Friday, March 12, 2010

Rattus, Murilegus et Caseus (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 21 in Hervieux's edition. This is not in the classical Aesopic corpus, but Perry does list in his medieval appendix as Perry 594.

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:

Quīdam habuit cāseum in arcā, et vēnit Rattus. Incēpit eum rōdere. Cōgitāvit paterfamilias quid faceret. Tandem habitō cōnsiliō, posuit intus Mūrilegum, et ille dēvorāvit Rattum et cāseum.


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):

Quidam hábuit cáseum in arca, et venit Rattus. Incépit eum ródere. Cogitávit paterfamílias quid fáceret. Tandem hábito consílio, pósuit intus Murílegum, et ille devorávit Rattum et cáseum.


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:

Quidam
habuit caseum in arca,
et venit Rattus.
Incepit eum rodere.
Cogitavit paterfamilias
quid faceret.
Tandem
habito consilio,
posuit intus Murilegum,
et ille
devoravit Rattum et caseum.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing the rat and the cat and the cheese: