Friday, April 16, 2010

Feles, Caseus et Mus (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 116 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:

Vir quīdam magnum ac pulcherrimum in capsā cāseum habēbat, quem musculus edēbat. Ex cōnsiliō ergō amīcī fēlem illuc clausit, quae occīsō mūre tōtum cāseum comēdit. Fābula indicat, eōs nōn adhibendōs custōdēs, quī nōn minus quam hostēs nōbīs nocēre possunt.


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):

Vir quidam magnum ac pulchérrimum in capsa cáseum habébat, quem músculus edébat. Ex consílio ergo amíci felem illuc clausit, quae occíso mure totum cáseum comédit. Fábula índicat, eos non adhibéndos custódes, qui non minus quam hostes nobis nocére possunt.


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:

Vir quidam
magnum ac pulcherrimum
in capsa caseum habebat,
quem musculus edebat.
Ex consilio ergo amici
felem illuc clausit,
quae
occiso mure
totum caseum comedit.
Fabula indicat,
eos non adhibendos custodes,
qui
non minus quam hostes
nobis nocere possunt.



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