Saturday, July 16, 2011

Fabula Facilis: Prometheus, Leo, et Elephantus


Leo saepe querelam instituit
cum Prometheo, creatore suo,
et eum accusat,
"Tu me fecisti
magnum atque pulcherrimum,
sed gallum timeo!"
Prometheus leoni respondet,
"Quare me temere accusas?
Corpus, quod facere poteram,
ex me habes, robustum et validum;
sed tuus est animus
qui, debilitatus, gallum turpiter timet."
Leo demum ingemiscit,
"Vae mihi!
Miserrimus sum,
et omnino mori desidero!"
Sortem suam duram lamentans,
forte in elephantum obvius incidit.
"Salve, amice,"
dicit leo, elephantum compellans,
sed, dum leo sermones serere incipit,
elephantus continuo aures movet.
Hoc videns, leo eum interrogat,
"Quid facis? Cur aures sic motitas?"
Elephantus respondet,
"Nonne vides culicem illum volitantem?
Nonne audis eum susurrantem?
Hoc parvulum animal valde timeo,
et iamiam me invadit!
Si in aurem meam irrepit,
ego repente morior!"
Leo, eius verbis gaudens, exclamat,
"Quid igitur mihi mortem expetam?
Miser non sum, sed felicissimus:
ego tanto beatior elephanto,
quanto gallus culice maior est!"

This story is based on 797. Prometheus, Leo, et Elephantus.
Leo et Elephantus

Click here for a SLIDESHOW of all the Rackham images. Can you see the little gnat that is driving the poor elephant crazy?
Prometheus - Prometheus
leo - lion
et - and
elephantus - elephant
saepe - often
querela - complain
instituo - set up, build, make
cum - with
creator - creator
suus - reflexive possessive adjective
is - he/she/it
accuso - accuse, blame
tu - you
ego - I
facio - make, create
magnus - great, large
atque - and
pulcher - beautiful, handsome
sed - but
gallus - rooster
timeo - fear, be afraid
respondeo - answer, reply
quare - why
temere - rashly
corpus - body
qui - which, that
possum - can, be able
ex - from
habeo - have
robustus - strong
validus - powerful
tuus - your, yours
animus - heart, spirit, mind
debilitatus - weakened, disabled
turpiter - shamefully
demum - finally
ingemisco - groan
vae - woe
miser - wretched, unhappy
omnino - completely, entirely
morior - die
desidero - want, desire
sors - fate, lot
durus - hard, harsh
lamento - mourn, lament
forte - by chance, accidentally
in - in, into
obvius - in the way of
incido - happen, fall into, meet
salveo - be well
amicus - friend
dico - say
compello - address, speak to
dum - while
sermo - speech, talk
sero - compose, join, entwine
incipio - being
continuo - constantly, continually
auris - ear
moveo - move
hic - this
video - see
interrogo - ask, question
quis - who, what
cur - why
sic - in this way, thus
motito - keep moving, move about
nonne - question particle (expects "yes" answer)
culex - gnat
ille - that, that there
volito - flitter, fly about
audio - hear
susurro - whisper, buzz
parvulus - tiny, teeny-tiny
animal - animal, creature
valde - very much, greatly
iamiam - now, already
invado - enter, invade, attack
si - if
irrepo - creep into
repente - suddenly
verbum - word
gaudeo - rejoice in, delight in
exclamo - shout out, exclaim
quid - for what reason, why
igitur - therefore
mors - death
expeto - ask for, desire
felix - happy, lucky
tantus - so much, as much
beatus - blessed, happy
quantus - how much
maior - greater, larger

M0797 Perry259

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