Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Merula et Milvus (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 159 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:

Merula suspiciēns milvum magnō ambitū āera circinantem, ingentēsque ēiulātūs ēdentem, vehementer exterrita est. Cui turdus: nē trepida, soror, inquit, tantōs pugnae apparātūs, totque minās in exiguum mūrem, aut in pullum gallīnāceum tandem effundet. Cavendum nōbīs est ab accipitre, cuius prius unguēs, quam vōcem sentīre solēmus. Fābula indicat magis quiētōs et tacitōs hominēs quam minācēs et verbōsōs extimescendōs.


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):

Mérula suspíciens milvum magno ámbitu áera circinántem, ingentésque eiulátus edéntem, veheménter extérrita est. Cui turdus: ne trépida, soror, inquit, tantos pugnae apparátus, totque minas in exíguum murem, aut in pullum gallináceum tandem effúndet. Cavéndum nobis est ab accípitre, cuius prius ungues, quam vocem sentíre solémus. Fábula índicat magis quiétos et tácitos hómines quam mináces et verbósos extimescéndos.


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:

Merula
suspiciens milvum
magno ambitu aera circinantem,
ingentesque eiulatus edentem,
vehementer exterrita est.
Cui turdus:
ne trepida, soror, inquit,
tantos pugnae apparatus,
totque minas
in exiguum murem,
aut in pullum gallinaceum
tandem effundet.
Cavendum nobis est ab accipitre,
cuius prius ungues,
quam vocem sentire solemus.
Fabula indicat
magis quietos et tacitos homines
quam minaces et verbosos extimescendos.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a Latin merula over at the Bestiaria zoo: