Friday, May 7, 2010

Oves, Porcus et Dominus (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 158 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:

Porcus crīminātus ab ovibus, quod dominō ā quō tantā pascēbātur dīligentiā, nullam referret grātiam, cum ipsae lac, lānam, agnōsque illī praeberent. Mortuus, inquit, referam: nōn ab rē mē nūtrit. Fābula indicat, quod nemō absque spē praemiī labōrem subit.


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):

Porcus criminátus ab óvibus, quod dómino a quo tanta pascebátur diligéntia, nullam reférret grátiam, cum ipsae lac, lanam, agnósque illi praebérent. Mórtuus, inquit, réferam: non ab re me nutrit. Fábula índicat, quod nemo absque spe praémii labórem subit.


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:

Porcus
criminatus ab ovibus,
quod
domino
a quo tanta pascebatur diligentia,
nullam referret gratiam,
cum ipsae
lac, lanam, agnosque illi praeberent.
Mortuus, inquit, referam:
non ab re me nutrit.
Fabula indicat,
quod
nemo absque spe
praemii laborem subit.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a philosophical-looking pig: