Wednesday, May 12, 2010

De Simia et duobus eius natis (Avianus-prose)

SOURCE: This is a prose version of Avianus's poetry, as found in a standard Renaissance edition of Aesop's fables published (and frequently republished) under the title Aesopi Phrygis et Aliorum Fabulae; various editions are available at GoogleBooks. This is fable 35 in Avianus. For other versions, see Perry 218.

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:

Sīmia, ut ferunt, cum peperit gemellōs, alterum dīligit, alterum negligit, erat puerpera cum gemellīs, atque cum incidisset terror, vītātūra perīculum, dīlectum prehendit ulnīs. Quem, dum praeceps fugitat, collīdit petrae, atque ēnecat: neglectus autem, quī in hirsūtō haeserat tergō fugientis, mānsit incolumis.


ACCENT MARKS. Here is the text with accent marks, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):

Símia, ut ferunt, cum péperit geméllos, álterum díligit, álterum négligit, erat puérpera cum geméllis, atque cum incidísset terror, vitatúra perículum, diléctum prehéndit ulnis. Quem, dum praeceps fúgitat, collídit petrae, atque énecat: negléctus autem, qui in hirsúto haéserat tergo fugiéntis, mansit incólumis.


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:

Simia, ut ferunt,
cum peperit gemellos,
alterum diligit,
alterum negligit,
erat puerpera cum gemellis,
atque
cum incidisset terror,
vitatura periculum,
dilectum prehendit ulnis.
Quem,
dum praeceps fugitat,
collidit petrae,
atque enecat:
neglectus autem,
qui
in hirsuto haeserat tergo fugientis,
mansit incolumis.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) from a 15th-century edition of Aesop: