Chapter 4 of Jataka Tales is here in full — 259 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Jataka Tales is here in full — 259 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest. "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought. One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard. The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer. The peasant said he would like the position.
Chapter 4 of Jataka Tales is here in full — 259 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/51 · 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.
obtain
From this reading “"If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.”
not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
From this reading “The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.”
(used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity
From this reading “One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.”
a large and stately mansion
From this reading “One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.”
a country person
From this reading “One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.”
an abundance of material possessions and resources
From this reading “"If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.”
lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity
From this reading “One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.”
a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading “One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.”
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.
obtain, especially accidentally
In this reading “One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.”
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 "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
for the reason that
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
a boy or man
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
obtain
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
(used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
a large and stately mansion
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
a country person
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
experiencing or manifesting pleasure
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
the particular portion of space occupied by something
From this reading The peasant said he would like the position.
an abundance of material possessions and resources
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading The peasant said he would like the position.
cut with a saw
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
100 senti equal 1 kroon in Estonia
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading "If I had another sort of a man as Valuer, I might gain more riches," he thought.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
someone who assesses the monetary worth of possessions
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The king was not pleased with this Valuer, because he was honest.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading The king sent for the fellow and asked him if he would like to be the Valuer.
a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading One day the king saw a stupid, miserly peasant come into the palace yard.
Chapter 4 of Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt holds 259 sentences, grouped into 52 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 259 sentences of Jataka Tales, unabridged, divided into 52 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 259 sentences, grouped into 52 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 52 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 52 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 Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 816 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62514 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62514, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 68 minutes of reading across 164 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Jataka Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Jataka Tales 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 Jataka Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
