Cum dē rege ē suīs ēligendō agerent brūta, Camēlus et Elephās prōgressī, inter sē contendēbant, ambō cēterīs, ob corporis mōlem et rōbur, praelātum īrī spērantēs. At Sīmia utrōsque imperiō ineptōs esse affirmāvit, Camēlum quidem, quod bīlem ad iniustōs pūniendōs nōn habēret; Elephantem vērō, quod, sī regnāret, ā porcellōrum īnsidiīs summopere esset metuendum.
SOURCE: This comes from the Latin translation that accompanies De Furia's edition of the Greek Aesopic corpus, published in 1810 and available at GoogleBooks. This is fable 280 in De Furia; for other versions, see Perry 220.
READ OUT LOUD. Choose which marked text you prefer to practice with - macrons (above) or accent marks (below) - and read the text out loud until you feel comfortable and confident. Then, try reading the unmarked text at the very bottom. It should be easy for you after practicing with the marked texts. :-)
ACCENT MARKS. Here is the text with accent marks, plus some color-coding for the words of three or more syllables (blue: penultimate stress; red: antepenultimate stress):
Cum de rege e suis eligéndo ágerent bruta, Camélus et Élephas progréssi, inter se contendébant, ambo céteris, ob córporis molem et robur, praelátum iri sperántes. At Símia utrósque império inéptos esse affirmávit, Camélum quidem, quod bilem ad iniústos puniéndos non habéret; Elephántem vero, quod, si regnáret, a porcellórum insídiis summópere esset metuéndum.
UNMARKED TEXT. Here is the unmarked text - after practicing with the marked text that you prefer, you should not have any trouble with the unmarked text:
Cum de rege
e suis eligendo agerent
bruta,
Camelus et Elephas progressi,
inter se contendebant,
ambo
ceteris,
ob corporis molem et robur,
praelatum iri
sperantes.
At Simia
utrosque
imperio ineptos esse
affirmavit,
Camelum quidem,
quod
bilem ad iniustos puniendos
non haberet;
Elephantem vero,
quod, si regnaret,
a porcellorum insidiis
summopere esset metuendum.
IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source) featuring all three of the animals from our story:
