Chapter 1 of My Lady Greensleeves is here in full — 602 sentences across 121 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of My Lady Greensleeves is here in full — 602 sentences across 121 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here! His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils. It was the smell of trouble. He hadn't found what the trouble was yet, but he would. That was his business.
Chapter 1 of My Lady Greensleeves is here in full — 602 sentences across 121 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/120 · 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.
inflected form of “breed” — call forth
From this reading “This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!”
past form of “count” — determine the number or amount of
From this reading “This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!”
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading “This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!”
plural of “nostril” — either one of the two external openings to the nasal cavity in the nose
From this reading “His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.”
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading “It was the smell of trouble.”
past form of “smell” — inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense
From this reading “This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!”
very bad
From this reading “His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.”
plural of “talent” — natural abilities or qualities
From this reading “This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!”
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.
judge to be probable
In this reading “This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!”
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 This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
inflected form of “breed” — call forth
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading That was his business.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He hadn't found what the trouble was yet, but he would.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
past form of “count” — determine the number or amount of
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
set up or found
From this reading He hadn't found what the trouble was yet, but he would.
a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He hadn't found what the trouble was yet, but he would.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He hadn't found what the trouble was yet, but he would.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.
the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
plural of “nostril” — either one of the two external openings to the nasal cavity in the nose
From this reading His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading It was the smell of trouble.
past form of “smell” — inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
a thing, without saying which
From this reading His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.
very bad
From this reading His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.
plural of “talent” — natural abilities or qualities
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That was his business.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
in or at that place or location
From this reading His name was Liam O'Leary and there was something stinking in his nostrils.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
a source of difficulty
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This guard smelled trouble and it could be counted on to come--for a nose for trouble was one of the many talents bred here!
used to ask for information about something
From this reading He hadn't found what the trouble was yet, but he would.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He hadn't found what the trouble was yet, but he would.
but in spite of that
From this reading He hadn't found what the trouble was yet, but he would.
Chapter 1 of My Lady Greensleeves by Frederik Pohl holds 602 sentences, grouped into 121 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 602 sentences of My Lady Greensleeves, unabridged, divided into 121 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of My Lady Greensleeves by Frederik Pohl exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 602 sentences, grouped into 121 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 121 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 121 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 My Lady Greensleeves by Frederik Pohl on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1183 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51310 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51310, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 98 minutes of reading across 237 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through My Lady Greensleeves section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of My Lady Greensleeves 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 My Lady Greensleeves, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
