Noctua ē quādam fenestra caveā inclūsa cum pendēret, accēdēns ad eam vespertīlio, causam rogābat, quārē diē quidem silēret, nocte vērō cantāret. Cui illa, nōn temerē id ā sē fīerī, rēspondit; ōlim enim cum interdiu id faceret, sē captam fuisse āiēbat, ac proinde iam tempore ab illō magis prūdentem ēvāsisse. At nōn tibi, Vespertīlio ait, nunc est cavendum, cum nulla ūtilitas inest, sed, antequam caperēris, prudēns esse dēbēbās.
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 235 in De Furia; for other versions, see Perry 48.
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):
Nóctua e quadam fenéstra cávea inclúsa cum pendéret, accédens ad eam vespertílio, causam rogábat, quare die quidem siléret, nocte vero cantáret. Cui illa, non témere id a se fíeri, respóndit; olim enim cum intérdiu id fáceret, se captam fuísse aiébat, ac proínde iam témpore ab illo magis prudéntem evasísse. At non tibi, Vespertílio ait, nunc est cavéndum, cum nulla utílitas inest, sed, ántequam caperéris, prudens esse debébas.
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:
Noctua
e quadam fenestra
cavea inclusa
cum penderet,
accedens ad eam
vespertilio,
causam rogabat,
quare die quidem sileret,
nocte vero cantaret.
Cui illa,
non temere id
a se fieri,
respondit;
olim enim
cum interdiu id faceret,
se
captam fuisse
aiebat,
ac proinde iam
tempore ab illo
magis prudentem evasisse.
At non tibi, Vespertilio ait,
nunc est cavendum,
cum nulla utilitas inest,
sed, antequam capereris,
prudens esse debebas.
IMAGE. Here is an illustration for the story (image source), showing an owl in a cage:
