Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Vulpes, Gallinae et Canis (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 139 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:

Vulpes cohortem gallīnārum nocte invādere nōn audēbat, metū canis, quem apud eās pernoctāre cognōverat. Sed cum eās aliō mīgrāsse, ut cum nonnullīs aliīs gallīnīs dēgerent, intellexisset, ubī canis nōn erat, vōtī compotem sē fore rata, illuc sē conferēns, ad ūnam omnēs occīdit. Fābula indicat, melius esse bonum et strēnuum vīcīnum, quam ignāvōs cōnsanguineōs habēre propinquōs.


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):

Vulpes cohórtem gallinárum nocte invádere non audébat, metu canis, quem apud eas pernoctáre cognóverat. Sed cum eas álio migrásse, ut cum nonnúllis áliis gallínis dégerent, intellexísset, ubi canis non erat, voti cómpotem se fore rata, illuc se cónferens, ad unam omnes óccidit. Fábula índicat, mélius esse bonum et strénuum vicínum, quam ignávos consanguíneos habére propínquos.


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:

Vulpes
cohortem gallinarum
nocte invadere non audebat,
metu canis,
quem
apud eas pernoctare
cognoverat.
Sed cum
eas alio migrasse,
ut
cum nonnullis aliis gallinis
degerent,
intellexisset,
ubi canis non erat,
voti compotem se fore rata,
illuc se conferens,
ad unam omnes occidit.
Fabula indicat,
melius esse
bonum et strenuum vicinum,
quam
ignavos consanguineos habere propinquos.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a fox in the henhouse: