Chapter 18 of And Five Were Foolish is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of And Five Were Foolish is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Mr. Allen regarded Uncle Tom. To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers. “Now, don’t go addin’ up milestones,” said Uncle Tom. “I’m an optimis’, I am. There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
Chapter 18 of And Five Were Foolish is here in full — 399 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
United States comedienne remembered as the confused but imperturbable partner of her husband, George Burns (1906-1964)
From this reading “Mr. Allen regarded Uncle Tom.”
North American songbirds having a yellow breast
From this reading “There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.””
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading “To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.”
plural of “milestone” — stone post at side of a road to show distances
From this reading ““Now, don’t go addin’ up milestones,” said Uncle Tom.”
plural of “power” — possession of controlling influence
From this reading “To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.”
past form of “regard” — deem to be
From this reading “Mr. Allen regarded Uncle Tom.”
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading “To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.”
plural of “tide” — the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon
From this reading “There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.””
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.
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 There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Now, don’t go addin’ up milestones,” said Uncle Tom.
United States comedienne remembered as the confused but imperturbable partner of her husband, George Burns (1906-1964)
From this reading Mr. Allen regarded Uncle Tom.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading “I’m an optimis’, I am.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading “I’m an optimis’, I am.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
on the far side of; further than
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Now, don’t go addin’ up milestones,” said Uncle Tom.
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “Now, don’t go addin’ up milestones,” said Uncle Tom.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I’m an optimis’, I am.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I’m an optimis’, I am.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
North American songbirds having a yellow breast
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
plural of “milestone” — stone post at side of a road to show distances
From this reading “Now, don’t go addin’ up milestones,” said Uncle Tom.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Mr. Allen regarded Uncle Tom.
not any; not one
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading “Now, don’t go addin’ up milestones,” said Uncle Tom.
advanced in years; (“aged” is pronounced as two syllables)
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I’m an optimis’, I am.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
plural of “power” — possession of controlling influence
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
past form of “regard” — deem to be
From this reading Mr. Allen regarded Uncle Tom.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Now, don’t go addin’ up milestones,” said Uncle Tom.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
plural of “tide” — the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon
From this reading There’s a good few tides come in since that little lark, but I don’t feel no older.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
male cat
From this reading Mr. Allen regarded Uncle Tom.
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading Mr. Allen regarded Uncle Tom.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading “Now, don’t go addin’ up milestones,” said Uncle Tom.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading To survey and measure the past was beyond his powers.
Chapter 18 of And Five Were Foolish by Dornford Yates holds 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 18 holds 399 sentences of And Five Were Foolish, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of And Five Were Foolish by Dornford Yates exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 399 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 18 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 And Five Were Foolish by Dornford Yates on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8919 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65384 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65384, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1784 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through And Five Were Foolish section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of And Five Were Foolish 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 And Five Were Foolish, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
