Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Vulpes et Mulieres (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 9 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:

Vulpes iuxtā villam quandam trānsiēns, cōnspexit catervam mulierum plūrimās gallīnās opiparē assātās altō silentiō comedentem, ad quās conversa: "Quī clāmōrēs (inquit) et canum lātrātūs contrā mē essent, sī ego facerem quod vōs facitis!" Cui rēspondēns quaedam anus, "Pessima animālium (inquit), nōs quae nostra sunt comedimus; tū aliēna fūrāris." Haec fābula nōs admonet nē putēmus nōbīs in aliēna licēre, quod prōpriīs domibus licet.



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):

Vulpes iuxta villam quandam tránsiens, conspéxit catérvam mulíerum plúrimas gallínas opípare assátas alto siléntio comedéntem, ad quas convérsa: "Qui clamóres (inquit) et canum latrátus contra me essent, si ego fácerem quod vos fácitis!" Cui respóndens quaedam anus, "Péssima animálium (inquit), nos quae nostra sunt comédimus; tu aliéna furáris." Haec fábula nos ádmonet ne putémus nobis in aliéna licére, quod própriis dómibus licet.



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:

Vulpes
iuxta villam quandam transiens,
conspexit catervam mulierum
plurimas gallinas opipare assatas
alto silentio comedentem,
ad quas conversa:
"Qui clamores (inquit)
et canum latratus
contra me essent,
si ego facerem
quod vos facitis!"
Cui respondens
quaedam anus,
"Pessima animalium (inquit),
nos
quae nostra sunt
comedimus;
tu aliena furaris."
Haec fabula nos admonet
ne putemus
nobis in aliena licere,
quod propriis domibus licet.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a happy fox who did manage to get a chicken: