Alcēdo avis est sōlitūdinis amāns, semperque in marī dēgere solet. Hanc vulgō ferunt, ut vēnātōrēs effugiat, in maritimīs scopulīs nīdificare. Illa igitur aliquando paritūra prō mōre nīdum fēcit. Cum autem ad cibum quaerendum ēgressa esset, contigit, ut maris undae magnō ventōrum impetū excitātae, sūprā nīdum attollerentur, eōque summersō, pullī perīrent. Quod ut ipsa reversa vīdit, Heu mē miseram, inquit, quae terram vītāns, utpote īnsidiīs plēnam, ad mare confūgī, quod nunc infīdum magis experior.
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 240 in De Furia; for other versions, see Perry 25.
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):
Alcédo avis est solitúdinis amans, sempérque in mari dégere solet. Hanc vulgo ferunt, ut venatóres effúgiat, in marítimis scópulis nidificáre. Illa ígitur aliquándo paritúra pro more nidum fecit. Cum autem ad cibum quaeréndum egréssa esset, cóntigit, ut maris undae magno ventórum ímpetu excitátae, supra nidum attolleréntur, eóque summérso, pulli perírent. Quod ut ipsa revérsa vidit, Heu me míseram, inquit, quae terram vitans, útpote insídiis plenam, ad mare confúgi, quod nunc infídum magis expérior.
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:
Alcedo
avis est solitudinis amans,
semperque
in mari degere solet.
Hanc
vulgo ferunt,
ut venatores effugiat,
in maritimis scopulis
nidificare.
Illa igitur
aliquando paritura
pro more nidum fecit.
Cum autem
ad cibum quaerendum
egressa esset,
contigit,
ut maris undae
magno ventorum impetu
excitatae,
supra nidum attollerentur,
eoque summerso,
pulli perirent.
Quod
ut ipsa reversa vidit,
Heu me miseram, inquit,
quae
terram vitans,
utpote insidiis plenam,
ad mare confugi,
quod nunc
infidum magis experior.
IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing a kingfisher:
IMAGE. Here is another illustration from the Medici Aesop, which is online at the New York Public Library website - the sea bird is in the lower-left corner of the picture:
