Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Alexander et PIrata (Potts)

SOURCE: Aditus Faciliores, by A. W. Potts and C. Darnell at GoogleBooks. This is not part of the classical Aesopic corpus, but it is a famous anecdote - and one very much in the spirit of Aesop!

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:

Alexander ōlim cum pīrātā collocūtus, Quō (inquit) iūre mare infestās? Eōdem, quō tū terrās, rēspondit ille. Egō autem lātro vocor, quod mihi ūna sōlum nāvicula est: tū victor appellāris, quod classēs et exercitūs habēs. Victōrum enim et pīrātārum maleficia differunt nōn meritīs, sed magnitūdine.


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):

Alexánder olim cum piráta collocútus, Quo (inquit) iure mare inféstas? Eódem, quo tu terras, respóndit ille. Ego autem latro vocor, quod mihi una solum navícula est: tu victor appelláris, quod classes et exércitus habes. Victórum enim et piratárum malefícia dífferunt non méritis, sed magnitúdine.


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:

Alexander olim
cum pirata collocutus,
Quo (inquit) iure
mare infestas?
Eodem, quo tu terras,
respondit ille.
Ego autem latro vocor,
quod mihi
una solum navicula est:
tu victor appellaris,
quod classes et exercitus habes.
Victorum enim
et piratarum maleficia
differunt non meritis,
sed magnitudine.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing the great Alexander!