Chapter 1 of A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone." "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee? The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play. Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow. Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow.
Chapter 1 of A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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 knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
From this reading “Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.”
an old form of “can”, used with “thou”
From this reading “Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.”
plural of “crow” — black birds having a raucous call
From this reading “The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.”
bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bow
From this reading “"But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?”
only a very short time before
From this reading “Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.”
exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent
From this reading “"No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."”
an old form of “shall”, used with “thou”
From this reading “"No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."”
the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
From this reading “Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow.”
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.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
an old form of “are”, used with “thou”
From this reading The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow.
a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
From this reading Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
an old form of “can”, used with “thou”
From this reading Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.
plural of “crow” — black birds having a raucous call
From this reading The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow.
bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bow
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow.
destroyed or killed
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
the sound of laughing
From this reading The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
a condition requiring relief
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
not any; not one
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
participate in games or sport
From this reading The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.
only a very short time before
From this reading Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.
exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
an old form of “shall”, used with “thou”
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.
an old word for “you”, as the object, speaking to one person
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
disease of livestock and especially cattle poisoned by eating certain kinds of snakeroot
From this reading Thy hand trembles so thou canst scarce hold the bow.
hard to endure
From this reading The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.
up to a particular time
From this reading "No, Antone, I have told thee many times, no, thou shalt not sell it until I am gone."
precisely as stated
From this reading The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "But I need money; what good is that old fiddle to thee?
at the time that
From this reading The very crows laugh at thee when thou art trying to play.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow.
the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
From this reading Thou shalt go with me to the Blue to cut wood to-morrow.
Chapter 1 of A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays by Willa Cather holds 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 420 sentences of A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays by Willa Cather exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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.
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Yes. All 5901 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25586 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25586, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 491 minutes of reading across 1181 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays 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 Stories, Reviews and Essays, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
