Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Scarabaeus et Stercus (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 28a in Hervieux's edition. Although this is not in the classical Aesop corpus, the mocking "cuique suum" theme is definitely in the spirit of Aesop.

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:

Scarabaeus semel volāvit per amygdalinās arborēs flōrentēs, per pōmēria, per rosās, per līlia et aliōs flōrēs. Tandem proiēcit sē in sterquilīnium ubī erant stercora equōrum et boum, et invēnit ibi uxōrem suam quae quaesīvit unde venīret. Et ait Scarabaeus: Circuīvī terram, trānsvolāvī eam, vīdī florēs amygdalārum, rosārum, et līlōrum; sed nunquam vīdī ita amoenum locum et dēlectābilem, sīcut est iste, dēmōnstrātō sterquilīniō.


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):

Scarabaéus semel volávit per amygdálinas árbores floréntes, per poméria, per rosas, per lília et álios flores. Tandem proiécit se in sterquilínium ubi erant stércora equórum et boum, et invénit ibi uxórem suam quae quaesívit unde veníret. Et ait Scarabaéus: Circuívi terram, transvolávi eam, vidi flores amygdalárum, rosárum, et lilórum; sed nunquam vidi ita amoénum locum et delectábilem, sicut est iste, demonstráto sterquilínio.


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:

Scarabaeus
semel volavit
per amygdalinas arbores florentes,
per pomeria, per rosas,
per lilia et alios flores.
Tandem proiecit se in sterquilinium
ubi erant stercora equorum et boum,
et invenit ibi uxorem suam
quae quaesivit unde veniret.
Et ait Scarabaeus:
Circuivi terram,
transvolavi eam,
vidi flores
amygdalarum, rosarum, et lilorum;
sed nunquam vidi
ita amoenum locum et delectabilem,
sicut est iste,
demonstrato sterquilinio.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a dung beetle at work: