Chapter 4 of Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881 is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881 is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light. So still! But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in. He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered. "Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good.
Chapter 4 of Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881 is here in full — 225 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/45 · 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.
for a short time
From this reading “He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.”
the first light of day
From this reading “Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.”
lacking in light; not bright or harsh
From this reading “Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.”
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading “Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.”
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading “Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.”
past form of “remember” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading “He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.”
the legendary patron saint of children; an imaginary being who is thought to bring presents to children at Christmas
From this reading “"Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good.”
inflected form of “wake” — be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading “But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in.”
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 “Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.”
In this reading “Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.”
cause to become awake or conscious
In this reading “But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in.”
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.
(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 "Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
for a short time
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
the first light of day
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
lacking in light; not bright or harsh
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading "Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good.
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading "Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in.
being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
From this reading "Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good.
past form of “remember” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
the legendary patron saint of children; an imaginary being who is thought to bring presents to children at Christmas
From this reading "Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So still!
not in physical motion
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
at the time that
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
in or at the place that
From this reading He could not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
a Caucasian
From this reading Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
inflected form of “wake” — be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in.
Chapter 4 of Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881 by Various holds 225 sentences, grouped into 45 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 225 sentences of Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881 by Various exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 225 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881 by Various on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 739 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50545 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50545, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 61 minutes of reading across 148 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881 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 Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
