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:
Equus aegrōtābat: mandere assuētus Canis
Prōiecta cadāvera, adiit hunc et quaesiit,
Quōmodo sē habēret: Melius, inquit, quam velis.
Fābula ad avārum spectat hērēdum genus.
PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Equus aegrōtābat; Canis, cadāvera prōiecta mandere assuētus, hunc adiit et quaesiit quōmodo sē habēret; inquit: Melius quam velis. Fābula ad hērēdum genus avārum spectat.
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):
Equus aegrotábat; Canis, cadávera proiécta mándere assuétus, hunc ádiit et quaésiit quómodo se habéret; inquit: Mélius quam velis. Fábula ad herédum genus avárum spectat.
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.
Equus ae·grōtā·bat: man·der~ as·suētus· Canis
Prōiec·ta cadā·ver~ adi·it hunc· et quae·siit,
Quōmodo· s~ habē·ret: Meli·us, in·quit, quam· velis.
Fābul~ ad· avā·rum spec·tat hē·rēdum· genus.
IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing a donkey and a dog:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Equus aegrotabat; Canis, cadavera proiecta mandere assuetus, hunc adiit et quaesiit quomodo se haberet; inquit: Melius quam velis. Fabula ad heredum genus avarum spectat.
