Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Milvus, Accipiter et Aquila (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 183 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:

Milvus cum accipitre apud aquilam dē praestantiā certābat, dīcēns, ob corporis magnitūdinem sēsē illī praeferendum. Contrā accipiter, nōn statūram, sed vīrēs spectārī oportēre dīcēbat. Tunc aquila: īte, ait, vēnātum, et uter vestrum digniōrem mihi attulerit praedam, eum praestantiōrem iūdicātō. Cum autem milvus exiguum mūrem, accipiter vērō columbam apportāsset, inquit aquila, quantō columba māior est mūre, tantō accipitrem milvō praestantiōrem esse pronuntiō. Fābula indicat, ex operum, nōn corporum magnitūdine hominēs mētiendōs.


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):

Milvus cum accípitre apud áquilam de praestántia certábat, dicens, ob córporis magnitúdinem sese illi praeferéndum. Contra accípiter, non statúram, sed vires spectári oportére dicébat. Tunc áquila: ite, ait, venátum, et uter vestrum digniórem mihi attúlerit praedam, eum praestantiórem iudicáto. Cum autem milvus exíguum murem, accípiter vero colúmbam apportásset, inquit áquila, quanto colúmba maior est mure, tanto accípitrem milvo praestantiórem esse pronúntio. Fábula índicat, ex óperum, non córporum magnitúdine hómines metiéndos.


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:

Milvus
cum accipitre
apud aquilam
de praestantia certabat,
dicens,
ob corporis magnitudinem
sese
illi praeferendum.
Contra accipiter,
non staturam,
sed vires spectari oportere
dicebat.
Tunc aquila:
ite, ait, venatum,
et uter vestrum
digniorem mihi attulerit praedam,
eum
praestantiorem iudicato.
Cum autem
milvus exiguum murem,
accipiter vero columbam
apportasset,
inquit aquila,
quanto
columba
maior est mure,
tanto
accipitrem
milvo praestantiorem esse
pronuntio.
Fabula indicat,
ex operum,
non corporum magnitudine
homines metiendos.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a hawk munching on a mouse: