Thursday, March 11, 2010

Lupus et Ovis (Dana)

SOURCE: Liber Primus, by Joseph Dana (1832) at GoogleBooks. For more information and other versions of this fable, see the links list for Perry 160.

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:

Quī ēvāserat canēs saucius lupus, cum sine vīribus in terrā iacēret, ā praetereunte ove petiit dē prōfluente rīvulō sibi pōtum ut afferret. "Egō facile (inquit) tum cibum invēnerō." Ovis, astūtiā intellectā, "Sī egō pōtum attulerō (inquit), mē scīlicet prō cibō ūsūrus sit."



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):

Qui eváserat canes saúcius lupus, cum sine víribus in terra iacéret, a praetereúnte ove petiit de profluénte rívulo sibi potum ut afférret. "Ego fácile (inquit) tum cibum invénero." Ovis, astútia intellécta, "Si ego potum attúlero (inquit), me scílicet pro cibo usúrus sit."



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:

Qui evaserat canes
saucius lupus,
cum sine viribus
in terra iaceret,
a praetereunte ove petiit
de profluente rivulo
sibi potum ut afferret.
"Ego facile (inquit)
tum cibum invenero."
Ovis,
astutia intellecta,
"Si ego
potum attulero (inquit),
me scilicet
pro cibo usurus sit."



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing a wolf... who may look harmless: