Chapter 12 of Joe Wilson and His Mates is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Joe Wilson and His Mates is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘I wish James to the devil!’ I said. ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’ ‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’ Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
Chapter 12 of Joe Wilson and His Mates is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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.
plural of “buggy” — a small lightweight carriage; drawn by a single horse
From this reading “‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’”
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “‘I wish James to the devil!’”
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading “Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.”
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading “‘I wish James to the devil!’”
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading “‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’”
woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
From this reading “‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’”
plural of “steer” — an indication of potential opportunity
From this reading “‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’”
plural of “yarn” — the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events
From this reading “‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’”
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 Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
later than; following
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading ‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
any thing at all
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
plural of “buggy” — a small lightweight carriage; drawn by a single horse
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading ‘I wish James to the devil!’
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading ‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ‘I wish James to the devil!’
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading ‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading ‘I wish James to the devil!’
diode such that light emitted at a p-n junction is proportional to the bias current; color depends on the material used
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading ‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading I said.
woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
From this reading ‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’
plural of “steer” — an indication of potential opportunity
From this reading ‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ‘I wish James to the devil!’
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ‘I wish James to the devil!’
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
(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,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’
which person or people
From this reading ‘Well,’ said Mary, ‘it was James who got the steers and the sheep.’
hope for; have a wish
From this reading ‘I wish James to the devil!’
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading Well, one word led to another, and we said things we didn’t mean--but couldn’t forget in a hurry.
plural of “yarn” — the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events
From this reading ‘Can’t he find anything better to do than ride round after cock-and-bull yarns about buggies?’
Chapter 12 of Joe Wilson and His Mates by Henry Lawson holds 196 sentences, grouped into 40 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 12 holds 196 sentences of Joe Wilson and His Mates, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Joe Wilson and His Mates by Henry Lawson exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 196 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 12 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 Joe Wilson and His Mates by Henry Lawson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4796 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1036 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1036, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 399 minutes of reading across 960 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Joe Wilson and His Mates section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Joe Wilson and His Mates 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 Joe Wilson and His Mates, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
