Chapter 3 of Merry Tales is here in full — 460 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Merry Tales is here in full — 460 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly. He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings. He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away! He went down the road past all the cabins. He went under the fence and across the cotton fields.
Chapter 3 of Merry Tales is here in full — 460 sentences across 92 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/92 · 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.
plural of “cabin” — small room on a ship or boat where people sleep
From this reading “He went down the road past all the cabins.”
soft silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state
From this reading “He went under the fence and across the cotton fields.”
general who commanded the Carthaginian army in the second Punic War; crossed the Alps and defeated the Romans but was recalled to defend Carthage and was defeated (247-182 BC)
From this reading “So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.”
a garment worn on the upper half of the body
From this reading “He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.”
plural of “stocking” — close-fitting hosiery to cover the foot and leg; come in matched pairs (usually used in the plural)
From this reading “He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.”
plant fiber used e.g. for making baskets and hats or as fodder
From this reading “He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!”
plural of “suspender” — elastic straps that hold trousers up (usually used in the plural)
From this reading “He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.”
(usually in the plural) a garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately
From this reading “He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.”
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.
a stiff hat made of straw with a flat crown
In this reading “He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!”
flee; take to one's heels; cut and run
In this reading “He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “He went down the road past all the cabins.”
move out of or depart from
In this reading “So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.”
put clothing on one's body
In this reading “He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.”
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.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading He went under the fence and across the cotton fields.
(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 He went down the road past all the cabins.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.
plural of “cabin” — small room on a ship or boat where people sleep
From this reading He went down the road past all the cabins.
soft silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state
From this reading He went under the fence and across the cotton fields.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
plural of “ear” — the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
enclose with a fence
From this reading He went under the fence and across the cotton fields.
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading He went under the fence and across the cotton fields.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.
general who commanded the Carthaginian army in the second Punic War; crossed the Alps and defeated the Romans but was recalled to defend Carthage and was defeated (247-182 BC)
From this reading So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.
headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.
above and across; more than
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
the time that has elapsed
From this reading He went down the road past all the cabins.
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
with low volume
From this reading So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading He went down the road past all the cabins.
a garment worn on the upper half of the body
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
a particular situation
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.
plural of “stocking” — close-fitting hosiery to cover the foot and leg; come in matched pairs (usually used in the plural)
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
plant fiber used e.g. for making baskets and hats or as fodder
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
plural of “suspender” — elastic straps that hold trousers up (usually used in the plural)
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He went down the road past all the cabins.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
closely constrained or constricted or constricting
From this reading He pulled his li’l’ straw hat down tight over his ears, and then Li’l’ Hannibal ran away!
(usually in the plural) a garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading He went under the fence and across the cotton fields.
precisely as stated
From this reading So Li’l’ Hannibal got out of bed very quietly.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He went down the road past all the cabins.
inflected form of “wear” — be dressed in
From this reading He put on his li’l’ trousers, and his li’l’ shirt, and his li’l’ suspenders, and his li’l’ shoes—he never wore stockings.
Chapter 3 of Merry Tales by Eleanor L. (Eleanor Louise) Skinner holds 460 sentences, grouped into 92 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 3 holds 460 sentences of Merry Tales, unabridged, divided into 92 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Merry Tales by Eleanor L. (Eleanor Louise) Skinner exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 460 sentences, grouped into 92 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 92 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 92 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 3 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 Merry Tales by Eleanor L. (Eleanor Louise) Skinner on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2262 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #53766 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #53766, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 188 minutes of reading across 453 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Merry Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Merry Tales 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 Merry Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
