Thursday, March 18, 2010

Equus incultus sed velox (Abstemius)

SOURCE: This fable comes from the first Hecatomythium ("100 Fables") of Laurentius Abstemius (Lorenzo Bevilaqua), a fifteenth-century Italian scholar. Of all the neo-Latin fable collections, Abstemius's was the most popular, and his stories are frequently anthologized in the 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century collections of Aesop's fables in Latin. Here is a 1499 edition of the book online. This is fable 88 in the collection.

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 complūrēs ad circēnsēs lūdōs fuerant adductī pulcherrimīs phalerīs ornātī, praeter ūnum, quem cēterī ut incultum et ad huiusmodī certāmen ineptum irrīdēbant, nec umquam victōrem futūrum opīnābantur. Sed ubī currendī tempus advēnit et datō tubae signō cunctī ē carceribus exiliēre, tum dēmum innotuit quantō hic paulō ante irrīsus cēterōs vēlōcitāte superāret. Omnibus enim aliīs post sē longō intervallō relictīs, palmam assecūtus est. Fābula indicat nōn ex habitū sed ex virtūte hominēs iūdicandōs.



ACCENT MARKS. Here is the text with stress accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):

Equi complúres ad circénses ludos fúerant addúcti pulchérrimis pháleris ornáti, praeter unum, quem céteri ut incúltum et ad huiúsmodi certámen inéptum irridébant, nec umquam victórem futúrum opinabántur. Sed ubi curréndi tempus advénit et dato tubae signo cuncti e carcéribus exiliére, tum demum innótuit quanto hic paulo ante irrísus céteros velocitáte superáret. Ómnibus enim áliis post se longo intervállo relíctis, palmam assecútus est. Fábula índicat non ex hábitu sed ex virtúte hómines iudicándos.



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. I've put in some line breaks to show the natural pauses in the story:

Equi complures
ad circenses ludos
fuerant adducti
pulcherrimis phaleris ornati,
praeter unum,
quem ceteri ut incultum
et ad huiusmodi certamen ineptum
irridebant,
nec umquam
victorem futurum
opinabantur.
Sed ubi currendi tempus advenit
et dato tubae signo
cuncti e carceribus exiliere,
tum demum innotuit
quanto hic
paulo ante irrisus
ceteros velocitate superaret.
Omnibus enim aliis
post se longo intervallo relictis,
palmam assecutus est.
Fabula indicat
non ex habitu
sed ex virtute
homines iudicandos.




IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) that shows a winning horse: