Chapter 2 of Daddy Joe's fiddle is here in full — 45 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Daddy Joe's fiddle is here in full — 45 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was scarcely daylight. A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor. It paused beside an old-fashioned, hair-covered trunk. Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert. Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
Chapter 2 of Daddy Joe's fiddle is here in full — 45 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 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.
floor consisting of open space at the top of a house just below roof; often used for storage
From this reading “A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.”
a performance of music by players or singers not involving theatrical staging
From this reading “Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.”
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading “Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.”
covered with a layer of dust
From this reading “A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.”
bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bow
From this reading “Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.”
floor consisting of a large unpartitioned space over a factory or warehouse or other commercial space
From this reading “Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.”
the quantity of a crop that is harvested
From this reading “A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.”
Risen from sleep; conscious.
From this reading “Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.”
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 “Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.”
In this reading “A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.”
small widely distributed form
In this reading “A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.”
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 small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading It paused beside an old-fashioned, hair-covered trunk.
floor consisting of open space at the top of a house just below roof; often used for storage
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
without shoes
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.
next to; at the side of
From this reading It paused beside an old-fashioned, hair-covered trunk.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.
a performance of music by players or singers not involving theatrical staging
From this reading Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
the time after sunrise and before sunset while it is light outside
From this reading It was scarcely daylight.
covered with a layer of dust
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
bowed stringed instrument that is the highest member of the violin family; this instrument has four strings and a hollow body and an unfretted fingerboard and is played with a bow
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
a diagram or picture illustrating textual material
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It paused beside an old-fashioned, hair-covered trunk.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was scarcely daylight.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
diode such that light emitted at a p-n junction is proportional to the bias current; color depends on the material used
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
floor consisting of a large unpartitioned space over a factory or warehouse or other commercial space
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.
out of fashion
From this reading It paused beside an old-fashioned, hair-covered trunk.
past form of “pause” — interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing
From this reading It paused beside an old-fashioned, hair-covered trunk.
the quantity of a crop that is harvested
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
only a very short time before
From this reading It was scarcely daylight.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
that is looked for
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.
the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber
From this reading It paused beside an old-fashioned, hair-covered trunk.
not conscious; lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception as if asleep or dead
From this reading Led by some unconscious motive, she had sought the loft for a sight of Daddy Joe’s fiddle.
Risen from sleep; conscious.
From this reading Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was scarcely daylight.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
a Caucasian
From this reading A small white figure was picking its way, barefooted, across the dusty attic floor.
extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers
From this reading Chee’s waking thought had been of the wonderful concert.
Chapter 2 of Daddy Joe's fiddle by Faith Bickford holds 45 sentences, grouped into 9 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 45 sentences of Daddy Joe's fiddle, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Daddy Joe's fiddle by Faith Bickford exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 45 sentences, grouped into 9 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 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 9 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 Daddy Joe's fiddle by Faith Bickford on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1170 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #72132 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #72132, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 97 minutes of reading across 234 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Daddy Joe's fiddle section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of Daddy Joe's fiddle 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 Daddy Joe's fiddle, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
