Monday, March 29, 2010

Cattus, Leo et Convivium (Odo)

SOURCE: Odo of Cheriton's' Latin fables are available in Hervieux's edition at GoogleBooks, and there is a delightful English translation by John Jacobs: The Fables of Odo of Cheriton.

This is fable 35 in Hervieux's edition. This is not in the classical Aesopic corpus, but Perry does list in his medieval appendix as Perry 602.

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:

Contigit quod animālia invītāta sunt ā Leōne ad magnum prandium. Fuit invītātus Mūrilegus. Quaerēbat Leo quid libentius comederet, volēns singulīs satisfacere. Et ait: Rattōs et mūrēs. Cōgitāvit Leo: Nisi omnēs habērent de hōc ferculō, esset vīlānia. Tandem facit venīre ferculum generāle dē rattīs, et Cattus optimē comedit. Aliī murmurāvērunt, dīcentēs: Fi, fi! Quid appōnitur nōbīs? Et tōtum prandium propter hoc maculātum est.


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):

Cóntigit quod animália invitáta sunt a Leóne ad magnum prándium. Fuit invitátus Murílegus. Quaerébat Leo quid libéntius coméderet, volens síngulis satisfácere. Et ait: Rattos et mures. Cogitávit Leo: Nisi omnes habérent de hoc férculo, esset vilánia. Tandem facit veníre férculum generále de rattis, et Cattus óptime comédit. Álii murmuravérunt, dicéntes: Fi, fi! Quid appónitur nobis? Et totum prándium propter hoc maculátum est.


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:

Contigit quod
animalia
invitata sunt a Leone
ad magnum prandium.
Fuit invitatus Murilegus.
Quaerebat Leo
quid libentius comederet,
volens singulis satisfacere.
Et ait: Rattos et mures.
Cogitavit Leo:
Nisi omnes
haberent de hoc ferculo,
esset vilania.
Tandem facit venire
ferculum generale de rattis,
et Cattus optime comedit.
Alii murmuraverunt,
dicentes: Fi, fi!
Quid apponitur nobis?
Et totum prandium
propter hoc maculatum est.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a cat enjoying the mouse on the menu: