Monday, March 1, 2010

Mus et Milvus Irretitus (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 70 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:

Mūs cōnspicātus milvum laqueō aucupis implicitum misertus est avis, quamvīs sibi inimīcae, abrōsīsque dente vinculīs, ēvolandī viam fēcit. Milvus tantī immemor beneficiī, ubī sē solūtum vīdit, mūrem nīl tāle suspicantem corripiēns unguibus et rōstrō lacerāvit. Fābula indicat, malignōs virōs huiusmodī grātiās suīs benefactōribus solēre reprehendere.



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):

Mus conspicátus milvum láqueo aúcupis implícitum misértus est avis, quamvis sibi inimícae, abrosísque dente vínculis, evolándi viam fecit. Milvus tanti ímmemor benefícii, ubi se solútum vidit, murem nil tale suspicántem corrípiens únguibus et rostro lacerávit. Fábula índicat malígnos viros huiúsmodi grátias suis benefactóribus solére reprehéndere.



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:

Mus
conspicatus milvum
laqueo aucupis implicitum
misertus est avis,
quamvis sibi inimicae,
abrosisque dente vinculis,
evolandi viam fecit.
Milvus
tanti immemor beneficii,
ubi se solutum vidit,
murem
nil tale suspicantem
corripiens
unguibus et rostro laceravit.
Fabula indicat
malignos viros
huiusmodi gratias
suis benefactoribus
solere reprehendere.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a hawk munching on a mouse: