Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Piscis et Phoca (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 38 in Avianus. For other versions, see Perry 584.

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:

Piscis fluviālis vī flūminis correptus est in mare. Ubi suam efferēns nobilitātem, omne marīnum genus vīlipendēbat. Nōn tulit hoc phōca, sed ait: tum fore iūdicium nōbilitātis, si cum phōca captus portētur ad forum: sē emptum īrī ā nōbilibus, illum autem ā plēbe.


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):

Piscis fluviális vi flúminis corréptus est in mare. Ubi suam éfferens nobilitátem, omne marínum genus vilipendébat. Non tulit hoc phoca, sed ait: tum fore iudícium nobilitátis, si cum phoca captus portétur ad forum: se emptum iri a nobílibus, illum autem a plebe.


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:

Piscis fluvialis
vi fluminis
correptus est in mare.
Ubi
suam efferens nobilitatem,
omne marinum genus vilipendebat.
Non tulit hoc
phoca, sed ait:
tum fore iudicium nobilitatis,
si
cum phoca
captus portetur ad forum:
se emptum iri a nobilibus,
illum autem a plebe.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) - it's a seal from the Bestiaria Zoo: