Schleicher's fable

Schleicher's fable is a a reconstructed text in Proto-Indo-European (PIE), published by August Schleicher in 1868. Schleicher was the first scholar to compose a text in PIE. The fable is entitled Avis akvasas ka ("The Sheep and the Horses"). Schleicher's reconstruction assumed that the o/e vocalism was secondary, and his PIE is much more closely based on Sanskrit than modern reconstructions.

Related Topics:
Proto-Indo-European - August Schleicher - 1868 - Sanskrit

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Original text:

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:Avis, jasmin varn? na ? ast, dadarka akvams, tam, v?gham garum vaghantam, tam, bh?ram magham, tam manum ?ku bharantam. Avis akvabhjams ? vavakat; kard aghnutai mai vidanti manum akvams agantam. Akv?sas ? vavakant: krudhi avai, kard aghnutai vividvant-svas: manus patis varn?m avis?ms karnauti svabhjam gharmam vastram avibhjams ka varn? na asti. Tat kukruvants avis agram ? bhugat.

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A second version of the same tale was composed by Hermann Hirt in 1939.

Related Topics:
Hermann Hirt - 1939

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A third version was published by Winfred Lehmann and Ladislav Zgusta in 1979http://www.ciep.fr/publications/genetique/genetique26.htm:

Related Topics:
Winfred Lehmann - Ladislav Zgusta - 1979

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: owis, kwesyo wlhna ne est, ekwons espeket, oinom ghe gwrum woghom weghontm, oinomkwe megam bhorom, oinomkwe ghmenm oku bherontm. Owis nu ekwobh(y)os ewewkwet: Ker aghnutoi moi ekwons agontm nerm widntei. Ekwos tu ewewkwont: Kludhi, owei, ker aghnutoi nsmei widntbh(y)os: ner, potis, owiom r wlhnam sebhi gwhermom westrom kwrneuti. Neghi owiom wlhna esti. Tod kekluwos owis agrom ebhuget.

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A fourth version appears in the EIEC (1997:501).

Related Topics:
EIEC - 1997

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English translation:

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:On a hill, a sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses". The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool". Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.

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Note that in the modernized version of "The Sheep and the Horses", a spelling convention is used which is different from the one introduced in the Proto-Indo-European language article: h and w are not superscripted to indicate aspiration and labialization. Also most laryngeals are omitted, and where given, the different laryngeals are not distinguished.

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The original version of "The Sheep and the Horses" uses Schleicher's spelling, which is influenced by Sanskrit, but uses j for y.

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