Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Vir malignus et Daemon (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 58 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:

Vir malignus cum plūrima perpetrāsset scelera et saepius captus et carcere conclūsus arctissimā et pervigilī custōdiā tenerētur, Daemōnis auxilium implōrat quī saepenumerō eī adfuit et ē multīs eum perīculīs līberāvit. Tandem iterum dēprehēnsō et solitum auxilium implōrantī daemon magnum calceōrum pertūsōrum fascem super humerōs habēns esse nōn possum, tot enim loca prō tē līberandō hactenus perāgrāvī ut hōs omnēs calceōs contrīverim. Nulla enim mihi superest pecūnia quā aliōs valeam comparāre. Quārē pereundum est tibi. Haec admonet fābula nē existimēmus nostra semper impūnīta fore peccāta.



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):

Vir malígnus cum plúrima perpetrásset scélera et saépius captus et cárcere conclúsus arctíssima et pervígili custódia tenerétur, Daemónis auxílium implórat qui saepenúmero ei ádfuit et e multis eum perículis liberávit. Tandem íterum deprehénso et sólitum auxílium imploránti daemon magnum calceórum pertusórum fascem super húmeros habens appáruit, dicens: "Amíce, ámplius tibi auxílio esse non possum, tot enim loca pro te liberándo háctenus peragrávi ut hos omnes cálceos contríverim. Nulla enim mihi súperest pecúnia qua álios váleam comparáre. Quare pereúndum est tibi." Haec ádmonet fábula ne existimémus nostra semper impuníta fore peccáta.



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:

Vir malignus
cum plurima perpetrasset scelera
et saepius
captus et carcere conclusus
arctissima et pervigili custodia
teneretur,
Daemonis auxilium implorat
qui saepenumero ei adfuit
et e multis eum periculis liberavit.
Tandem iterum deprehenso
et solitum auxilium imploranti
daemon
magnum calceorum pertusorum fascem
super humeros habens
apparuit, dicens:
"Amice,
amplius tibi auxilio esse non possum,
tot enim loca
pro te liberando
hactenus peragravi
ut hos omnes calceos contriverim.
Nulla enim mihi superest pecunia
qua alios valeam comparare.
Quare pereundum est tibi."
Haec admonet fabula
ne existimemus
nostra semper impunita fore peccata.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing the pile of the devil's old shoes! :-)