Thursday, March 25, 2010

Scrofa parturiens et Lupus (Phaedrus)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of Phaedrus with macrons, see the edition by J.H. Drake at GoogleBooks. This is fable 19 in the Perotti Appendix to Phaedrus. For parallel versions, see Perry 547.

READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons in verse form, or macrons in prose order, or accent marks in prose order, or focusing on the iambic meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)


VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:

Premente partū scrōfa cum gemeret iacēns.
Accurrit lupus et obstētrīcis partibus
sē posse fungī dīxit, prōmittēns opem.
Quae vērō nōsset pectoris fraudem improbī,
suspectum officium repudiāvit maleficī
et "Satis est" inquit "sī recēdis longius."
Quodsī perfidiae sē commīsisset lupī,
parī dolōre fāta dēflēsset sua.



PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:

Cum scrōfa iacēns gemeret, partū premente. Lupus accurrit et dīxit sē obstētrīcis partibus fungī posse, opem prōmittēns. Quae vērō pectoris improbī fraudem nōsset, maleficī officium suspectum repudiāvit et inquit: "Satis est sī longius recēdis." Quodsī lupī perfidiae sē commīsisset, dolōre parī fāta sua dēflēsset.


STRESS (ACCENT) MARKS. Here is the prose text with accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):

Cum scrofa iacens gémeret, partu preménte. Lupus accúrrit et dixit se obstetrícis pártibus fungi posse, opem promíttens. Quae vero péctoris ímprobi fraudem nosset, maléfici offícium suspéctum repudiávit et inquit: "Satis est si lóngius recédis." Quodsi lupi perfídiae se commisísset, dolóre pari fata sua deflésset.


IAMBIC METER. Here is the verse text with some color coding to assist in the iambic meter. The disyllabic elements (iambs/spondees) are not marked, but the trisyllabic elements are color-coded: dactyls are red, anapests are purple, and tribrachs are green (as is any proceleusmaticus, although that is a rare creature); for more information, here are some Notes on Iambic Meter.

Premen·te par·tū scrō·fa cum· gemeret· iacēns.
Accur·rit lupus· et ob·stētrī·cis par·tibus
sē pos·se fun·gī dīx·it, prō·mittēns· opem.
Quae vē·rō nōs·set pec·toris· fraud~ im·probī,
suspec·t~ offici·um repu·diā·vit male·ficī
et Satis· est in·quit sī· recē·dis lon·gius.
Quodsī· perfidi·ae sē· commī·sisset· lupī,
parī· dolō·re fā·ta dē·flēsset· sua.



IMAGE. Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) from a 1479 edition of Aesop:


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Cum scrofa iacens gemeret, partu premente. Lupus accurrit et dixit se obstetricis partibus fungi posse, opem promittens. Quae vero pectoris improbi fraudem nosset, malefici officium suspectum repudiavit et inquit: "Satis est si longius recedis." Quodsi lupi perfidiae se commisisset, dolore pari fata sua deflesset.