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:
Volpem rogābat partem caudae sīmius,
contegere honestē posset ut nūdās natēs;
cui sīc maligna: Longior fiat licet,
tamen illam citius per lutum et spīnās traham,
partem tibī quam quamvīs parvam impartiar.
PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Sīmius volpem rogābat caudae partem, ut natēs nūdās honestē contegere posset; cui maligna sīc inquit: Licet longior fiat, tamen citius illam traham per lutum et spīnās, quam partem tibī impartiar, quamvīs parvam.
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 volpem rogábat caudae partem, ut nates nudas honéste contégere posset; cui malígna sic inquit: Licet lóngior fiat, tamen cítius illam traham per lutum et spinas, quam partem tibi impártiar, quamvis parvam.
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); for more information, here are some Notes on Iambic Meter.
Volpem· rogā·bat par·tem cau·dae sī·mius,
contege·r~ hones·tē pos·set ut· nūdās· natēs;
cui sīc· malig·na: Lon·gior· fiat· licet,
tamen il·lam citi·us per· lut~ et· spīnās· traham,
partem· tibī· quam quam·vīs par·v~ impar·tiar.
IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source).
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Simius volpem rogabat caudae partem, ut nates nudas honeste contegere posset; cui maligna sic inquit: Licet longior fiat, tamen citius illam traham per lutum et spinas, quam partem tibi impartiar, quamvis parvam.
