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:
Bella movēns pūnīre Leō cum forte volūcres
Vellet, et hōc ācrī Marte movēret opus:Ille recēnsērī bellantum mōre cohortēs,
Sint sibi quanta volēns agmina scīre, iubet.Tunc Asinō, Leporīque ūnā quī praeterit, Ursō
Hunc quaerente vicēs quās dare spēret, ait:Ad loca commissās feret hic longinqua tabellās,
Ille suō tubicēn mūnere noster erit.Nōn humilem quemquam sua sīc nātūra creāvit,
Ūtilis haud ullō possit ut esse modō.PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Leō forte cum volūcres pūnīre vellet bella movēns et hōc Marte ācrī opus movēret. Ille iubet mōre bellantum cohortēs recēnserī, volēns scīre quanta agmina sibi sint. Tunc Ursō, quī praeterit, hunc quaerente quās vicēs Leporī et Asinō ūnā dare spēret, ait: Hic ad loca longinqua tabellās commissās feret, ille suō mūnere tubicēn noster erit. Nātūra sua quemquam humilem sīc nōn creāvit, ut haud ullō modō ūtilis esse possit.
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):
Leo forte cum vólucres puníre vellet bella movens et hoc Marte acri opus movéret. Ille iubet more bellántum cohórtes recenséri, volens scire quanta ágmina sibi sint. Tunc Urso, qui praéterit, hunc quaerénte quas vices Lépori et Ásino una dare speret, ait: Hic ad loca longínqua tabéllas commíssas feret, ille suo múnere túbicen noster erit. Natúra sua quemquam húmilem sic non creávit, ut haud ullo modo útilis esse possit.
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.
Bella mo·vēns pū·nīre Le·ō cum ·forte vo·lūcres
Vellet, et· hōc āc·rī || Marte mo·vēret o·pus:Ille re·cēnsē·rī bel·lantum ·mōre co·hortēs,
Sint sibi ·quanta vo·lēns || agmina· scīre, iu·bet.Tunc Asi·nō, Lepo·rīqu~ ū·nā quī· praeterit, ·Ursō
Hunc quae·rente vi·cēs || quās dare ·spēret, a·it:Ad loca· commis·sās feret ·hic lon·ginqua ta·bellās,
Ille su·ō tubi·cēn || mūnere ·noster e·rit.Nōn humi·lem quem·quam sua ·sīc nā·tūra cre·āvit,
Ūtilis ·haud ul·lō || possit ut· esse mo·dō.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: Leo forte cum volucres punire vellet bella movens et hoc Marte acri opus moveret. Ille iubet more bellantum cohortes recenseri, volens scire quanta agmina sibi sint. Tunc Urso, qui praeterit, hunc quaerente quas vices Lepori et Asino una dare speret, ait: Hic ad loca longinqua tabellas commissas feret, ille suo munere tubicen noster erit. Natura sua quemquam humilem sic non creavit, ut haud ullo modo utilis esse possit.
