Chapter 15 of Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian Tales is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian Tales is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem. He sat down to think. Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him. He had done nothing to deserve such treatment. A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
Chapter 15 of Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian Tales is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
a holder with sockets for candles
From this reading “Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.”
excessively
From this reading “Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.”
be worthy or deserving
From this reading “He had done nothing to deserve such treatment.”
(often used ironically) worthy of being treated in a particular way
From this reading “A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.”
talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions
From this reading “Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.”
past form of “slight” — pay no attention to, disrespect
From this reading “Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.”
a simple seat without a back or arms
From this reading “Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.”
care provided to improve a situation (especially medical procedures or applications that are intended to relieve illness or injury)
From this reading “He had done nothing to deserve such treatment.”
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.
In this reading “A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.”
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 Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
a holder with sockets for candles
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
excessively
From this reading Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.
be worthy or deserving
From this reading He had done nothing to deserve such treatment.
(often used ironically) worthy of being treated in a particular way
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading He had done nothing to deserve such treatment.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He sat down to think.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.
talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions
From this reading Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.
set up or found
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
a young female
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He sat down to think.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
provided with artificial light
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading He had done nothing to deserve such treatment.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He sat down to think.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
past form of “slight” — pay no attention to, disrespect
From this reading Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.
a simple seat without a back or arms
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading He had done nothing to deserve such treatment.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Alec, having lit a match, found the bed, table, stool, and candlestick as Elisha did in Shunem.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading He sat down to think.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He sat down to think.
care provided to improve a situation (especially medical procedures or applications that are intended to relieve illness or injury)
From this reading He had done nothing to deserve such treatment.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.
which person or people
From this reading A girl who could act as she had done was not deserving of the love of any man.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes, Elsie was a flirt, and had cruelly slighted him.
Chapter 15 of Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian Tales by Andrew Robertson holds 127 sentences, grouped into 26 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 15 holds 127 sentences of Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian Tales, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian Tales by Andrew Robertson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 127 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 15 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 Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian Tales by Andrew Robertson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2657 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54415 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54415, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 221 minutes of reading across 532 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian 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 Nuggets in the Devil's Punch Bowl, and Other Australian Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
