Monday, May 17, 2010

Leo et Aquila (Babrius-prose)

SOURCE: This is a Latin prose version of Babrius's Greek verse fables, as published by Jean François Boissonade in 1844; the book is available at GoogleBooks. This is fable 100 in Boissonade's edition; for other versions, see Perry 335.

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:

Advolāns leōnī aquila quaedam, eum rogābat ut sē sociam reciperet. Et aquilae leo: Quid vetat? ait. Sed pignus dabis prius, celerēs illās pinnās tuās pactam nōn esse dēsertūrās fidem. Quī enim amīcae tibi nōn domisedae confīdam?


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):

Ádvolans leóni áquila quaedam, eum rogábat ut se sóciam recíperet. Et áquilae leo: Quid vetat? ait. Sed pignus dabis prius, céleres illas pinnas tuas pactam non esse desertúras fidem. Qui enim amícae tibi non domísedae confídam?


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:

Advolans leoni
aquila quaedam,
eum rogabat
ut se sociam reciperet.
Et aquilae leo:
Quid vetat? ait.
Sed pignus dabis prius,
celeres illas pinnas tuas
pactam non esse deserturas fidem.
Qui enim
amicae tibi
non domisedae
confidam?



IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a lion and an eagle in a tattoo: