Friday, May 14, 2010

Bos et Asinus (Babrius-prose)

SOURCE: This is a Latin prose version of Babrius's Greek verse fables, as published by Jean François Boissonade in 1844; the book is available at GoogleBooks. This is fable 55 in Boissonade's edition; for other versions, see Perry 292.

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:

Bovī, quem possidēbat ūnicum, adiunctā asinā, homo quīdam arābat ; paupercule quidem, sed fuit necessitas. Cum autem, opere perfectō, bestiās homo esset iugō solūtūrus, et ita iterrogāret bovem asina, Quis senī revehet īnstrūmenta? Ille ipse quī solet, bōs rēspondit asinae.


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):

Bovi, quem possidébat únicum, adiúncta ásina, homo quidam arábat ; paupércule quidem, sed fuit necéssitas. Cum autem, ópere perfécto, béstias homo esset iugo solutúrus, et ita iterrogáret bovem ásina, Quis seni révehet instruménta? Ille ipse qui solet, bos respóndit ásinae.


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:

Bovi,
quem possidebat unicum,
adiuncta asina,
homo quidam arabat;
paupercule quidem,
sed fuit necessitas.
Cum autem,
opere perfecto,
bestias
homo esset iugo soluturus,
et ita iterrogaret bovem
asina,
Quis
seni revehet instrumenta?
Ille ipse qui solet,
bos respondit asinae.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing the ox and the donkey hard at work: