Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Aquila et Pavo de Pulchritudine (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 107 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:

Aquila sē in pulchritūdine cēterīs avibus praeferēbat, cunctīs hoc vērum esse affirmantibus. Pāvo autem sēcum dīcēbat : Non pennae tē formōsam, sed rōstrum et unguēs efficiunt, quōrum timōre nulla ex nōbīs audet tēcum dē formōsitāte certāre. Fābula indicat ā multīs rēs potentiōrum nōn tam vēritāte quam timōre laudārī.


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):

Áquila se in pulchritúdine céteris ávibus praeferébat, cunctis hoc verum esse affirmántibus. Pavo autem secum dicébat : Non pennae te formósam, sed rostrum et ungues effíciunt, quorum timóre nulla ex nobis audet tecum de formositáte certáre. Fábula índicat a multis res potentiórum non tam veritáte quam timóre laudári.


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:

Aquila
se
in pulchritudine
ceteris avibus praeferebat,
cunctis
hoc verum esse
affirmantibus.
Pavo autem secum dicebat:
Non pennae
te formosam,
sed rostrum et ungues efficiunt,
quorum timore
nulla ex nobis
audet
tecum de formositate certare.
Fabula indicat
a multis
res potentiorum
non tam veritate
quam timore laudari.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing an angry eagle: