Chapter 4 of Kim is here in full — 440 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Kim is here in full — 440 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive. Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger! Meet her—she’s busking to leave! Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve! Largesse!
Chapter 4 of Kim is here in full — 440 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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.
rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates
From this reading “Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!”
express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading “Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger!”
-ing form of “hail” — praise vociferously
From this reading “Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger!”
a woman adulterer
From this reading “Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!”
a gift or money given (as for service or out of benevolence); usually given ostentatiously
From this reading “Largesse!”
-ing form of “pluck” — pull or pull out sharply
From this reading “Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!”
the part of a garment that is attached at the armhole and that provides a cloth covering for the arm
From this reading “Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!”
-ing form of “wince” — draw back, as with fear or pain
From this reading “Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.”
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 Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
possessing life
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
Having no one else present.
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Meet her—she’s busking to leave!
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
operate or control a vehicle
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
express greetings upon meeting someone
From this reading Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger!
-ing form of “hail” — praise vociferously
From this reading Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger!
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger!
a woman adulterer
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
a gift or money given (as for service or out of benevolence); usually given ostentatiously
From this reading Largesse!
take somebody somewhere
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
go away from a place
From this reading Meet her—she’s busking to leave!
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
come together
From this reading Meet her—she’s busking to leave!
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
-ing form of “pluck” — pull or pull out sharply
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger!
a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
the part of a garment that is attached at the armhole and that provides a cloth covering for the arm
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found
From this reading Greet her—she’s hailing a stranger!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
marked by skill in deception
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
-ing form of “wince” — draw back, as with fear or pain
From this reading Good Luck, she is never a lady, But the cursedest quean alive, Tricksy, wincing, and jady— Kittle to lead or drive.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Let her alone for a shrew to the bone And the hussy comes plucking your sleeve!
Chapter 4 of Kim by Rudyard Kipling holds 440 sentences, grouped into 88 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 4 holds 440 sentences of Kim, unabridged, divided into 88 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Kim by Rudyard Kipling exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 440 sentences, grouped into 88 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 88 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 88 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 Kim by Rudyard Kipling on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7975 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2226 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2226, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1595 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Kim section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of Kim 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 Kim, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
