Chapter 13 of Old Granny Fox is here in full — 55 sentences across 11 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of Old Granny Fox is here in full — 55 sentences across 11 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain. —_Old Granny Fox_. We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then. I guess you have done it. I know I have.
Chapter 13 of Old Granny Fox is here in full — 55 sentences across 11 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/11 · 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.
to gain with effort
From this reading “Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.”
devoid of good sense or judgment
From this reading “Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.”
without good sense or judgment
From this reading “Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.”
alert carnivorous mammal with pointed muzzle and ears and a bushy tail; most are predators that do not hunt in packs
the mother of your father or mother
From this reading “—_Old Granny Fox_.”
ludicrous, foolish
From this reading “Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.”
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading “Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.”
plural of “wish” — a specific feeling of desire
From this reading “Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.”
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 Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
to gain with effort
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading I guess you have done it.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
devoid of good sense or judgment
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
without good sense or judgment
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
alert carnivorous mammal with pointed muzzle and ears and a bushy tail; most are predators that do not hunt in packs
From this reading —_Old Granny Fox_.
the mother of your father or mother
From this reading —_Old Granny Fox_.
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading I guess you have done it.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I guess you have done it.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I guess you have done it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I guess you have done it.
and nothing more
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
engage in
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
used to form the superlative
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading —_Old Granny Fox_.
ludicrous, foolish
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
a special situation
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
hope for; have a wish
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
plural of “wish” — a specific feeling of desire
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
but in spite of that
From this reading We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Three Vain And Foolish Wishes There’s nothing so foolishly silly and vain As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
Chapter 13 of Old Granny Fox by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 55 sentences, grouped into 11 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 13 holds 55 sentences of Old Granny Fox, unabridged, divided into 11 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of Old Granny Fox by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 55 sentences, grouped into 11 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 11 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 11 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 13 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 Granny Fox by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1433 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4980 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4980, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 119 minutes of reading across 287 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Old Granny Fox section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of Old Granny Fox 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 Granny Fox, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
