Saturday, May 1, 2010

Avarus et Poma Marcescentia (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 179 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 avārus plūrima pulcherrimaque pōma collēgerat, quālia in hortīs Alcinoī et Hesperidum fuisse poētae fābulantur, quae ita parcē edēbat, ut nisi corrumpī inciperent, nōn ēsse audēret. Huius fīlius oppidō līberālis, sodālēs suōs ad pōmāria saepe dūcēbat, dīcēns: Accipite ex hīs quae vultis omnia praeter marcescentia: illa enim pater meus in secundā mēnsā semper sibi iubet adferrī. Huic praeceptō illī libenter obtemperābant. Fābula indicat homine avārō nihil esse miserius, quia aliīs custōdit, quae eī Deus fruenda concessit.


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 avárus plúrima pulcherrimáque poma collégerat, quália in hortis Alcínoi et Hespéridum fuísse poétae fabulántur, quae ita parce edébat, ut nisi corrúmpi incíperent, non esse audéret. Huius fílius óppido liberális, sodáles suos ad pomária saepe ducébat, dicens: Accípite ex his quae vultis ómnia praeter marcescéntia: illa enim pater meus in secúnda mensa semper sibi iubet adférri. Huic praecépto illi libénter obtemperábant. Fábula índicat hómine aváro nihil esse misérius, quia áliis custódit, quae ei Deus fruénda concéssit.


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 avarus
plurima pulcherrimaque poma
collegerat,
qualia
in hortis Alcinoi et Hesperidum
fuisse
poetae fabulantur,
quae ita parce edebat,
ut
nisi corrumpi inciperent,
non esse auderet.
Huius filius oppido liberalis,
sodales suos
ad pomaria saepe ducebat,
dicens:
Accipite ex his
quae vultis
omnia praeter marcescentia:
illa enim
pater meus
in secunda mensa
semper sibi iubet adferri.
Huic praecepto
illi libenter obtemperabant.
Fabula indicat
homine avaro
nihil esse miserius,
quia aliis custodit,
quae
ei Deus fruenda concessit.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing a whole lot of apples: