Chapter 2 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 is here in full — 385 sentences across 77 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 is here in full — 385 sentences across 77 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Williams to Merry above_. _Wil_. Oh maister, maister, what have you done? _Mer_. Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
Chapter 2 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 is here in full — 385 sentences across 77 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/77 · 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.
higher than, or over, something
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading “Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.”
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading “Oh maister, maister, what have you done?”
cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading “Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.”
a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
From this reading “Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.”
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading “_Williams to Merry above_.”
United States country singer and songwriter (1923-1953)
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading “Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.”
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 Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading _Williams to Merry above_.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading Oh maister, maister, what have you done?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Oh maister, maister, what have you done?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Oh maister, maister, what have you done?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Mer_.
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading _Williams to Merry above_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh maister, maister, what have you done?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading _Williams to Merry above_.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Oh maister, maister, what have you done?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Wil_.
United States country singer and songwriter (1923-1953)
From this reading _Williams to Merry above_.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Why slaine a knave that would have murtherd me; Better to kill, then to be kild my selfe.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Oh maister, maister, what have you done?
Chapter 2 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen holds 385 sentences, grouped into 77 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 2 holds 385 sentences of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4, unabridged, divided into 77 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 385 sentences, grouped into 77 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 77 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 77 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 2 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 Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 by A. H. (Arthur Henry) [Editor] Bullen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8397 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #10925 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #10925, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1680 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 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 Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
