Monday, May 24, 2010

Vespa et Serpēns (DeFuria)

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 179 in De Furia; for other versions, see Perry 216.

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:

Vespa in Serpentis capite ōlim īnsidēns, continuīsque acūleī suī ictibus feriēns, ātrōciter ipsum vexābat. Serpēns itaque magnīs dolōribus excruciātus, cum eam nec ulciscī, nec ā sē removēre ullō modō posset, forte plaustrum multīs lignīs onustum cum vīdisset, suum caput ultrō rotae supposuit, Moriāmur, aiēns, sed cum hoste moriāmur: atque ita ūnā cum Vespā extinctus est.


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):

Vespa in Serpéntis cápite olim ínsidens, continuísque acúlei sui íctibus fériens, atróciter ipsum vexábat. Serpens ítaque magnis dolóribus excruciátus, cum eam nec ulcísci, nec a se removére ullo modo posset, forte plaustrum multis lignis onústum cum vidísset, suum caput ultro rotae suppósuit, Moriámur, aiens, sed cum hoste moriámur: atque ita una cum Vespa extínctus est.


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:

Vespa
in Serpentis capite
olim insidens,
continuisque aculei sui ictibus
feriens,
atrociter ipsum vexabat.
Serpens itaque
magnis doloribus excruciatus,
cum
eam nec ulcisci,
nec a se removere
ullo modo posset,
forte plaustrum
multis lignis onustum
cum vidisset,
suum caput
ultro rotae supposuit,
Moriamur, aiens,
sed cum hoste moriamur:
atque ita
una cum Vespa
extinctus est.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a snake in the road: