The third specimen is the explanation of a little fable of Phaedrus in the lowest Grammar class. The fable is: "Personam tragicam forte vulpes viderat: O quanta species, inquit, cerebrum non habet." The teacher explains in the vernacular.
I. Contents of the Fable.
II. Explanation: Vulpes, a fox; viderat (translate), forte (translate); personam. Persona now means "person," but originally meant a "mask," as used in carnival masquerades, and at mask-balls, (per – through; sonare, sound, speak; speak through); tragicam, as it was used by the players in Greek and Roman tragedies. Similarly explain all the other words, and not once only, but twice or three times, if necessary.
III. Grammar. Give declension, gender of nouns and adjectives; conjugation, tense, mood etc. of every verb. This should be done as much as possible by putting questions to the pupils. Vulpes is a noun of the third declension; like...? – Proles, clades, etc. mention such as are known already to the pupils. Then give the rules of declension, gender. Viderat, is a verb. What form? Third person singular Pluperfect Active. Present tense? video. – Like? doceo. ... Perfect: Vidi. Conjugate: Vidi, vidisti, etc. – Why third person? Forte: is an adverb. Adverbs are words which... – Personam. What case? – Why accusative? Because it is the direct object of viderat.[1] – Tragicam, why not tragicum, or tragica? Explain the rule...
- ↑ English speaking students have at first great difficulties in grasping the rule of the object, because neither the article nor the noun shows any case ending. However, it can be explained easily with pronouns. Thus say : "Who is
