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:
Quō teneātur, eget nīl ausa secāre secūris.
Armet eam lūcus, vir rogat; ille facit.Vir nemus impugnat lassāns in caede secūrim.
Arboris omne genus ūna ruīna trahit.Lūcus ait: "Pereō. Mihimet sum causa perīcli,
Mē necat ex dōnō rustica dextra meō."Unde perīre queās, hostem mūnīre cavētō.
Quī dat quō pereat, quem iuvat hoste perit. PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Secūris eget quō teneātur, nīl secāre ausa. Vir rogat lūcus eam armet; ille facit. Vir nemus impugnat, secūrim in caede lassāns. Ūna ruīna omne arboris genus trahit. Lūcus ait: Pereō. Mihimet causa perīcli sum; dextra rustica mē necat ex dōnō meō. Queās unde perīre; cavētō hostem mūnīre. Quī dat quō pereat, hoste quem iuvat perit.
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):
Secúris eget quo teneátur, nil secáre ausa. Vir rogat lucus eam armet; ille facit. Vir nemus impúgnat, secúrim in caede lassans. Una ruína omne árboris genus trahit. Lucus ait: Péreo. Míhimet causa perícli sum; dextra rústica me necat ex dono meo. Queas unde períre; cavéto hostem muníre. Qui dat quo péreat, hoste quem iuvat perit.
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.
Quō tene·ātur, e·get nīl· ausa se·cāre se·cūris.
Armet e·am lū·cus, || vir rogat;· ille fa·cit.Vir nemus· impug·nat las·sāns in· caede se·cūrim.
Arboris· omne ge·nus || ūna ru·īna tra·hit.Lūcus a·it: "Pere·ō. Mihi·met sum· causa pe·rīcli,
Mē necat· ex dō·nō || rustica· dextra m·eō."Unde pe·rīre que·ās, hos·tem mū·nīre ca·vētō.
Quī dat· quō pere·at, || quem iuvat· hoste pe·rit.IMAGE. For an image of the story, here is an illustration from Walter Crane's Aesop which tells the story in limerick form!
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Securis eget quo teneatur, nil secare ausa. Vir rogat lucus eam armet; ille facit. Vir nemus impugnat, securim in caede lassans. Una ruina omne arboris genus trahit. Lucus ait: Pereo. Mihimet causa pericli sum; dextra rustica me necat ex dono meo. Queas unde perire; caveto hostem munire. Qui dat quo pereat, hoste quem iuvat perit.
