Chapter 4 of Mother West Wind "How" Stories is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Mother West Wind "How" Stories is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree. Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder. Then he heard a voice just a little way above him.
Chapter 4 of Mother West Wind "How" Stories is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading “Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.”
someone who plays a drum
From this reading “Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.”
not solid; having a space or gap or cavity
From this reading “Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.”
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading “Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.”
comparative of “loud” — characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading “Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.”
move by turning over or rotating
From this reading “Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.”
a harsh noise made by scraping
From this reading “Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.”
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading “Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.”
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 Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading Then he heard a voice just a little way above him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.
someone who plays a drum
From this reading Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Then he heard a voice just a little way above him.
not solid; having a space or gap or cavity
From this reading Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
and nothing more
From this reading Then he heard a voice just a little way above him.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Then he heard a voice just a little way above him.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.
comparative of “loud” — characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.
on one occasion
From this reading Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
move by turning over or rotating
From this reading Once more he beat the long roll and the scratching sound grew louder.
a harsh noise made by scraping
From this reading Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then he heard a voice just a little way above him.
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading Suddenly Drummer heard a scratching sound inside the hollow tree.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Then he heard a voice just a little way above him.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Then he heard a voice just a little way above him.
Chapter 4 of Mother West Wind "How" Stories by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 4 holds 412 sentences of Mother West Wind "How" Stories, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Mother West Wind "How" Stories by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Mother West Wind "How" Stories by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1634 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21286 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21286, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 136 minutes of reading across 327 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mother West Wind "How" Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Mother West Wind "How" Stories 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 Mother West Wind "How" Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
