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:
Ad ōram puteī dormiēbat Puerulus.
Eum Fortūna suscitāns: Abī hinc, ait;
In puteum namque sī caderēs, nōn hanc tuam,
Fuisse culpam, sed meam omnēs dīcerent.
PROSE MACRONS. Here is the same text with macrons written out in prose word order:
Puerulus ad puteī ōram dormiēbat. Fortūna, eum suscitāns, ait: Abī hinc, namque sī in puteum caderēs, omnēs dīcerent hanc culpam fuisse nōn tuam, sed meam.
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):
Puérulus ad pútei oram dormiébat. Fortúna, eum súscitans, ait: Abi hinc, namque si in púteum cáderes, omnes dícerent hanc culpam fuísse non tuam, sed meam.
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.
Ad ō·ram pute·ī dor·miē·bat Pue·rulus.
Eum· Fortū·na sus·citāns:· Ab~ hinc,· ait;
In pute·um nam·que sī· caderēs,· nōn hanc· tuam,
Fuis·se cul·pam, sed· me~ om·nēs dī·cerent.
IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) showing the goddess Fortuna:
What follows is an unmarked version of the prose rendering to faciliate word searches:
Puerulus ad putei oram dormiebat. Fortuna, eum suscitans, ait: Abi hinc, namque si in puteum caderes, omnes dicerent hanc culpam fuisse non tuam, sed meam.
