Chapter 1 of Not Pretty, but Precious is here in full — 2478 sentences across 496 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Not Pretty, but Precious is here in full — 2478 sentences across 496 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES. John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc. Illustrated. _Mille modi veneris!_ Part I. Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
Chapter 1 of Not Pretty, but Precious is here in full — 2478 sentences across 496 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/495 · 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 unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury
From this reading “Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.”
a Channel Island to the northwest of Jersey
From this reading “John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.”
Irish mathematician (1806-1865)
From this reading “John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.”
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading “John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.”
past form of “illustrate” — clarify by giving an example of
From this reading “Illustrated.”
incomplete skeleton of female found in eastern Ethiopia in 1974
From this reading “John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.”
a town in central Arizona
From this reading “John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.”
plural of “story” — a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading “NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES.”
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.
an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
a degree on the Fahrenheit scale of temperature
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
a Channel Island to the northwest of Jersey
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
Irish mathematician (1806-1865)
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading _Mille modi veneris!_ Part I.
past form of “illustrate” — clarify by giving an example of
From this reading Illustrated.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
incomplete skeleton of female found in eastern Ethiopia in 1974
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Mille modi veneris!_ Part I.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Mille modi veneris!_ Part I.
a form of address for a man
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading _Mille modi veneris!_ Part I.
characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for
From this reading NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES.
a town in central Arizona
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading John Hay, Clara F. Guernsey, Margaret Hosmer, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Hamilton Hooper, Etc.
plural of “story” — a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading NOT PRETTY, BUT PRECIOUS, AND OTHER SHORT STORIES.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Mille modi veneris!_ Part I.
plural of “week” — any period of seven consecutive days
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Mr. Norval: It is now four weeks since your accident.
Chapter 1 of Not Pretty, but Precious by John [Contributor] Hay holds 2478 sentences, grouped into 496 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 2478 sentences of Not Pretty, but Precious, unabridged, divided into 496 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Not Pretty, but Precious by John [Contributor] Hay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 2478 sentences, grouped into 496 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 496 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 496 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 Not Pretty, but Precious by John [Contributor] Hay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Not Pretty, but Precious section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Not Pretty, but Precious 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 Not Pretty, but Precious, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
