Monday, May 3, 2010

Canis Aquam Timens (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 119 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:

Canis quīdam quotiēs pluēbat, domō ēgredī nōn audēbat. Interrogātus ab aliō cane, cūr hoc faceret: Quī inquit quoniam ferventī aquā excoctus sum. Fābula indicat, gravia mala expertīs, levissima quaeque timōrī esse.


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):

Canis quidam quóties pluébat, domo égredi non audébat. Interrogátus ab álio cane, cur hoc fáceret: Qui inquit quóniam fervénti aqua excóctus sum. Fábula índicat, grávia mala expértis, levíssima quaeque timóri esse.


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:

Canis quidam
quoties pluebat,
domo egredi non audebat.
Interrogatus ab alio cane,
cur hoc faceret:
Qui inquit
quoniam ferventi aqua
excoctus sum.
Fabula indicat,
gravia mala expertis,
levissima quaeque
timori esse.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a scaredy dog: