Thursday, May 6, 2010

Vir Avarus, moriens (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 132 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:

Vir avārus moriēns, cum tunc dēmum intelligeret nihil sēcum lātūrum, vertit sē ad amīcōs et propinquōs, quōs praesentēs cernēbat, dīcēns: Disce ā mē, quī omne vītae tempus struendīs opibus incubuī, nē nimium studeātis congregāre dīvitiās. Ex tot enim terrae iūgeribus, et tam pretiōsīs vestibus, quās tantō sūdōre parāvī, quinque pedum fossam, et linteāmen ūnum, quō mortuus tegātur, possidēbō. Fābula indicat, stultum et miserum esse tantam coacervandīs opibus operam impendere, quā velimus nōlimus brevī sunt relinquenda.


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):

Vir avárus móriens, cum tunc demum intellígeret nihil secum latúrum, vertit se ad amícos et propínquos, quos praeséntes cernébat, dicens: Disce a me, qui omne vitae tempus struéndis ópibus incúbui, ne nímium studeátis congregáre divítias. Ex tot enim terrae iugéribus, et tam pretiósis véstibus, quas tanto sudóre parávi, quinque pedum fossam, et linteámen unum, quo mórtuus tegátur, possidébo. Fábula índicat, stultum et míserum esse tantam coacervándis ópibus óperam impéndere, qua vélimus nólimus brevi sunt relinquénda.


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:

Vir avarus
moriens,
cum tunc demum intelligeret
nihil secum laturum,
vertit se
ad amicos et propinquos,
quos praesentes cernebat,
dicens:
Disce a me,
qui
omne vitae tempus
struendis opibus incubui,
ne nimium studeatis
congregare divitias.
Ex tot enim terrae iugeribus,
et tam pretiosis vestibus,
quas tanto sudore paravi,
quinque pedum fossam,
et linteamen unum,
quo mortuus tegatur,
possidebo.
Fabula indicat,
stultum et miserum esse
tantam coacervandis opibus operam
impendere,
quae
velimus nolimus
brevi sunt relinquenda.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing what the greedy man ended up with: