Silvestris asinus prōstrātum in sōle mānsuētum asinum cernēns, beātum illum iūdicābat animō suō quī et cute nitidā et bene habitō corpore esset. Mox vidēns eundem et onera ferre et ab agitātōre fustibus caedī, nōn egō tē inquit magis beātum esse dūcō, intelligō enim cum quantā calamitāte tua bona confūsa sint.
SOURCE: This comes from the Latin translation that accompanies Camerarius's edition of the Aesopic corpus; the 1571 edition of Camerariu's Aesop is available at GoogleBooks. This is fable 210 in Camerarius; for other versions, see Perry 183.
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):
Silvéstris ásinus prostrátum in sole mansuétum ásinum cernens, beátum illum iudicábat ánimo suo qui et cute nítida et bene hábito córpore esset. Mox videns eúndem et ónera ferre et ab agitatóre fústibus caedi, non ego te inquit magis beátum esse duco, intélligo enim cum quanta calamitáte tua bona confúsa sint.
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:
Silvestris asinus
prostratum in sole
mansuetum asinum cernens,
beatum illum
iudicabat animo suo
qui
et cute nitida
et bene habito corpore esset.
Mox videns eundem
et onera ferre
et ab agitatore fustibus caedi,
non ego
te inquit
magis beatum esse
duco,
intelligo enim
cum quanta calamitate
tua bona confusa sint.
IMAGE. Here is an illustration from the Medici Aesop, which is online at the New York Public Library website.
