Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Vulpes et Mustela (Camerarius)


Vulpes irrēpserat in frūmentī cameram per angustam rīmam, quod valdē macilenta esset et corpore attenuātō famē. Rēplēta autem, cum eādem sē recipere et ēgredī vellet, nōn magis patuit exitus distentae cibō. Tum nītentem et urgentem fugam cōnspicāta mustēla monet, ut sīc exīre studeat, quemadmodum intrāverit. Maciē enim pristinā recuperāta, tum dēmum ēvāsūram illā quā subierit.

SOURCE: This comes from the Latin translation that accompanies Camerarius's edition of the Aesopic corpus; the 1571 edition of Camerarius's Aesop is available at GoogleBooks. This is fable 273 in Camerarius; for other versions, see Perry 24.

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):

Vulpes irrépserat in fruménti cámeram per angústam rimam, quod valde macilénta esset et córpore attenuáto fame. Repléta autem, cum eádem se recípere et égredi vellet, non magis pátuit éxitus disténtae cibo. Tum niténtem et urgéntem fugam conspicáta mustéla monet, ut sic exíre stúdeat, quemádmodum intráverit. Mácie enim prístina recuperáta, tum demum evasúram illa qua subíerit.


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:

Vulpes irrepserat
in frumenti cameram
per angustam rimam,
quod
valde macilenta esset
et corpore attenuato fame.
Repleta autem,
cum
eadem se recipere et egredi
vellet,
non magis patuit exitus
distentae cibo.
Tum
nitentem et urgentem fugam
conspicata mustela monet,
ut sic exire studeat,
quemadmodum intraverit.
Macie enim pristina recuperata,
tum demum evasuram
illa
qua subierit.


IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a weasel who could certainly get into, or out of, just about anything.