Chapter 14 of A Sailor in Spite of Himself is here in full — 244 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of A Sailor in Spite of Himself is here in full — 244 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
JOE SUCCESSFUL AGAIN. "Well, Hank, I made it. I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them." It was Bob Nellis who spoke. He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
Chapter 14 of A Sailor in Spite of Himself is here in full — 244 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/48 · 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.
move up and down repeatedly
From this reading “It was Bob Nellis who spoke.”
plural of “dislike” — an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group
From this reading “I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."”
after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
From this reading “He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.”
a coil of rope or wool or yarn
From this reading “"Well, Hank, I made it.”
plural of “pony” — a range horse of the western United States
From this reading “I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.”
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading “He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.”
having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome
From this reading “JOE SUCCESSFUL AGAIN.”
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.
at or in the front
In this reading “He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.”
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 He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
anew
From this reading JOE SUCCESSFUL AGAIN.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
move up and down repeatedly
From this reading It was Bob Nellis who spoke.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
plural of “dislike” — an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
set up or found
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
a coil of rope or wool or yarn
From this reading "Well, Hank, I made it.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Well, Hank, I made it.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Well, Hank, I made it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JOE SUCCESSFUL AGAIN.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading "Well, Hank, I made it.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
to a great degree or extent
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was Bob Nellis who spoke.
not any; not one
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
plural of “pony” — a range horse of the western United States
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading It was Bob Nellis who spoke.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
having a supporting base
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome
From this reading JOE SUCCESSFUL AGAIN.
carry out
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading I am to have my ponies and boat, and Uncle Layton can't take them away from me, no matter how much he dislikes to see me have them."
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading He had come down the stairs and looked all around for Hank, and finally found him standing in front of a store, waiting for him.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was Bob Nellis who spoke.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well, Hank, I made it.
which person or people
From this reading It was Bob Nellis who spoke.
Chapter 14 of A Sailor in Spite of Himself by Harry Castlemon holds 244 sentences, grouped into 49 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 14 holds 244 sentences of A Sailor in Spite of Himself, unabridged, divided into 49 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of A Sailor in Spite of Himself by Harry Castlemon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 244 sentences, grouped into 49 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 49 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 49 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 14 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 Sailor in Spite of Himself by Harry Castlemon on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4871 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54741 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54741, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 405 minutes of reading across 975 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Sailor in Spite of Himself section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of A Sailor in Spite of Himself 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 Sailor in Spite of Himself, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
