Chapter 16 of Life's Handicap is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of Life's Handicap is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King? Why at all?’ ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola. ‘And who was thy father?’ ‘The same that had this gun.’
Chapter 16 of Life's Handicap is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
accepted or habitual practice
From this reading “‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?”
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading “‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.”
a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading “‘The same that had this gun.’”
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading “‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?”
give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
From this reading “‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?”
the entire amount of income before any deductions are made
From this reading “‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?”
from a time in the past until now
From this reading “‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?”
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading “‘And who was thy father?’”
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.
(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 why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
showing who or what does the action
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
accepted or habitual practice
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading ‘The same that had this gun.’
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading ‘The same that had this gun.’
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
the entire amount of income before any deductions are made
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
Identical; not different.
From this reading ‘The same that had this gun.’
from a time in the past until now
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
express in words
From this reading ‘By the God of my father I cannot tell,’ said Namgay Doola.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading ‘The same that had this gun.’
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading ‘The same that had this gun.’
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading ‘And who was thy father?’
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘And who was thy father?’
which person or people
From this reading ‘And who was thy father?’
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading ‘And why at all, since it is the custom to pay revenue to the King?
Chapter 16 of Life's Handicap by Rudyard Kipling holds 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 16 holds 405 sentences of Life's Handicap, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of Life's Handicap by Rudyard Kipling exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 16 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 Life's Handicap by Rudyard Kipling on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6414 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5777 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5777, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 534 minutes of reading across 1283 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Life's Handicap section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of Life's Handicap 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 Life's Handicap, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
