Chapter 26 of It Never Can Happen Again is here in full — 312 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of It Never Can Happen Again is here in full — 312 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A BAD RAILWAY ACCIDENT. AND, AFTER ALL, MARIANNE WAS AT HOME. CHALLIS'S REPORT OF ROYD. BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching. Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....
Chapter 26 of It Never Can Happen Again is here in full — 312 sentences across 63 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/62 · 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 compartment at the front of a motor vehicle or locomotive where driver sits
From this reading “BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.”
a soft lightweight fabric (usually printed)
From this reading “CHALLIS'S REPORT OF ROYD.”
Jewish heroine in one of the books of the Apocrypha; she saved her people by decapitating the Assyrian general Holofernes
From this reading “BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.”
(music) the speed at which a composition is to be played
From this reading “Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....”
an arc of colored light in the sky caused by refraction of the sun's rays by rain
From this reading “BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.”
worried and uneasy
From this reading “Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....”
spoken as if with a thick tongue
From this reading “BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.”
having the character or disposition harmed by pampering or oversolicitous attention
From this reading “BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.”
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 “A BAD RAILWAY ACCIDENT.”
a reception held in your own home
In this reading “AND, AFTER ALL, MARIANNE WAS AT HOME.”
In this reading “CHALLIS'S REPORT OF ROYD.”
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 A BAD RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury
From this reading A BAD RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
later than; following
From this reading AND, AFTER ALL, MARIANNE WAS AT HOME.
(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 AND, AFTER ALL, MARIANNE WAS AT HOME.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading AND, AFTER ALL, MARIANNE WAS AT HOME.
the event of one object coming closer to another
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading AND, AFTER ALL, MARIANNE WAS AT HOME.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading A BAD RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
a compartment at the front of a motor vehicle or locomotive where driver sits
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
a soft lightweight fabric (usually printed)
From this reading Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CHALLIS'S REPORT OF ROYD.
not open or affording passage or access
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....
where you live at a particular time
From this reading AND, AFTER ALL, MARIANNE WAS AT HOME.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....
Jewish heroine in one of the books of the Apocrypha; she saved her people by decapitating the Assyrian general Holofernes
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
and nothing more
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
past form of “listen” — hear with intention
From this reading Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading AND, AFTER ALL, MARIANNE WAS AT HOME.
not any; not one
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading CHALLIS'S REPORT OF ROYD.
above and across; more than
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
(music) the speed at which a composition is to be played
From this reading Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....
line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight
From this reading A BAD RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
an arc of colored light in the sky caused by refraction of the sun's rays by rain
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
to give an account or representation of in words
From this reading CHALLIS'S REPORT OF ROYD.
worried and uneasy
From this reading Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CHALLIS'S REPORT OF ROYD.
spoken as if with a thick tongue
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
having the character or disposition harmed by pampering or oversolicitous attention
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Challis stopped in his restless pacing to-and-fro, and listened....
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading AND, AFTER ALL, MARIANNE WAS AT HOME.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BUT NO!--MARIANNE WOULDN'T HAVE JUDITH SLURRED OVER Just as the cloud-rift closed and spoiled the rainbow a sound came of a cab approaching.
Chapter 26 of It Never Can Happen Again by William De Morgan holds 312 sentences, grouped into 63 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 26 holds 312 sentences of It Never Can Happen Again, unabridged, divided into 63 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of It Never Can Happen Again by William De Morgan exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 312 sentences, grouped into 63 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 63 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 63 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 26 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 It Never Can Happen Again by William De Morgan on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 19361 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46228 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #46228, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 3873 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through It Never Can Happen Again section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of It Never Can Happen Again 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 It Never Can Happen Again, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
