Saturday, February 27, 2010

Lupus et Histrix (Abstemius)

SOURCE: This fable comes from the first Hecatomythium ("100 Fables") of Laurentius Abstemius (Lorenzo Bevilaqua), a fifteenth-century Italian scholar. Of all the neo-Latin fable collections, Abstemius's was the most popular, and his stories are frequently anthologized in the 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century collections of Aesop's fables in Latin. Here is a 1499 edition of the book online. This is fable 69 in the collection.

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:

Lupus ēsuriēns in histricem intenderat animum, quem tamen, quia sagittīs undique mūnītus erat, invādere nōn audēbat. Excogitātā autem eum perdendī astūtiā, illī suādēre coepit, nē paucō tempore tantum tēlōrum onus tergore portāret, quandoquidem nē aliī quidem sagittariī, nisi cum proeliī tempus īnstāret, portārent. Cui histrix: Adversus lupum, inquit, semper proeliandī tempus esse crēdendum est. Haec fābula innuit, virum sapientem oportēre adversus inimīcōrum et hostium fraudēs semper esse mūnītum.



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

Lupus esúriens in hístricem inténderat ánimum, quem tamen, quia sagíttis úndique munítus erat, invádere non audébat. Excogitáta autem eum perdéndi astútia, illi suadére coepit, ne pauco témpore tantum telórum onus térgore portáret, quandóquidem ne álii quidem sagittárii, nisi cum proélii tempus instáret, portárent. Cui histrix: "Advérsus lupum (inquit) semper proeliándi tempus esse credéndum est." Haec fábula ínnuit, virum sapiéntem oportére advérsus inimicórum et hóstium fraudes semper esse munítum.



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. I've put in some line breaks to show the natural pauses in the story:

Lupus esuriens
in histricem intenderat animum,
quem tamen,
quia sagittis undique munitus erat,
invadere non audebat.
Excogitata autem
eum perdendi astutia,
illi suadere coepit,
ne
pauco tempore
tantum telorum onus
tergore portaret,
quandoquidem
ne alii quidem sagittarii,
nisi cum proelii tempus instaret,
portarent.
Cui histrix:
"Adversus lupum (inquit)
semper proeliandi tempus esse
credendum est."
Haec fabula innuit,
virum sapientem oportere
adversus
inimicorum et hostium fraudes
semper esse munitum.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a wise little hedgehog: