Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Ovis et Cornicula (Desbillons)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of the fables of Desbillons, the 18th-century Jesuit scholar and poet, see GoogleBooks. This is fable 2.17. For parallel versions, see Perry 553.

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:

Cornīcula sedēns in Ove dum tergum fodit:
Iniūriam ex tē quam patior, inquit Bidēns,
Canī sī facerēs, ferrēs infortūnium.
Rēspondet illa: Quibus egō illūdam, sciō,
Molesta placidīs, mōrigera ferōcibus.
Malitia saepe comitem habet prūdentiam.



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

Dum Cornīcula, in Ove sedēns, tergum eius fodit: Bidēns inquit: Sī Canī iniūriam facerēs quam ex tē patior, infortūnium ferrēs. Illa rēspondet: Egō sciō quibus illūdam: molesta sum placidīs, mōrigera ferōcibus. Malitia saepe prūdentiam comitem habet.


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):

Dum Cornícula, in Ove sedens, tergum eius fodit: Bidens inquit: Si Cani iniúriam fáceres quam ex te pátior, infortúnium ferres. Illa respóndet: Ego scio quibus illúdam: molésta sum plácidis, morígera ferócibus. Malítia saepe prudéntiam cómitem habet.


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.

Cornī·cula se·dēns in· Ove dum· tergum· fodit:
Iniū·ri~ ex· tē quam· patior,· inquit· Bidēns,
Canī· sī face·rēs, fer·rēs in·fortū·nium.
Rēspon·det il·la: Quibus· eg~ il·lūdam,· sciō,
Moles·ta placi·dīs, mō·rigera· ferō·cibus.
Maliti·a sae·pe comi·t~ habet· prūden·tiam.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source):


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Dum Cornicula, in Ove sedens, tergum eius fodit: Bidens inquit: Si Cani iniuriam faceres quam ex te patior, infortunium ferres. Illa respondet: Ego scio quibus illudam: molesta sum placidis, morigera ferocibus. Malitia saepe prudentiam comitem habet.