Chapter 24 of Condensed Novels is here in full — 63 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXIV
Chapter 24 of Condensed Novels is here in full — 63 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus." A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys. A lot of us standing outside. Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room. At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
Chapter 24 of Condensed Novels is here in full — 63 sentences across 13 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/12 · 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.
informal intensifiers
From this reading “Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room.”
thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot
From this reading “A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.”
an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
From this reading “At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"”
against your will
From this reading “At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"”
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
From this reading “At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"”
produced or growing in extreme abundance
From this reading “A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.”
past form of “shudder” — shake, as from cold
From this reading “At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"”
characterized by water flying about haphazardly
From this reading “A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.”
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 dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room.
informal intensifiers
From this reading Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room.
thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room.
(usually followed by “with” or used as a combining form) generously supplied with
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus."
an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
against your will
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
(often followed by “of”) a large number or amount or extent
From this reading A lot of us standing outside.
a disorderly crowd of people
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus."
the month following September and preceding November
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading A lot of us standing outside.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus."
produced or growing in extreme abundance
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
past form of “shudder” — shake, as from cold
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room.
characterized by water flying about haphazardly
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
having a supporting base
From this reading A lot of us standing outside.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Suddenly came a dull, crashing sound from the school-room.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A lot of us standing outside.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the ominous interruption I shuddered involuntarily, and called to Smithsye:-- "What's up, Smithums?"
in the company of; together with
From this reading A dingy, swashy, splashy afternoon in October; a school-yard filled with a mob of riotous boys.
Chapter 24 of Condensed Novels by Bret Harte holds 63 sentences, grouped into 13 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 24 holds 63 sentences of Condensed Novels, unabridged, divided into 13 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 24 of Condensed Novels by Bret Harte exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 63 sentences, grouped into 13 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 13 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 13 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 24 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 Condensed Novels by Bret Harte on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1918 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2277 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2277, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 159 minutes of reading across 384 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Condensed Novels section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of Condensed Novels 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 Condensed Novels, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
