Saturday, May 1, 2010

Tauri Quattuor (Desbillons)

SOURCE: For a complete edition of the fables of Desbillons, the 18th-century Jesuit scholar and poet, see GoogleBooks. This is fable 2.13. For parallel versions, see Perry 372.

READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons in verse form, or macrons in prose order, or accent marks in prose order, or focusing on the iambic meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)


VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons (note the short o in proprium):

Sanxēre Taurī quattuor, perīculum
Cuiusque ut omnēs reputārent prōprium sibi.
Simul pascentēs hōs videt Leo, nec tamen
Coniunctōs audet aggredī, quamquam ēsurit:
Prīmum ergō verbīs dat operam fallācibus;
Sēgregat; ac dēmum sēgregātōs ēnecat.
Addit vim invictam fortibus concordia:
Discordia frangit ipsam fortitūdinem.



PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:

Taurī quattuor sanxēre, ut omnēs reputārent cuiusque perīculum sibi prōprium. Leo hōs videt simul pascentēs, et coniunctōs tamen aggredī nōn audet, quamquam ēsurit. Prīmum ergō operam dat verbīs fallācibus. Sēgregat, ac dēmum sēgregātōs ēnecat. Concordia vim invictam fortibus addit: discordia fortitūdinem ipsam frangit.


STRESS (ACCENT) MARKS. Here is the prose text with accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):

Tauri quáttuor sanxére, ut omnes reputárent cuiúsque perículum sibi próprium. Leo hos videt simul pascéntes, et coniúnctos tamen ággredi non audet, quamquam ésurit. Primum ergo óperam dat verbis fallácibus. Ségregat, ac demum segregátos énecat. Concórdia vim invíctam fórtibus addit: discórdia fortitúdinem ipsam frangit.


IAMBIC METER. Here is the verse text with some color coding to assist in the iambic meter. The disyllabic elements (iambs/spondees) are not marked, but the trisyllabic elements are color-coded: dactyls are red, anapests are purple, and tribrachs are green (as is any proceleusmaticus, although that is a rare creature); for more information, here are some Notes on Iambic Meter.

Sanxē·re Tau·rī quat·tuor,· perī·culum
Cuius·qu~ ut om·nēs· repu·tārent· proprium· sibi.
Simul· pascen·tēs hōs· videt· Leo, nec· tamen
Coniunc·tōs au·det ag·gredī,· quamqu~ ē·surit:
Prīm~ er·gō ver·bīs dat o·peram· fallā·cibus;
Sēgregat;· ac dē·mum sē·gregā·tōs ē·necat.
Addit· v~ invic·tam for·tibus· concor·dia:
Discor·dia fran·git ip·sam for·titū·dinem.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story from the 1574 edition of Osius:


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Tauri quattuor sanxere, ut omnes reputarent cuiusque periculum sibi proprium. Leo hos videt simul pascentes, et coniunctos tamen aggredi non audet, quamquam esurit. Primum ergo operam dat verbis fallacibus. Segregat, ac demum segregatos enecat. Concordia vim invictam fortibus addit: discordia fortitudinem ipsam frangit.