Sunday, May 30, 2010

Agricola et Asini (DeFuria)


Agricola quīdam in agrō cōnsenuit, et cum numquam ingressus esset in urbem, precābātur domesticōs, ut eam vidēret. At illī iunctīs Asellīs, atque in currū eō impositō, sōlum iussērunt agere. Euntī tamen procellā et turbine āerem occupantibus, et tenēbrīs factīs, Asellī ā viā aberrantēs in quoddam praecipitium dēdūxērunt senem. At ille iam praecipitandus, Ō Iuppiter, ait, in quā rē tē iniūriā affecī, quod sīc inīquē occīdor, praesertimque neque ab equīs generōsīs, neque ā mūlīs bonīs, sed ab Asellīs vīlissimīs?


SOURCE: This comes from the Latin translation that accompanies De Furia's edition of the Greek Aesopic corpus, published in 1810 and available at GoogleBooks. This is fable 413 in De Furia; for other versions, see Perry 381.

READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons (above) or accent marks (below) - and read the text out loud until you feel comfortable and confident. Then, try reading the unmarked text at the very bottom. It should be easy for you after practicing with the marked texts. :-)


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

Agrícola quidam in agro consénuit, et cum numquam ingréssus esset in urbem, precabátur domésticos, ut eam vidéret. At illi iunctis Aséllis, atque in curru eo impósito, solum iussérunt ágere. Eúnti tamen procélla et túrbine áerem occupántibus, et tenébris factis, Asélli a via aberrántes in quoddam praecipítium deduxérunt senem. At ille iam praecipitándus, o Iúppiter, ait, in qua re te iniúria afféci, quod sic iníque occídor, praesertímque neque ab equis generósis, neque a mulis bonis, sed ab Aséllis vilíssimis?


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:

Agricola quidam
in agro consenuit,
et
cum numquam
ingressus esset in urbem,
precabatur domesticos,
ut eam videret.
At illi
iunctis Asellis,
atque in curru eo imposito,
solum iusserunt agere.
Eunti tamen
procella et turbine
aerem occupantibus,
et tenebris factis,
Aselli
a via aberrantes
in quoddam praecipitium
deduxerunt senem.
At ille iam praecipitandus,
O Iuppiter, ait,
in qua re
te iniuria affeci,
quod sic inique occidor,
praesertimque
neque ab equis generosis,
neque a mulis bonis,
sed ab Asellis vilissimis?



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing two donkeys ready to pull a cart: