Chapter 1 of Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3) is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3) is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Oh, give me comfort, if you can! Oh, tell me where to fly! Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I! SOUTHEY. The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
Chapter 1 of Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3) is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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.
the act of breaking something
From this reading “The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.”
make calm or still
From this reading “The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.”
the first light of day
From this reading “The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.”
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading “The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.”
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading “The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.”
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading “Oh, tell me where to fly!”
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading “The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.”
possessive form of “winter” — the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading “The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.”
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 grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.”
In this reading “The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.”
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 The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I!
the act of breaking something
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
make calm or still
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Oh, give me comfort, if you can!
a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain
From this reading Oh, give me comfort, if you can!
the first light of day
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading Oh, tell me where to fly!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I!
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Oh, give me comfort, if you can!
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I!
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Oh, give me comfort, if you can!
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I!
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Oh, give me comfort, if you can!
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh, give me comfort, if you can!
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I!
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I!
English poet and friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge (1774-1843)
From this reading SOUTHEY.
express in words
From this reading Oh, tell me where to fly!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Oh, tell me if there can be hope, For one so lost as I!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Oh, tell me where to fly!
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
in or at the place that
From this reading Oh, tell me where to fly!
possessive form of “winter” — the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The grey dawn was slowly and faintly breaking, with the calm, dull light of a winter's morning.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Oh, give me comfort, if you can!
Chapter 1 of Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3) by C. J., Mrs. Newby holds 114 sentences, grouped into 23 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 1 holds 114 sentences of Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3), unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3) by C. J., Mrs. Newby exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 114 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 1 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 Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3) by C. J., Mrs. Newby on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1620 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40199 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40199, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 135 minutes of reading across 324 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3) 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 Mabel: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 3), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
