Thursday, June 3, 2010

Bellator Timidus et Corvi (DeFuria)


Timidus quīdam homo ōlim ad bellum proficiscēbātur. Cui cum Corvī crocitantēs occurrissent, positīs armīs domī sē continuit. Posterā diē idem repetēns iter, eōdem auspiciō territus restitit. Quapropter ille indignātus, vōs quidem, quantum vultis, inquit, crocitāte, sed meās carnēs nē vorētis.

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 390 in De Furia; for other versions, see Perry 245.

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):

Tímidus quidam homo olim ad bellum proficiscebátur. Cui cum Corvi crocitántes occurríssent, pósitis armis domi se contínuit. Póstera die idem répetens iter, eódem auspício térritus réstitit. Quaprópter ille indignátus, vos quidem, quantum vultis, inquit, crocitáte, sed meas carnes ne vorétis.


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:

Timidus quidam homo
olim ad bellum proficiscebatur.
Cui
cum Corvi crocitantes
occurrissent,
positis armis
domi se continuit.
Postera die
idem repetens iter,
eodem auspicio territus
restitit.
Quapropter
ille indignatus,
vos quidem,
quantum vultis, inquit,
crocitate,
sed meas carnes ne voretis.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing a toy Roman soldier: