Aesop's Fables

The Fox and the Grapes

A hungry Fox saw some fine bunches of Grapes hanging from a vine that was trained along a high trellis, and did his best to reach them by jumping as high as he could into the air. But it was all in vain, for they were just out of reach: so he gave up trying, and walked away with an air of dignity and unconcern, remarking, "I thought those Grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour."

Text with intonation marked

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'Aesop's \FABLES

The 'Fox and the \GRAPES

A 'hungry 'FOX 'saw some 'fine 'bunches of \GRAPES |

'hanging from a \VINE |

that was 'trained along a 'high \TRELLis, |

and 'did his \BEST to 'reach them

by 'jumping as 'high as he 'could into the \AIR. ||

'But | it was 'all in /vain, | for they were 'just out of \REACH: ||

so he 'gave up /trying, |

and 'walked 'away with an 'air of 'dignity and 'uncon\CERN, |

re/marking, | 'I 'thought those 'grapes were \ripe, |

but I 'SEE 'now they are 'quite \SOUR. ||

('End of The 'Fox and the \Grapes)

Aesop's Fables

The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs

A Man and his Wife had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid a Golden Egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to secure the whole store of precious metal at once. But when they cut it open they found it was just like any other goose. Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the daily addition to their wealth.

Much wants more and loses all.

Text with intonation marked

(This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit librivox dot org.)

'Aesop's \FABLES

The 'Goose that 'Laid the 'Golden \EGGS

A 'man and his 'wife had the 'good 'fortune to po'ssess a \GOOSE |

which 'laid a 'golden 'egg 'every \DAY. ||

'Lucky though they \WERE, |

they 'soon be'gan to 'think that they were 'NOT getting 'rich 'fast e\NOUGH, |

/and, | i'magining the 'bird 'must be 'made of 'gold in\SIDE, |

they de'cided to 'KILL it |

in 'order to se'cure the 'whole 'STORE of 'precious 'metal at \ONCE. ||

'But | when they 'cut it \open |

they 'found it was 'just 'like 'any 'other \GOOSE. ||

/Thus, | they 'neither got 'rich 'all at \once, |

as they had \hoped, |

'nor 'enjoyed 'any 'LONGer the 'daily 'addition to their \WEALTH. ||

'Much 'wants 'MORE and 'loses \ALL. ||

(End of The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs.)

Intonation marks used in this material

'saw – sentence stress on a content word;

'FOX – stronger sentence stress on the main word of the sense group (thought group);

\GRAPES – falling tone on the main word of the sense group or on the last stressed word of the sentence;

re/marking – rising tone;

| – short pause between sense groups or parts of the sentence;

|| – longer pause between sentences.

Quoted from: http://usefulenglish.ru