Monday, March 22, 2010

Lupus piscis fluvii (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 82 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:

Lupus piscis erat in amne quōdam, quī pulchritūdine, magnitūdine, et rōbore cēterōs eiusdem fluviī piscēs excēdēbat. Unde cunctī eum admīrābantur et tamquam rēgem praecipuō prōsequēbantur honōre. Quārē in superbiam ēlātus māiōrem principātum coepit appetere. Relictō igitur amne, in quō multōs annōs regnāverat, ingressus est mare, ut eius regnum sibi vendicāret. Sed offendēns delphīnum mīrae magnitūdinis, quī in illō regnābat, ita ab illō īnsectātus est, ut aufugiēns vix amnis ostium ingrederētur, unde amplius nōn est ausus exīre. Haec fābula nōs admonet, ut rēbus nostrīs contentī, ea nōn appetāmus, quae nostrīs vīribus sunt longē māiōra.



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):

Lupus piscis erat in amne quodam, qui pulchritúdine, magnitúdine, et róbore céteros eiúsdem flúvii pisces excedébat. Unde cuncti eum admirabántur et tamquam regem praecípuo prosequebántur honóre. Quare in supérbiam elátus maiórem principátum coepit appétere. Relícto ígitur amne, in quo multos annos regnáverat, ingréssus est mare, ut eius regnum sibi vendicáret. Sed offéndens delphínum mirae magnitúdinis, qui in illo regnábat, ita ab illo insectátus est, ut aufúgiens vix amnis óstium ingrederétur, unde ámplius non est ausus exíre. Haec fábula nos ádmonet, ut rebus nostris conténti, ea non appetámus, quae nostris víribus sunt longe maióra.



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:

Lupus piscis
erat in amne quodam,
qui
pulchritudine, magnitudine,
et robore
ceteros eiusdem fluvii pisces
excedebat.
Unde cuncti
eum admirabantur
et tamquam regem
praecipuo prosequebantur honore.
Quare in superbiam elatus
maiorem principatum
coepit appetere.
Relicto igitur amne,
in quo multos annos regnaverat,
ingressus est mare,
ut eius regnum sibi vendicaret.
Sed offendens delphinum
mirae magnitudinis,
qui in illo regnabat,
ita ab illo insectatus est,
ut aufugiens
vix amnis ostium ingrederetur,
unde amplius non est ausus exire.
Haec fabula nos admonet,
ut rebus nostris contenti,
ea non appetamus,
quae nostris viribus
sunt longe maiora.




IMAGE. The lupus piscis referred to here is probably a pike, so here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a pike in an aquarium photographed by Luc Viatour: