Friday, March 5, 2010

Cochlea et domus sua (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 71 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:

Cum Iuppiter ab exordiō mundī singulīs animālibus mūnera quae petīssent ēlargīrētur, cochlea ab eō petiit, ut domum suam posset circumferre. Interrogāta ā Iōve, quārē tāle ab eō mūnus exposceret, quod illī grave et molestum futūrum erat. Mālō, inquit, tam grave onus perpetuō ferre, quam, cum mihi libuerit, malum vicīnum nōn posse vītāre. Fābula indicat, malōrum vicīnitātem omnī incommodō fugiendam.


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):

Cum Iúppiter ab exórdio mundi síngulis animálibus múnera quae petíssent elargirétur, cóchlea ab eo pétiit, ut domum suam posset circumférre. Interrogáta a Iove, quare tale ab eo munus expósceret, quod illi grave et moléstum futúrum erat. "Malo (inquit) tam grave onus perpétuo ferre, quam, cum mihi libúerit, malum vicínum non posse vitáre." Fábula índicat, malórum vicinitátem omni incómmodo fugiéndam.


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:

Cum Iuppiter
ab exordio mundi
singulis animalibus
munera quae petissent elargiretur,
cochlea ab eo petiit,
ut domum suam posset circumferre.
Interrogata a Iove,
quare tale ab eo munus exposceret,
quod
illi grave et molestum futurum erat.
"Malo (inquit)
tam grave onus perpetuo ferre,
quam, cum mihi libuerit,
malum vicinum non posse vitare."
Fabula indicat,
malorum vicinitatem
omni incommodo fugiendam.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a snail happily in its shell: