Chapter 40 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) is here in full — 346 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XL
Chapter 40 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) is here in full — 346 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
***** To Mr. Wood, in Hawaii: Nov. 30, '08. DEAR MR. WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
Chapter 40 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) is here in full — 346 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/69 · 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.
an acknowledgment that can be used to say hello or goodbye (aloha is Hawaiian and ciao is Italian)
From this reading “WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.”
an anniversary of the day on which a person was born (or the celebration of it)
From this reading “WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.”
characteristic of or befitting a friend
From this reading “WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.”
(usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting)
From this reading “WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.”
a state in the United States in the central Pacific on the Hawaiian Islands
From this reading “***** To Mr. Wood, in Hawaii:”
shelf that projects from wall above fireplace
From this reading “WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.”
the month following October and preceding December
From this reading “Nov.”
communicated in words
From this reading “WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 30, '08.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 30, '08.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
in the past
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
an acknowledgment that can be used to say hello or goodbye (aloha is Hawaiian and ciao is Italian)
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
an anniversary of the day on which a person was born (or the celebration of it)
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
dearly loved
From this reading DEAR MR.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
characteristic of or befitting a friend
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
(usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting)
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
a state in the United States in the central Pacific on the Hawaiian Islands
From this reading ***** To Mr. Wood, in Hawaii:
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading ***** To Mr. Wood, in Hawaii:
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
shelf that projects from wall above fireplace
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
a form of address for a man
From this reading ***** To Mr. Wood, in Hawaii:
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
the month following October and preceding December
From this reading Nov.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
conforming to the established language usage of educated native speakers
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ***** To Mr. Wood, in Hawaii:
communicated in words
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading WOOD,--The beautiful mantel was put in its place an hour ago, and its friendly “Aloha” was the first uttered greeting my 73rd birthday received.
the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
From this reading ***** To Mr. Wood, in Hawaii:
Chapter 40 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) by Mark Twain holds 346 sentences, grouped into 70 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 40 holds 346 sentences of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910), unabridged, divided into 70 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 40 of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) by Mark Twain exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 346 sentences, grouped into 70 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 70 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 70 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 40 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 Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) by Mark Twain on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 14985 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3199 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3199, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2997 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910) 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 Mark Twain's Letters — Complete (1853-1910), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
