterque vestrum
diversa soleat appetere loca.
Tu enim frigidis,
illa tepidis delectatur locis."
Hac monemur fabula
ne eos
nobis faciamus amicos,
quorum vita a nostra dissentit.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a thrush in the snow: