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 (note the meter scans the a in natis as long):
O mea dā nōbīs Vulpēcula, Sīmius inquit,
Particulam caudae, cuī grave pendet onus.Fac vestīre sinās tālī vēlāmine nātēs,
Hōc, ait, acceptō mūnere grātus erō.Illa refert: tantam sī caudam nacta fuissem,
Esset ut hanc plaustrō pōne necesse vehī:Nōn ūnō tamen inde pilō vestītior īrēs,
Nātibus incēdās nūdus ut usque tuīs.Grandis opum quamvīs nōn cōpia dēsit avārīs,
Inde tamen miserīs ferre gravantur opem. PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Sīmius inquit: "O mea Vulpēcula, cuī onus grave pendet, nōbīs caudae particulam dā. Fac tālī vēlāmine nātēs vestīre sinās. Hōc mūnere acceptō, grātus erō," ait. Illa refert: "Sī nacta fuissem tantam caudam, ut necesse esset hanc pōne vehī plaustrō, inde tamen nōn ūnō pilō īrēs vestītior; nūdus incēdās nātibus tuīs ut usque." Quamvīs grandis cōpia opum avārīs nōn dēsit, inde tamen gravantur miserīs opem ferre.
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):
Símius inquit: "O mea Vulpécula, cui onus grave pendet, nobis caudae partículam da. Fac tali velámine nates vestíre sinas. Hoc múnere accépto, gratus ero," ait. Illa refert: "Si nacta fuíssem tantam caudam, ut necésse esset hanc pone vehi plaustro, inde tamen non uno pilo ires vestítior; nudus incédas nátibus tuis ut usque." Quamvis grandis cópia opum aváris non desit, inde tamen gravántur míseris opem ferre.
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.
O mea ·dā nō·bīs Vul·pēcula,· Sīmius· inquit,
Particu·lam cau·dae, || ·cuī grave· pendet o·nus.Fac ves·tīre si·nās tā·lī vē·lāmine ·nātēs,
Hōc, ait,· accep·tō || mūnere ·grātus e·rō.Illa re·fert: tan·tam sī ·caudam ·nacta fu·issem,
Esset ut· hanc plaus·trō || pōne ne·cesse ve·hī:Nōn ū·nō tamen· inde pi·lō ves·tītior· īrēs,
Nātibus· incē·dās || nūdus ut· usque tu·īs.Grandis o·pum quam·vīs nōn· cōpia· dēsit a·vārīs,
Inde ta·men mise·rīs || ferre gra·vantur o·pem.IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story from the 1574 edition of Osius:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches: Simius inquit: "O mea Vulpecula, cui onus grave pendet, nobis caudae particulam da. Fac tali velamine nates vestire sinas. Hoc munere accepto, gratus ero," ait. Illa refert: "Si nacta fuissem tantam caudam, ut necesse esset hanc pone vehi plaustro, inde tamen non uno pilo ires vestitior; nudus incedas natibus tuis ut usque." Quamvis grandis copia opum avaris non desit, inde tamen gravantur miseris opem ferre.
