Sunday, February 14, 2010

Luscinia et Accipiter (J&D)

SOURCE: Second Latin Book: Jacobs' and Doering's Latin Reader (1845) at GoogleBooks. For more information and other versions of this fable, see the links list for Perry 4.

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:

Accipiter ēsuriēns rapuit lusciniam. Quae cum intelligeret sibi mortem impendere, ad precēs conversa, ōrat accipitrem nē sē perdat sine causā. Sē enim avidissimum ventrem illīus nōn posse explēre, et suādēre adeō, ut grandiōrēs aliquās volūcrēs vēnētur. Cui accipiter, "Īnsānirem (inquit) sī partam praedam āmittere, et incerta prō certīs sectārī vellem.



ACCENT MARKS. Here is the text with ecclesiastical accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):

Accípiter esúriens rápuit luscíniam. Quae cum intellígeret sibi mortem impéndere, ad preces convérsa, orat accípitrem ne se perdat sine causa. Se enim avidíssimum ventrem illíus non posse explére, et suadére ádeo, ut grandióres áliquas volúcres venétur. Cui accípiter, "Insanírem (inquit) si partam praedam amíttere, et incérta pro certis sectári vellem.



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:

Accipiter esuriens rapuit lusciniam. Quae cum intelligeret sibi mortem impendere, ad preces conversa, orat accipitrem ne se perdat sine causa. Se enim avidissimum ventrem illius non posse explere, et suadere adeo, ut grandiores aliquas volucres venetur. Cui accipiter, "Insanirem (inquit) si partam praedam amittere, et incerta pro certis sectari vellem.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration from the Medici Aesop, which is online at the New York Public Library website.