Ōlim Aesōpus fābulātor ōtium agēns, in nāvāle ingressus est. Quem cum nāvium fābricātōrēs vīdīssent, et prōvocassent, ut fābellam narrāret, sīc ille exorsus est. Erat ōlim Chaos et Aqua; Iuppiter autem, cum terram quoque, quae marī obruta erat, exprōmere vellet, eam admonēbat, ut ūnō atque alterō haustū mare absorbēret. Terra itaque id opus aggrediēns, prīmō quidem haustū montēs ēmīsit, secundō vērō plānitiem patefēcit; quod sī tertium quoque haustum addidisset, et aquam absorbuisset, ars vestra inūtilis esset.
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 375 in De Furia; for other versions, see Perry 8.
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):
Olim Aesópus fabulátor ótium agens, in navále ingréssus est. Quem cum návium fabricatóres vidíssent, et provocássent, ut fabéllam narráret, sic ille exórsus est. Erat olim Chaos et Aqua; Iúppiter autem, cum terram quoque, quae mari óbruta erat, exprómere vellet, eam admonébat, ut uno atque áltero haustu mare absórberet. Terra ítaque id opus aggrédiens, primo quidem haustu montes emísit, secúndo vero planítiem patefécit; quod si tértium quoque haustum addidísset, et aquam absorbuísset, ars vestra inútilis esset.
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:
Olim Aesopus fabulator
otium agens,
in navale ingressus est.
Quem
cum navium fabricatores
vidissent, et provocassent,
ut fabellam narraret,
sic ille exorsus est.
Erat olim Chaos et Aqua;
Iuppiter autem,
cum terram quoque,
quae mari obruta erat,
expromere vellet,
eam admonebat,
ut uno atque altero haustu
mare absorberet.
Terra itaque
id opus aggrediens,
primo quidem haustu
montes emisit,
secundo vero
planitiem patefecit;
quod
si tertium quoque haustum
addidisset,
et aquam absorbuisset,
ars vestra
inutilis esset.
IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source); it's a Greek postage stamp comemorating the first ship ever made, the Argo, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts:
