Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Aquila et Sagitta (Aphthonius)

SOURCE: This is a Latin version of Aphthonius's Greek fables; you can see them side-by-side with the Greek text in Nevelet's 1660 edition of Fabulae Variorum Auctorum at GoogleBooks. This is fable 32 in Aphthonius; for other versions, see Perry 276.

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:

Sagittārius in aquilam collīneābat, et missā sagittā confīxit aquilam cumque conversa ad sagittam aquila, eam quoque pennātam suīs vidēret esse pennīs, Multīs, inquit, suae prōpriae facultātēs et rēs īnsidiās et perīculum creant.


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):

Sagittárius in áquilam collineábat, et missa sagítta confíxit áquilam cumque convérsa ad sagíttam áquila, eam quoque pennátam suis vidéret esse pennis, Multis, inquit, suae própriae facultátes et res insídias et perículum creant.


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:

Sagittarius
in aquilam collineabat,
et missa sagitta
confixit aquilam,
cumque
conversa ad sagittam
aquila,
eam quoque pennatam
suis videret esse pennis,
Multis, inquit,
suae propriae facultates
et res insidias et periculum
creant.



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source):

Here is another illustration from the Medici Aesop, which is online at the New York Public Library website.