Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Canis et Lepus (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 87 in Boissonade's edition; for other versions, see Perry 136.

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:

Canis leporem, quem ex monte excitāverat, persequēbātur, et, sī assequerētur, mordēbat. At conversus (blandiēbātur alter ut amīcō, quem tangeret) lepus dīcēbat: Simplex sīs animal et candidum. Esne amīcus? quid mordēs? hostis? quid igitur blandīris?


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):

Canis léporem, quem ex monte excitáverat, persequebátur, et, si assequerétur, mordébat. At convérsus (blandiebátur alter ut amíco, quem tángeret) lepus dicébat: Simplex sis ánimal et cándidum. Esne amícus? quid mordes? hostis? quid ígitur blandíris?


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:

Canis
leporem,
quem ex monte excitaverat,
persequebatur,
et, si assequeretur,
mordebat.
At conversus
(blandiebatur alter ut amico,
quem tangeret)
lepus dicebat:
Simplex sis animal et candidum.
Esne amicus? quid mordes?
hostis? quid igitur blandiris?



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a dog in fast pursuit: