Monday, April 19, 2010

Bubo et Aquila (Abstemius)

SOURCE: You can find both the first and second "hecatomythia" of Abstemius in Nevelet's monumental Aesop published in 1610, available at GoogleBooks. You can find out more about Abstemius at the Aesopus wiki. This is fable 114 in Abstemius. Perry only includes a few sporadic fables from Abstemius in his index, and there is no Perry number for this fable.

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:

Aquila in conciliō avium dīxerat, cēterārum avium fīliōs, quī magis formōsī essent, in aulicōs ēligere. Et cum certātim quaeque suōs efferret, Būbo, Rēgīna, inquit, nostra, meōs accipe, quī cēterōs pulchritūdine superant. Quā formā, inquit Aquila, sunt fīlii tuī? Quā egō sum, būbo rēspondit. Tunc cunctae avēs sunt vehementī cachinnō commōtae. Fābula indicat nēminem nātum adeō dēformem quī parentibus suīs non videātur esse formōsus.


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):

Áquila in concílio ávium díxerat, ceterárum ávium fílios, qui magis formósi essent, in aúlicos elígere. Et cum certátim quaeque suos efférret, Bubo, Regína, inquit, nostra, meos áccipe, qui céteros pulchritúdine súperant. Qua forma, inquit Áquila, sunt fílii tui? Qua ego sum, bubo respóndit. Tunc cunctae aves sunt veheménti cachínno commótae. Fábula índicat néminem natum ádeo defórmem qui paréntibus suis non videátur esse formósus.


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:

Aquila
in concilio avium
dixerat,
ceterarum avium filios,
qui magis formosi essent,
in aulicos eligere.
Et cum certatim
quaeque suos efferret,
Bubo, Regina, inquit, nostra,
meos accipe,
qui ceteros pulchritudine superant.
Qua forma, inquit Aquila,
sunt filii tui?
Qua ego sum,
bubo respondit.
Tunc cunctae aves
sunt vehementi cachinno commotae.
Fabula indicat
neminem natum
adeo deformem
qui
parentibus suis
non videatur esse formosus.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) show a forlorn-looking little owl: