Chapter 26 of Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.” —Shakespeare. “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.” —Southey. The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
Chapter 26 of Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 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.
used to show sadness, pity, or regret
From this reading “THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.””
(of hair or feathers) of a golden brown to reddish brown color
From this reading “THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.””
the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists
From this reading “The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.”
widely known and esteemed
From this reading ““But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.””
United States poet (1869-1950)
From this reading “The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.”
a bag made of paper or plastic for holding customer's purchases
From this reading “THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.””
English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading “—Shakespeare.”
a successful ending of a struggle or contest
From this reading ““But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.””
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 “THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.””
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 “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
later than; following
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
used to show sadness, pity, or regret
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
the people of Great Britain
From this reading The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
(of hair or feathers) of a golden brown to reddish brown color
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists
From this reading The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
widely known and esteemed
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
a piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed
From this reading The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
United States poet (1869-1950)
From this reading The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
past form of “proceed” — continue talking
From this reading The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
a bag made of paper or plastic for holding customer's purchases
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading —Shakespeare.
English poet and friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge (1774-1843)
From this reading —Southey.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
From this reading The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading THE SACK OF CHESTNUT NECK “Alas! poor country, Almost afraid to know thyself.”
a successful ending of a struggle or contest
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading The British, being thus masters of the field, proceeded to their work of destruction.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory.”
Chapter 26 of Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees by Charles J. (Charles Jacobs) Peterson holds 49 sentences, grouped into 10 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 49 sentences of Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees by Charles J. (Charles Jacobs) Peterson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 49 sentences, grouped into 10 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 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 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 Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees by Charles J. (Charles Jacobs) Peterson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5018 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58846 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58846, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 418 minutes of reading across 1004 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees 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 Kate Aylesford: A Story of the Refugees, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
