Chapter 20 of Old Farm Fairies is here in full — 428 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Old Farm Fairies is here in full — 428 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BLYTHE'S FLUTE. Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits. The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts. The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp. The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.
Chapter 20 of Old Farm Fairies is here in full — 428 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
plural of “brownie” — a junior Girl Scout
From this reading “Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.”
the state of being certain
From this reading “The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.”
a high-pitched woodwind instrument; a slender tube closed at one end with finger holes on one end and an opening near the closed end across which the breath is blown
From this reading “BLYTHE'S FLUTE.”
a sign of something about to happen
From this reading “The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.”
(chemistry) a process in which one or more substances are changed into others
From this reading “The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.”
the reign of Charles II in England; 1660-1685
From this reading “The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.”
(New Testament) the rising of Christ on the third day after the Crucifixion
From this reading “The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.”
destroyed in an accident
From this reading “Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.”
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.
an auspicious state resulting from favorable outcomes
In this reading “The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.”
a state of mild depression
In this reading “The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.”
In this reading “Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.”
In this reading “The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.”
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 The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.
later than; following
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BLYTHE'S FLUTE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.
plural of “brownie” — a junior Girl Scout
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
the state of being certain
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
although something is true; in spite of
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
a high-pitched woodwind instrument; a slender tube closed at one end with finger holes on one end and an opening near the closed end across which the breath is blown
From this reading BLYTHE'S FLUTE.
an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
From this reading The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
intense sorrow caused by loss of a loved one (especially by death)
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.
a form of whist in which players avoid winning tricks containing hearts or the queen of spades
From this reading The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
weight to be borne or conveyed
From this reading The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.
something that is lost
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.
a sign of something about to happen
From this reading The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.
a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco
From this reading The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.
the particular portion of space occupied by something
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
(chemistry) a process in which one or more substances are changed into others
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
the reign of Charles II in England; 1660-1685
From this reading The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.
(New Testament) the rising of Christ on the third day after the Crucifixion
From this reading The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The boatswain's resurrection seemed an omen of good fortune.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading The restoration of Pipe had taken a load off their hearts.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
having passed out of existence
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The reaction was so great, after their grief and the certainty of his loss, that low spirits vanished from the camp.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
destroyed in an accident
From this reading Despite their position the wrecked Brownies were in good spirits.
Chapter 20 of Old Farm Fairies by Henry C. (Henry Christopher) McCook holds 428 sentences, grouped into 86 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 20 holds 428 sentences of Old Farm Fairies, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Old Farm Fairies by Henry C. (Henry Christopher) McCook exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 428 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 20 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 Farm Fairies by Henry C. (Henry Christopher) McCook on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6841 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33994 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33994, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 570 minutes of reading across 1369 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Old Farm Fairies section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of Old Farm Fairies 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 Farm Fairies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
