Chapter 17 of An Old Man's Darling is here in full — 88 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of An Old Man's Darling is here in full — 88 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful. The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang. Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day. Nothing? Ah! yes.
Chapter 17 of An Old Man's Darling is here in full — 88 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/17 · 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.
past form of “bloom” — produce or yield flowers
From this reading “The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.”
attractiveness that interests or pleases or stimulates
From this reading “Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.”
free from clouds
From this reading “Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful.”
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading “Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.”
past form of “dawn” — become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions
From this reading “Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful.”
North American woodland herb similar to and used as substitute for the Chinese ginseng
From this reading “The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.”
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading “The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.”
nonexistent
From this reading “Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.”
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 “The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.”
In this reading “The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ah! yes.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful.
plural of “bird” — warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
From this reading The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.
past form of “bloom” — produce or yield flowers
From this reading The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful.
attractiveness that interests or pleases or stimulates
From this reading Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.
free from clouds
From this reading Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful.
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.
past form of “dawn” — become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions
From this reading Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful.
plural of “flower” — a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.
North American woodland herb similar to and used as substitute for the Chinese ginseng
From this reading The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The sun shone, the flowers bloomed, the birds sang.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.
nonexistent
From this reading Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Nothing was wanting to complete the charm of the day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bonnibel's wedding-day dawned cloudless, fair and beautiful.
an affirmative
From this reading Ah! yes.
Chapter 17 of An Old Man's Darling by Alex. McVeigh, Mrs. Miller holds 88 sentences, grouped into 18 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 17 holds 88 sentences of An Old Man's Darling, unabridged, divided into 18 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of An Old Man's Darling by Alex. McVeigh, Mrs. Miller exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 88 sentences, grouped into 18 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 18 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 18 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 17 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 An Old Man's Darling by Alex. McVeigh, Mrs. Miller on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3943 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54570 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54570, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 328 minutes of reading across 789 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through An Old Man's Darling section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of An Old Man's Darling 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 An Old Man's Darling, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
