READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons in verse form, or macrons in prose order, or accent marks in prose order, or focusing on the iambic meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)
VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:
Āmittit meritō proprium quī aliēnum adpetit.
Canis, per flūmen carnem cum ferret, natāns
lymphārum in speculō vīdit simulācrum suum,
aliamque praedam ab alterō ferrī putāns
ēripere voluit; vērum dēcepta aviditās
et quem tenēbat ōre dīmīsit cibum,
nec quem petēbat potuit adeō tangere.
PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Quī aliēnum adpetit, meritō proprium āmittit. Canis, cum carnem per flūmen ferret, simulācrum suum natāns lymphārum in speculō vīdit, et, putāns aliam praedam ab alterō ferrī, ēripere voluit; vērum aviditās dēcepta et cibum, quem ōre tenēbat, dīmīsit, nec adeō, quem petēbat, tangere potuit.
STRESS (ACCENT) MARKS. Here is the prose text with accents, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):
Qui aliénum ádpetit, mérito próprium amíttit. Canis, cum carnem per flumen ferret, simúlacrum suum natans lymphárum in spéculo vidit, et, putans áliam praedam ab áltero ferri, erípere vóluit; verum avíditas decépta et cibum, quem ore tenébat, dimísit, nec ádeo, quem petébat, tángere pótuit.
IAMBIC METER. Here is the verse text with some color coding to assist in the iambic meter. The disyllabic elements (iambs/spondees) are not marked, but the trisyllabic elements are color-coded: dactyls are red, anapests are purple, and tribrachs are green (as is any proceleusmaticus, although that is a rare creature):
Āmit·tit meri·tō propri·um qu~ ali·ēn~ ad·petit.
Canis,· per flū·men car·nem cum· ferret,· natāns
lymphār~· in specu·lō vī·dit simu·lācrum· suum,
aliam·que prae·d~ ab al·terō· ferrī· putāns
ēripe·re volu·it; vē·rum dē·cept~ avi·ditās
et quem· tenē·bat ō·re dī·mīsit· cibum,
nec quem· petē·bat potu·it ade·ō tan·gere.
IMAGE. For an image of the story, here is an illustration from an Aesop book published in 1521 - you can see the piece of meat reflected there in the water, big and tempting!
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Qui alienum adpetit, merito proprium amittit. Canis, cum carnem per flumen ferret, simulacrum suum natans lympharum in speculo vidit, et, putans aliam praedam ab altero ferri, eripere voluit; verum aviditas decepta et cibum, quem ore tenebat, dimisit, nec adeo, quem petebat, tangere potuit.
