Chapter 1 of Black Sheep: A Novel is here in full — 274 sentences across 55 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Black Sheep: A Novel is here in full — 274 sentences across 55 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
IN THE AVENUE. "I'm to keep to the right?" "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir! No luggage, sir?" "None, thank you!"
Chapter 1 of Black Sheep: A Novel is here in full — 274 sentences across 55 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/54 · 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.
the residue that remains when something is burned
From this reading “"Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!”
a line of approach
From this reading “IN THE AVENUE.”
belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
From this reading “"Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!”
travel across or pass over
From this reading “"Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!”
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading “"Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!”
cases used to carry belongings when traveling
From this reading “No luggage, sir?"”
successive (without a break)
From this reading “"Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!”
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading “"None, thank you!"”
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.
allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature
In this reading “"Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!”
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 "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
the residue that remains when something is burned
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
a line of approach
From this reading IN THE AVENUE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
travel across or pass over
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm to keep to the right?"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading IN THE AVENUE.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading "I'm to keep to the right?"
cases used to carry belongings when traveling
From this reading No luggage, sir?"
not any; not one
From this reading No luggage, sir?"
not one, and not any
From this reading "None, thank you!"
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
precisely, exactly
From this reading "I'm to keep to the right?"
term of address for a man
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
successive (without a break)
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading "None, thank you!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading IN THE AVENUE.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "I'm to keep to the right?"
look attentively
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Keep on a bearin' to the right, sir, 'cross Watch Common, and down One Ash Hill, and that'll bring you straight on to Poynings, sir!
Chapter 1 of Black Sheep: A Novel by Edmund Yates holds 274 sentences, grouped into 55 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 274 sentences of Black Sheep: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 55 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Black Sheep: A Novel by Edmund Yates exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 274 sentences, grouped into 55 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 55 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 55 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.
Common questions about reading Black Sheep: A Novel by Edmund Yates on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8144 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59927 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59927, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1629 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Black Sheep: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of Black Sheep: A Novel 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 Black Sheep: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
