Chapter 3 of Dry Fish and Wet is here in full — 428 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Dry Fish and Wet is here in full — 428 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer. "Well, Hans, aren't you glad? Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?" "Yes, but I can't. I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
Chapter 3 of Dry Fish and Wet is here in full — 428 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
react verbally
From this reading “Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.”
a tight-fitting headdress
From this reading “Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.”
showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy
From this reading “"Well, Hans, aren't you glad?”
plural of “han” — imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time from 206 BC to AD 220) and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy; remembered as one of the great eras of Chinese civilization
From this reading “Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.”
go away from a place
From this reading “I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."”
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading “Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"”
no person; not anyone
From this reading “I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."”
-ing form of “twirl” — turn in a twisting or spinning motion
From this reading “Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.”
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.
move away from a place into another direction
In this reading “I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."”
continue a certain state, condition, or activity
In this reading “Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.
react verbally
From this reading Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Well, Hans, aren't you glad?
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "Yes, but I can't.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Yes, but I can't.
a tight-fitting headdress
From this reading Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.
showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy
From this reading "Well, Hans, aren't you glad?
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"
plural of “han” — imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time from 206 BC to AD 220) and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy; remembered as one of the great eras of Chinese civilization
From this reading Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.
give help or assistance; be of service
From this reading I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Yes, but I can't.
go away from a place
From this reading I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"
not any; not one
From this reading Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.
no person; not anyone
From this reading I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I can't go away and leave mother; there'll be nobody to help her then."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"
-ing form of “twirl” — turn in a twisting or spinning motion
From this reading Hans sat twirling his cap, and made no answer.
(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 "Well, Hans, aren't you glad?
in the company of; together with
From this reading Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes, but I can't.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Well, Hans, aren't you glad?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Wouldn't you like to go on with your music?"
Chapter 3 of Dry Fish and Wet by Anthon Bernhard Elias Nilsen holds 428 sentences, grouped into 86 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 428 sentences of Dry Fish and Wet, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Dry Fish and Wet by Anthon Bernhard Elias Nilsen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 428 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Dry Fish and Wet by Anthon Bernhard Elias Nilsen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5059 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35918 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35918, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 421 minutes of reading across 1012 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Dry Fish and Wet section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Dry Fish and Wet 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 Dry Fish and Wet, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
