Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Filius Hortulani et Urtica (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 125 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:

Fīlius olitōris punctus ab urtīcā, quae paternīs in hortīs crēverat, conquestus est patrī, quod herba domestica, nē herī quidem suī fīliō pepercisset. Cui pater, fīlī, inquit, huic innātum est omnibus eandem esse. Fābula indicat, virum nātūrā malignum, nē ā domesticōrum quidem iniūriīs abstinēre.


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):

Fílius olitóris punctus ab urtíca, quae patérnis in hortis créverat, conquéstus est patri, quod herba doméstica, ne heri quidem sui fílio pepercísset. Cui pater, fili, inquit, huic innátum est ómnibus eándem esse. Fábula índicat, virum natúra malígnum, ne a domesticórum quidem iniúriis abstinére.


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:

Filius olitoris
punctus ab urtica,
quae
paternis in hortis creverat,
conquestus est patri,
quod herba domestica,
ne heri quidem sui filio
pepercisset.
Cui pater,
fili, inquit,
huic innatum est
omnibus eandem esse.
Fabula indicat,
virum natura malignum,
ne a domesticorum quidem iniuriis
abstinere.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing some stinging nettles: