Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Gallus et Feles lecticarii (Phaedrus)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of Phaedrus with macrons, see the edition by J.H. Drake at GoogleBooks. This is fable 18 in the Perotti Appendix to Phaedrus. For parallel versions, see Perry 546.

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


VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:

Fēlēs habēbat gallus lectīcāriōs.
Hunc glōriōsum volpēs ut vīdit vehī,
sīc est locūta: "Moneō praecaveās dolum;
istōrum vultūs namque sī cōnsīderās,
praedam portāre iūdicēs, nōn sarcinam."
Postquam ēsurīre coepit fēlum societās,
discerpsit dominum et fēcit partēs facinoris.



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

Gallus fēlēs lectīcāriōs habēbat. Volpēs, ut vīdit hunc glōriōsum vehī, sīc locūta est: "Moneō dolum praecaveās; namque sī istōrum vultūs cōnsīderās, iūdicēs praedam portāre, nōn sarcinam." Postquam fēlum societās ēsurīre coepit, discerpsit dominum et facinoris partēs fēcit.


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):

Gallus feles lecticários habébat. Volpes, ut vidit hunc gloriósum vehi, sic locúta est: "Móneo dolum praecáveas; namque si istórum vultus consíderas, iúdices praedam portáre, non sárcinam." Postquam felum socíetas esuríre coepit, discérpsit dóminum et facínoris partes fecit.


IAMBIC METER. Here is the verse text with some color coding to assist in the iambic meter. The disyllabic elements (iambs/spondees) are not marked, but the trisyllabic elements are color-coded: dactyls are red, anapests are purple, and tribrachs are green (as is any proceleusmaticus, although that is a rare creature); for more information, here are some Notes on Iambic Meter.

Fēlēs· habē·bat gal·lus lec·tīcā·riōs.
Hunc glō·riō·sum vol·pēs ut· vīdit· vehī,
sīc est· locū·ta: "Mone·ō prae·caveās· dolum;
istō·rum vul·tūs nam·que sī· cōnsī·derās,
praedam· portā·re iū·dicēs, ·nōn sar·cinam."
Postqu~ ē·surī·re coe·pit fē·lum soci·etās,
discerp·sit domi·n~ et fē·cit par·tēs faci·noris.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing a cat masquerading as a chicken: watch out, chickens and roosters!


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Gallus feles lecticarios habebat. Volpes, ut vidit hunc gloriosum vehi, sic locuta est: "Moneo dolum praecaveas; namque si istorum vultus consideras, iudices praedam portare, non sarcinam." Postquam felum societas esurire coepit, discerpsit dominum et facinoris partes fecit.