Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Unicornis et Homo (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 45 in Hervieux's edition. This is not in the classical Aesopic corpus, but Perry does list in his medieval appendix as Perry 609.

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:

Quīdam Ūnicornis secūtus est quemdam Hominem, quī, cum fugeret, invēnit arborem in quā erant pōma pulchra. Subtus erat fovea serpentibus, būfōnibus et reptilibus plēna. Hanc arborem rōdēbant duo vermēs, ūnus albus et alius niger. Homo ascendit arborem et pōmīs vescitur, frondibus dēlectātur, et nōn attendit quod duo vermēs arborem rōdunt. Quī cecidit, et miser in puteum corruit.


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):

Quidam Unicórnis secútus est quemdam Hóminem, qui, cum fúgeret, invénit árborem in qua erant poma pulchra. Subtus erat fóvea serpéntibus, bufónibus et reptílibus plena. Hanc árborem rodébant duo vermes, unus albus et álius niger. Homo ascéndit árborem et pomis véscitur, fróndibus delectátur, et non atténdit quod duo vermes árborem rodunt. Qui cécidit, et miser in púteum córruit.


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:

Quidam Unicornis
secutus est quemdam Hominem,
qui, cum fugeret,
invenit arborem
in qua erant poma pulchra.
Subtus erat fovea
serpentibus, bufonibus et reptilibus plena.
Hanc arborem rodebant
duo vermes,
unus albus et alius niger.
Homo
ascendit arborem
et pomis vescitur,
frondibus delectatur,
et non attendit
quod duo vermes arborem rodunt.
Qui cecidit,
et miser in puteum corruit.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a man in a fruit-tree: