Chapter II of Carnival, “_Fairies at the Christening_,” is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter II of Carnival, “_Fairies at the Christening_,” is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother. "And how is Florrie?" inquired Aunt Alice. "Going on fine," said Florrie. "And what is the baby to be called?" asked Aunt Fanny. "Jenny, and perhaps Pearl as well."
Chapter II of Carnival, “_Fairies at the Christening_,” is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading “"And what is the baby to be called?" asked Aunt Fanny.”
the time when something begins (especially life)
From this reading “A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.”
the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
From this reading “"And what is the baby to be called?" asked Aunt Fanny.”
a period of fourteen consecutive days
From this reading “A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.”
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading “"And how is Florrie?" inquired Aunt Alice.”
United States architect who designed the first skyscraper in which a metal skeleton was used (1832-1907)
From this reading “A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.”
a smooth lustrous round structure inside the shell of a clam or oyster; much valued as a jewel
From this reading “"Jenny, and perhaps Pearl as well."”
impressive in appearance
From this reading “A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.”
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 A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
later than; following
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And how is Florrie?" inquired Aunt Alice.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "And what is the baby to be called?" asked Aunt Fanny.
the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
From this reading "And how is Florrie?" inquired Aunt Alice.
a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading "And what is the baby to be called?" asked Aunt Fanny.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "And what is the baby to be called?" asked Aunt Fanny.
the time when something begins (especially life)
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading "And what is the baby to be called?" asked Aunt Fanny.
at any time
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
From this reading "And what is the baby to be called?" asked Aunt Fanny.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading "Going on fine," said Florrie.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And how is Florrie?" inquired Aunt Alice.
a period of fourteen consecutive days
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
the act of departing
From this reading "Going on fine," said Florrie.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And how is Florrie?" inquired Aunt Alice.
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading "And how is Florrie?" inquired Aunt Alice.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "And how is Florrie?" inquired Aunt Alice.
United States architect who designed the first skyscraper in which a metal skeleton was used (1832-1907)
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Going on fine," said Florrie.
marked by the reception of pay
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
a smooth lustrous round structure inside the shell of a clam or oyster; much valued as a jewel
From this reading "Jenny, and perhaps Pearl as well."
by chance
From this reading "Jenny, and perhaps Pearl as well."
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Going on fine," said Florrie.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
impressive in appearance
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
go to see a place, as for entertainment
From this reading A fortnight after the birth of Jenny, her three great-aunts, black and stately as ever, paid a second visit to the mother.
(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 "Jenny, and perhaps Pearl as well."
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "And what is the baby to be called?" asked Aunt Fanny.
Chapter 2 of Carnival by Compton MacKenzie holds 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 2 holds 186 sentences of Carnival, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Carnival by Compton MacKenzie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 2 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 Carnival by Compton MacKenzie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9200 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33012 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33012, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1840 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Carnival section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Carnival 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 Carnival, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
