Serpentis ōlim Cauda corpus dūcere, et praecēdere rogāvit. Cētera vērō Membra, quōmodo, dīxēre, sine oculīs et nāsō nōs dūcere poteris, quōrum auxiliō cētera etiam animālia dūcuntur? Sed eam nēquāquam persuāsēre, dōnec suō tantem damnō sapere coacta fuit. Cauda itaque cēterīs Membrīs imperāre, eaque dūcere coepit, integrum corpus caeca trahēns; sed tandem in saxōsum barāthrum dēvolūta, tergum tōtumque corpus lacerāvit. Tum vērō caput adūlārī coepit, ipsumque supplex rogāre, aiēns, Servā nōs, sī velis, Ō domine; malam enim contentiōnem experta sum.
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 313 in De Furia; for other versions, see Perry 362.
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):
Serpéntis olim Cauda corpus dúcere, et praecédere rogávit. Cétera vero Membra, quómodo, dixére, sine óculis et naso nos dúcere póteris, quorum auxílio cétera étiam animália ducúntur? Sed eam nequáquam persuasére, donec suo tantem damno sápere coácta fuit. Cauda ítaque céteris Membris imperáre, eaque dúcere coepit, íntegrum corpus caeca trahens; sed tandem in saxósum baráthrum devolúta, tergum totúmque corpus lacerávit. Tum vero caput adulári coepit, ipsúmque supplex rogáre, aiens, Serva nos, si velis, o dómine; malam enim contentiónem expérta sum.
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:
Serpentis olim Cauda
corpus ducere, et praecedere
rogavit.
Cetera vero Membra,
quomodo, dixere,
sine oculis et naso
nos ducere poteris,
quorum auxilio
cetera etiam animalia ducuntur?
Sed eam
nequaquam persuasere,
donec
suo tantem damno
sapere coacta fuit.
Cauda itaque
ceteris Membris imperare,
eaque ducere coepit,
integrum corpus
caeca trahens;
sed tandem
in saxosum barathrum
devoluta,
tergum totumque corpus
laceravit.
Tum vero
caput adulari coepit,
ipsumque supplex rogare,
aiens,
Serva nos, si velis,
o domine;
malam enim contentionem
experta sum.
IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing a snake: who do you think is in charge, the head or the tail?
