Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Monedula et Vulpes (DeFuria)


Monēdula ēsuriēns in fīcū dormitābat; in quā grossōs nondum matūrōs cum reperisset, ibi, dum matūrescerent, exspectābat. Sed vulpes eam illic immorantem cōnspicāta, reīque causā intellectā, Amīca, falleris, ait, speī tantum inhaerēns, quae pascere scit quidem, sed nōn nūtrīre.


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 284 in De Furia; for other versions, see Perry 126.

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):

Monédula esúriens in ficu dormitábat; in qua grossos nondum matúros cum reperísset, ibi, dum maturéscerent, exspectábat. Sed vulpes eam illic immorántem conspicáta, reíque causa intellécta, Amíca, fálleris, ait, spei tantum inhaérens, quae páscere scit quidem, sed non nutríre.

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:

Monedula esuriens
in ficu dormitabat;
in qua
grossos nondum maturos
cum reperisset,
ibi, dum maturescerent,
exspectabat.
Sed vulpes
eam illic immorantem
conspicata,
reique causa intellecta,
Amica, falleris, ait,
spei tantum inhaerens,
quae pascere scit quidem,
sed non nutrire.


IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing some not-yet-ripe figs: