Monday, February 1, 2010

Carduelis et Puer (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 43 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:

Carduēlis avis interrogāta ā puerō, ā quō in dēliciīs habita, et suāvibus et largīs cibīs nūtrīta fuerat, cūr caveā ēgressa ingredī nollet: "Ut meō (inquit) mē arbītrātū, nōn tuō, pascere possim." Haec fābula indicat vītae lībertātem cunctīs dēliciīs antepōnendam.



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):

Carduélis avis interrogáta a púero, a quo in delíciis hábita, et suávibus et largis cibis nutríta fúerat, cur cávea egréssa íngredi nollet: "Ut meo (inquit) me arbitrátu, non tuo, páscere possim." Haec fábula índicat vitae libertátem cunctis delíciis anteponéndam.



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:

Carduelis avis
interrogata a puero,
a quo in deliciis habita,
et suavibus et largis cibis
nutrita fuerat,
cur cavea egressa
ingredi nollet:
"Ut meo (inquit) me arbitratu,
non tuo,
pascere possim."
Haec fabula indicat
vitae libertatem
cunctis deliciis anteponendam.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing a Carduelis carduelis bird: