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 meter. You will find materials for all of these options below. :-)
VERSE MACRONS. Here is the verse text with macrons:
Forte Leō vīdit rēstantem in rūpe Capellam:
Scīlicet hūc illūc ardua rūpis erat."Ēditiōre locō dēscendās," callidus ille
Incipit; "in campō dulcior herba viret.""At locus est," ait haec, "grātus; mihi pābula rūpis
Laeta minus praebet, tūta sed ista placent." PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Forte, Leō Capellam vīdit, in rūpe rēstantem; scīlicet rūpis hūc illūc ardua erat. Leo callidus incipit: "Ab ēditiōre locō dēscendās; herba dulcior in campō viret." Capella ait: "At hic locus grātus est; rūpis mihi pābula praebet minus laeta, sed ista tūta placent."
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):
Forte, Leo Capéllam vidit, in rupe restántem; scílicet rupis huc illuc árdua erat. Leo cállidus íncipit: "Ab editióre loco descéndas; herba dúlcior in campo viret." Capélla ait: "At hic locus gratus est; rupis mihi pábula praebet minus laeta, sed ista tuta placent."
ELEGIAC COUPLET METER. Below I have used an interpunct dot · to indicate the metrical elements in each line, and a double line || to indicate the hemistichs of the pentameter line.
Forte Le·ō vī·dit rē·stant~ in· rūpe Ca·pellam:
Scīlicet· hūc il·lūc || ardua· rūpis e·rat.Ēditi·ōre lo·cō dē·scendās,· callidus· ille
Incipit;· in cam·pō || dulcior· herba vi·ret.At locus· est, ait· haec, grā·tus; mihi· pābula· rūpis
Laeta mi·nus prae·bet, || tūta sed· ista pla·cent.IMAGE. Here is the illustration of the fable (image source) from a 1521 edition of the fables:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Forte, Leo Capellam vidit, in rupe restantem; scilicet rupis huc illuc ardua erat. Leo callidus incipit: "Ab editiore loco descendas; herba dulcior in campo viret." Capella ait: "At hic locus gratus est; rupis mihi pabula praebet minus laeta, sed ista tuta placent."
