Magister. Vōs quoque omnēs, salvēte. 1Tabulāsne portāvistis et stilōs?
D. Portāvimus.
M. Iam fābulam Aesōpī2 discēmus. Ego legam, vōs in tabulīs scrībite. Et tū, Pūblī, dā mihi ē capsā3 Aesōpī volūmen.4 Iam audīte omnēs: Vulpēs et Ūva.
Vulpēs ōlim famē coācta ūvam dēpendentem vīdit. Ad ūvam saliēbat, sūmere cōnāns. Frūstrā diū cōnāta, tandem īrāta erat et salīre cessāns dīxit: “Illa ūva est acerba; acerbam ūvam 5nihil moror.”
Omnia´ne scrīpsistis, puerī?
D. Omnia, magister.
1. Tablets were thin boards of wood smeared with wax. The writing was done with a stylus, a pointed instrument like a pencil, made of bone or metal, with a knob at the other end. The knob was used to smooth over the wax in making erasures and corrections.
2. Aesōpī, the famous Greek to whom are ascribed most of the fables current in the ancient world.
3. A cylindrical box for holding books and papers, shaped like a hatbox.
4. Ancient books were written on rolls made of papy´rus.