Chapter 4 of Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists is here in full — 377 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists is here in full — 377 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
There was a dead silence. One or two men smiled. Others stared. Others pulled their noses or smoothed their hair. Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
Chapter 4 of Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists is here in full — 377 sentences across 76 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/75 · 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.
accept an excuse for
From this reading “Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.”
in a harsh or unkind manner
From this reading “Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.”
United States educator who introduced reforms that significantly altered the system of public education (1796-1859)
From this reading “Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.”
plural of “nose” — the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading “Others pulled their noses or smoothed their hair.”
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading “Others pulled their noses or smoothed their hair.”
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “One or two men smiled.”
made smooth by ironing
From this reading “Others pulled their noses or smoothed their hair.”
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “Others stared.”
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 There was a dead silence.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading There was a dead silence.
accept an excuse for
From this reading Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading Others pulled their noses or smoothed their hair.
in a harsh or unkind manner
From this reading Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
United States educator who introduced reforms that significantly altered the system of public education (1796-1859)
From this reading Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
the force of workers available
From this reading One or two men smiled.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
plural of “nose” — the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading Others pulled their noses or smoothed their hair.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One or two men smiled.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading One or two men smiled.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Others stared.
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading Others pulled their noses or smoothed their hair.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Griffenberg laughed harshly and said,-- 'Excuse me, Mr Mann.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading There was a dead silence.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading One or two men smiled.
made smooth by ironing
From this reading Others pulled their noses or smoothed their hair.
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading Others stared.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Others pulled their noses or smoothed their hair.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was a dead silence.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading One or two men smiled.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was a dead silence.
Chapter 4 of Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists by Gilbert Cannan holds 377 sentences, grouped into 76 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 377 sentences of Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists, unabridged, divided into 76 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists by Gilbert Cannan exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 377 sentences, grouped into 76 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 76 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 76 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 Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists by Gilbert Cannan on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4342 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #29500 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #29500, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 361 minutes of reading across 869 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists 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 Mummery: A Tale of Three Idealists, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
