Thursday, April 29, 2010

Vir Decrepitus et Arbores (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 167 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 dēcrepitae senectūtis irrīdēbātur ā iuvene quōdam, ut dēlīrus, quod arborēs īnsereret, quārum nōn esset poma vīsūrus. Cui senex: Nec tū, inquit, ex iīs, quās nunc īnserere parās, fructūs fortassē dēcerpēs. Nec mora: Iuvenis ex arbore, quam surculōs dēcerptūrus ascenderat, ruēns collum frēgit. Fābula indicat mortem omnī aetātī esse commūnem.


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 decrépitae senectútis irridebátur a iúvene quodam, ut delírus, quod árbores inséreret, quarum non esset poma visúrus. Cui senex: Nec tu, inquit, ex iis, quas nunc insérere paras, fructus fortásse decérpes. Nec mora: Iúvenis ex árbore, quam súrculos decerptúrus ascénderat, ruens collum fregit. Fábula índicat mortem omni aetáti esse commúnem.


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
decrepitae senectutis
irridebatur a iuvene quodam,
ut delirus,
quod arbores insereret,
quarum
non esset poma visurus.
Cui senex:
Nec tu, inquit, ex iis,
quas nunc inserere paras,
fructus fortasse decerpes.
Nec mora:
Iuvenis
ex arbore,
quam
surculos decerpturus ascenderat,
ruens
collum fregit.
Fabula indicat
mortem
omni aetati esse communem.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing someone who looks like he might be ready to fall from a tree: