Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Leo et Socii Eius (Nequam)

SOURCE: The fables of the medieval scholar and poet Alexander Nequam are available in several different editions at GoogleBooks. This is poem 9 in Nequam. For parallel versions, see Perry 339. You can find the word list for this fable online at NoDictionaries.com, and use it interactively

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 meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)


VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons (final o scans short in sūmō):

Cervum cēpērunt ovis et leo, vacca, capella,
silvās vēnandī dum peragrant studiō;
Prōtinus atque secant per partes quattuor illum;
in mediō pōnens, prōtulit ista leo
Sūmo prior partem, quoniam leo nuncupor, ūnam,
et quia sum fortis altera iūre mea est,
Et quia plūs valeō pars est mihi tertia cervī;
quartam quī tanget hic meus hostis erit.
Sīc sōlus partēs leo sumpsit quattuor illās,
ausus nec quartam tangere nullus erat.
Hoc vetet imbellēs violentibus associārī,
nē fessī trepident et nihil accipiant.


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

Ovis et leo, vacca, capella cervum cēpērunt , dum, vēnandī studiō, silvās peragrant, Prōtinus atque illum secant per partes quattuor; ista prōtulit leo, in mediō pōnens: prior, quoniam leo nuncupor, ūnam partem sūmō, et iūre, quia sum fortis, altera mea est, et quia plūs valeō, tertia cervī pars est mihi; hic quī quartam tanget meus hostis erit. Sīc leo sōlus illās partēs quattuor sumpsit, nec quartam tangere nullus ausus erat. Hoc vetet imbellēs violentibus associārī, nē fessī trepident et nihil accipiant.


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):

Leo, ovis, vacca, et capélla cervum cepérunt , dum, venándi stúdio, silvas perágrant, prótinus atque illum secant per partes quáttuor; ista prótulit leo, in médio ponens: prior, quóniam leo núncupor, unam partem sumo, et iure, quia sum fortis, áltera mea est, et quia plus váleo, tértia cervi pars est mihi; hic qui quartam tanget meus hostis erit. Sic leo solus illas partes quáttuor sumpsit, nec quartam tángere nullus ausus erat. Hoc vetet imbélles violéntibus associári, ne fessi trépident et nihil accípiant.


ELEGIAC COUPLET METER. Below I have used an interpunct dot · to indicate the metrical elements in each line, and a double line || to indicate the hemistichs of the pentameter line.

Cervum cēpērunt ovis et leo, vacca, capella,
silvās vēnandī || dum peragrant studiō;
Prōtinus atque secant per partes quattuor illum;
in mediō pōnens, || prōtulit ista leo
Sūmo prior partem, quoniam leo nuncupor, ūnam,
et quia sum fortis || altera iūre me~ est,
Et quia plūs valeō pars est mihi tertia cervī;
quartam quī tanget || hic meus hostis erit.
Sīc sōlus partēs leo sumpsit quattuor illās,
ausus nec quartam || tangere nullus erat.
Hoc vetet imbellēs violentibus associārī,
nē fessī trepident || et nihil accipiant.


IMAGE. Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) from a Renaissance edition of Aesop:


What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Ovis et leo, vacca, capella cervum ceperunt , dum, venandi studio, silvas peragrant, Protinus atque illum secant per partes quattuor; ista protulit leo, in medio ponens: prior, quoniam leo nuncupor, unam partem sumo, et iure, quia sum fortis, altera mea est, et quia plus valeo, tertia cervi pars est mihi; hic qui quartam tanget meus hostis erit. Sic leo solus illas partes quattuor sumpsit, nec quartam tangere nullus ausus erat. Hoc vetet imbelles violentibus associari, ne fessi trepident et nihil accipiant.