Chapter 4 of Diligent Dick is here in full — 71 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Diligent Dick is here in full — 71 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DICK'S PUNISHMENT. ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience. When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him. Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh. "Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.
Chapter 4 of Diligent Dick is here in full — 71 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/14 · 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.
again but in a new or different way
From this reading “Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.”
plural of “bandage” — a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body
From this reading “Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.”
possessive form of “dick” — someone who is a detective
From this reading “DICK'S PUNISHMENT.”
the failure to obey
From this reading “ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.”
past form of “kiss” — touch with the lips or press the lips (against someone's mouth or other body part) as an expression of love, greeting, etc.
From this reading “When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.”
suggestive of sexual impropriety
From this reading “"Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.”
the act of punishing
From this reading “DICK'S PUNISHMENT.”
having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect
From this reading “When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.”
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.
jump out from a hiding place and surprise (someone)
In this reading “Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.”
In this reading “Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.”
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 ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
again but in a new or different way
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
Having no one else present.
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading "Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
plural of “bandage” — a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
possessive form of “dick” — someone who is a detective
From this reading DICK'S PUNISHMENT.
the failure to obey
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading "Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.
past form of “kiss” — touch with the lips or press the lips (against someone's mouth or other body part) as an expression of love, greeting, etc.
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
suggestive of sexual impropriety
From this reading "Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.
above and across; more than
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
in the near future
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
the act of punishing
From this reading DICK'S PUNISHMENT.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
in the near future
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading "Oh how sorry I am I was so naughty!" he said to himself.
having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
the process of shedding tears (usually accompanied by sobs or other inarticulate sounds)
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Presently she left the room to get some bandages, and as soon as he was alone his tears burst forth afresh.
at the time that
From this reading When he cried, his mother stooped over the bed and kissed him.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading ALL this time not a word had been said about his disobedience.
Chapter 4 of Diligent Dick by Madeline Leslie holds 71 sentences, grouped into 15 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 4 holds 71 sentences of Diligent Dick, unabridged, divided into 15 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Diligent Dick by Madeline Leslie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 71 sentences, grouped into 15 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 15 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 15 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 4 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 Diligent Dick by Madeline Leslie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 674 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #71493 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #71493, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 56 minutes of reading across 135 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Diligent Dick section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of Diligent Dick 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 Diligent Dick, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
