Chapter 4 of Fennel and Rue is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Fennel and Rue is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility. "You ought to have taken the victoria." "How could I?" "You ought to have done it." "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
Chapter 4 of Fennel and Rue is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
From this reading “"I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.”
a disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride
From this reading “"What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.”
used with “to” to say what is right or advisable
From this reading “"What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.”
showing a brooding ill humor
From this reading “"What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.”
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading “"I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.”
queen of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India from 1837 to 1901; the last Hanoverian ruler of England (1819-1901)
From this reading “"You ought to have taken the victoria."”
any of numerous relatively small elongated soft-bodied animals especially of the phyla Annelida and Chaetognatha and Nematoda and Nemertea and Platyhelminthes; also many insect larvae
From this reading “"I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.”
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading “"I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.”
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.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading "How could I?"
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How could I?"
a disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "You ought to have done it."
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
used with “to” to say what is right or advisable
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
showing a brooding ill humor
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading "You ought to have taken the victoria."
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "You ought to have taken the victoria."
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
queen of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India from 1837 to 1901; the last Hanoverian ruler of England (1819-1901)
From this reading "You ought to have taken the victoria."
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
in the company of; together with
From this reading "What ought I to have done?" he asked, with sullen humility.
any of numerous relatively small elongated soft-bodied animals especially of the phyla Annelida and Chaetognatha and Nematoda and Nemertea and Platyhelminthes; also many insect larvae
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You ought to have taken the victoria."
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading "I think you ought to have done it yourself, Miss Shirley," Verrian said, feeling like the worm that turns.
Chapter 4 of Fennel and Rue by William Dean Howells holds 190 sentences, grouped into 38 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 4 holds 190 sentences of Fennel and Rue, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Fennel and Rue by William Dean Howells exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 190 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 Fennel and Rue by William Dean Howells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2136 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3363 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3363, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 178 minutes of reading across 428 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Fennel and Rue section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of Fennel and Rue 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 Fennel and Rue, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
