Chapter 3 of Devil tales is here in full — 440 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Devil tales is here in full — 440 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Do er baby allus breave dat way?” Cely was twisting her apron nervously. “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way? Tek off his clo’es an’ look, Judy.” Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
Chapter 3 of Devil tales is here in full — 440 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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 garment of cloth or leather or plastic that is tied about the waist and worn to protect your clothing
From this reading “Cely was twisting her apron nervously.”
a small replica of a person; used as a toy
From this reading “Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.”
past form of “frown” — look angry or sullen, wrinkle one's forehead, as if to signal disapproval
From this reading “Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.”
in a good-natured manner
From this reading “Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.”
the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation
From this reading “Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.”
in an anxiously nervous manner
From this reading “Cely was twisting her apron nervously.”
having only essential or minimal features
From this reading “Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.”
the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean
From this reading “Cely was twisting her apron nervously.”
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 ““Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?”
In this reading “Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.”
In this reading “Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Do er baby allus breave dat way?”
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
a garment of cloth or leather or plastic that is tied about the waist and worn to protect your clothing
From this reading Cely was twisting her apron nervously.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
From this reading “Do er baby allus breave dat way?”
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Do er baby allus breave dat way?”
a collection of things wrapped or boxed together
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cely was twisting her apron nervously.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
patterned with alternating squares of color
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tek off his clo’es an’ look, Judy.”
a digital tape recording of sound
From this reading “Do er baby allus breave dat way?”
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “Do er baby allus breave dat way?”
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?
a small replica of a person; used as a toy
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs with yttrium
From this reading “Do er baby allus breave dat way?”
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
past form of “frown” — look angry or sullen, wrinkle one's forehead, as if to signal disapproval
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
in a good-natured manner
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?
the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Cely was twisting her apron nervously.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Tek off his clo’es an’ look, Judy.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tek off his clo’es an’ look, Judy.”
up to the immediate present; most recent or most up-to-date
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Tek off his clo’es an’ look, Judy.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
in an anxiously nervous manner
From this reading Cely was twisting her apron nervously.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Tek off his clo’es an’ look, Judy.”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
move stealthily
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
having only essential or minimal features
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tek off his clo’es an’ look, Judy.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
the upper part of anything
From this reading “Does dey allus ’beat, beat,’ in de top er de head an’ in de chist dat er way?
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean
From this reading Cely was twisting her apron nervously.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Cely was twisting her apron nervously.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading “Do er baby allus breave dat way?”
at the time that
From this reading Maumer frowned and turned on her heel when Judy good-naturedly took the little bundle from her arms and stripped the blue checked slip from Cely’s latest doll.
Chapter 3 of Devil tales by Virginia Frazer Boyle holds 440 sentences, grouped into 88 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 3 holds 440 sentences of Devil tales, unabridged, divided into 88 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Devil tales by Virginia Frazer Boyle exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 440 sentences, grouped into 88 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 88 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 88 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 3 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 Devil tales by Virginia Frazer Boyle on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1354 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #70436 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #70436, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 112 minutes of reading across 271 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Devil tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of Devil tales 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 Devil tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
