Chapter 1 of A Book o' Nine Tales. is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of A Book o' Nine Tales. is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Tale the first. A STRANGE IDYL. A BOOK O' NINE TALES. A STRANGE IDYL. He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
Chapter 1 of A Book o' Nine Tales. is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)
From this reading “A BOOK O' NINE TALES.”
made for or formed by carving (“carven” is archaic or literary)
From this reading “He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.”
marked by a lack of interest
From this reading “He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading “A BOOK O' NINE TALES.”
out of fashion
From this reading “He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.”
experiencing or manifesting pleasure
From this reading “He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.”
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading “Tale the first.”
plural of “tale” — a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading “A BOOK O' NINE TALES.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading A STRANGE IDYL.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
the framework of a bed
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)
From this reading A BOOK O' NINE TALES.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
made for or formed by carving (“carven” is archaic or literary)
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Tale the first.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
a musical composition that evokes rural life
From this reading A STRANGE IDYL.
marked by a lack of interest
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading A BOOK O' NINE TALES.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading A BOOK O' NINE TALES.
out of fashion
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
on one occasion
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
experiencing or manifesting pleasure
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
the quality of being quaint and old-fashioned
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading A STRANGE IDYL.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading Tale the first.
plural of “tale” — a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading A BOOK O' NINE TALES.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Tale the first.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
belonging to which person
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He lay upon an old-fashioned bedstead whose carved quaintness would once have pleased him, but to which he was now indifferent.
Chapter 1 of A Book o' Nine Tales. by Arlo Bates holds 402 sentences, grouped into 81 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 402 sentences of A Book o' Nine Tales., unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of A Book o' Nine Tales. by Arlo Bates exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 402 sentences, grouped into 81 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A Book o' Nine Tales. by Arlo Bates on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3317 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41189 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41189, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 276 minutes of reading across 664 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Book o' Nine Tales. section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of A Book o' Nine Tales. to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Book o' Nine Tales., each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
