Chapter 9 of Ben Pepper is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Ben Pepper is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Dear me! Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face. Why had she told Jasper about the monkey? Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow. And her head drooped sorrowfully.
Chapter 9 of Ben Pepper 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.
uttered without voice
From this reading “Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.”
past form of “droop” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading “And her head drooped sorrowfully.”
an opaque form of quartz; red or yellow or brown or dark green in color; used for ornamentation or as a gemstone
From this reading “Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?”
any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)
From this reading “Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?”
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading “Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.”
possessing sweep
From this reading “Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.”
past form of “wait” — stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading “Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.”
in a wistful manner
From this reading “Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.”
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 “Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.”
appear or become visible; make a showing
In this reading “Better to have waited for the surprise to come out 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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
(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 Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.
uttered without voice
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
dearly loved
From this reading "Dear me!
past form of “droop” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading And her head drooped sorrowfully.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading And her head drooped sorrowfully.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
an opaque form of quartz; red or yellow or brown or dark green in color; used for ornamentation or as a gemstone
From this reading Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Dear me!
any of various long-tailed primates (excluding the prosimians)
From this reading Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.
above and across; more than
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?
in a sorrowful manner
From this reading And her head drooped sorrowfully.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.
possessing sweep
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?
past form of “wait” — stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading Better to have waited for the surprise to come out to-morrow.
(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, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why had she told Jasper about the monkey?
hope for; have a wish
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
in a wistful manner
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Well, I wish you could," breathed Polly, wistfully, and a regretful look swept over her face.
Chapter 9 of Ben Pepper by Margaret Sidney 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 9 holds 420 sentences of Ben Pepper, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Ben Pepper by Margaret Sidney 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 9 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 Ben Pepper by Margaret Sidney on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5389 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35178 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35178, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 449 minutes of reading across 1078 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ben Pepper section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of Ben Pepper 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 Ben Pepper, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
