Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Equus et Homo (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 83 in Boissonade's edition; for other versions, see Perry 319.

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:

Equī hordea quīdam homo comedēns quotquot ībant diēs ac pōtāns, fricābat eum quotquot ībant diēs ac pectēbat. Dīxit equus: Sī mē cupis pulchrum rēvērā fīerī, mea nē vendās alimenta.


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):

Equi hórdea quidam homo cómedens quotquot ibant dies ac potans, fricábat eum quotquot ibant dies ac pectébat. Dixit equus: Si me cupis pulchrum revéra fíeri, mea ne vendas aliménta.


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:

Equi hordea
quidam homo comedens
quotquot ibant dies ac potans,
fricabat eum quotquot ibant dies
ac pectebat.
Dixit equus:
Si me cupis
pulchrum revera fieri,
mea ne vendas alimenta.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing some yummy-looking barley bread: