Chapter 23 of Old Ebenezer is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of Old Ebenezer is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AFTER AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. McElwin arose after a night of cat-naps. He was up long before breakfast. He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town. The fellow held up a chicken.
Chapter 23 of Old Ebenezer is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
eagerly desirous
From this reading “AFTER AN ANXIOUS NIGHT.”
inflected form of “arise” — come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading “McElwin arose after a night of cat-naps.”
a financier who owns or is an executive in a bank
From this reading “He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.”
eat an early morning meal
From this reading “He was up long before breakfast.”
the flesh of a chicken used for food
From this reading “The fellow held up a chicken.”
a movable barrier in a fence or wall
From this reading “He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.”
past form of “hail” — praise vociferously
From this reading “He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.”
someone who travels about selling his wares (as on the streets or at carnivals)
From this reading “He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.”
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 McElwin arose after a night of cat-naps.
later than; following
From this reading AFTER AN ANXIOUS NIGHT.
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading AFTER AN ANXIOUS NIGHT.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
eagerly desirous
From this reading AFTER AN ANXIOUS NIGHT.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
inflected form of “arise” — come into existence; take on form or shape
From this reading McElwin arose after a night of cat-naps.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
a financier who owns or is an executive in a bank
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading He was up long before breakfast.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading He was up long before breakfast.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading McElwin arose after a night of cat-naps.
the flesh of a chicken used for food
From this reading The fellow held up a chicken.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
a boy or man
From this reading The fellow held up a chicken.
a movable barrier in a fence or wall
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
past form of “hail” — praise vociferously
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was up long before breakfast.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading The fellow held up a chicken.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
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 He was up long before breakfast.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading McElwin arose after a night of cat-naps.
information about recent and important events
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading AFTER AN ANXIOUS NIGHT.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading McElwin arose after a night of cat-naps.
someone who travels about selling his wares (as on the streets or at carnivals)
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
in or at that place or location
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He was up long before breakfast.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was up long before breakfast.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
at the time that
From this reading He stood at the gate, looking up and down the road; and when a peddler came along the banker hailed him and asked if there were any news in the town.
Chapter 23 of Old Ebenezer by Opie Percival Read holds 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 23 holds 188 sentences of Old Ebenezer, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of Old Ebenezer by Opie Percival Read exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 23 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 Old Ebenezer by Opie Percival Read on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4992 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #23215 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #23215, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 416 minutes of reading across 999 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Old Ebenezer section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of Old Ebenezer 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 Old Ebenezer, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
