Friday, February 19, 2010

Taurus et Vitulus (Phaedrus)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of Phaedrus with macrons, see the edition by J.H. Drake at GoogleBooks. This is fable 5.9 in Phaedrus. For parallel versions, see Perry 531.

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:

Angustō in aditū taurus lūctāns cornibus
cum vix intrāre posset ad praesēpia,
mōnstrābat vitulus quō sē pactō flecteret.
"Tacē" inquit; "ante hōc nōvī quam tū nātus es."
Quī doctiōrem ēmendat sibi dīcī putet.



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

Cum taurus, cornibus lūctāns in aditū angustō, vix intrāre posset ad praesēpia, vitulus mōnstrābat quō pactō sē flecteret. Inquit: "Tacē; hōc nōvī ante quam tū nātus es." Putet sibi dīcī, quī doctiōrem ēmendat.


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):

Cum taurus, córnibus luctans in áditu angústo, vix intráre posset ad praesépia, vítulus monstrábat quo pacto se flécteret. Inquit: "Tace; hoc novi ante quam tu natus es." Putet sibi dici, qui doctiórem eméndat.


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.

Angus·t~ in adi·tū tau·rus lūc·tāns cor·nibus
cum vix· intrā·re pos·set ad· praesē·pia,
mōnstrā·bat vitu·lus quō· sē pac·tō flec·teret.
Tac~ in·quit; an·t~ hōc nō·vī quam· tū nā·tus es.
Quī doc·tiō·r~ ēmen·dat sibi· dīcī· putet.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing a bull with some serious horns; just imagine trying to get those through the door!


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Cum taurus, cornibus luctans in aditu angusto, vix intrare posset ad praesepia, vitulus monstrabat quo pacto se flecteret. Inquit: "Tace; hoc novi ante quam tu natus es." Putet sibi dici, qui doctiorem emendat.