Chapter 1 of Old Hendrik's Tales is here in full — 478 sentences across 96 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Old Hendrik's Tales is here in full — 478 sentences across 96 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan. ________________________________________________________________________ OLD HENDRIK'S TALES, BY CAPTAIN ARTHUR OWEN VAUGHAN. CHAPTER ONE. WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL. The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
Chapter 1 of Old Hendrik's Tales is here in full — 478 sentences across 96 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/95 · 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.
elected vice president and became 21st President of the United States when Garfield was assassinated (1830-1886)
From this reading “Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.”
large terrestrial monkeys having doglike muzzles
From this reading “WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.”
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading “CHAPTER ONE.”
Welsh industrialist and social reformer who founded cooperative communities (1771-1858)
From this reading “Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.”
past form of “simmer” — boil slowly at low temperature
From this reading “The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.”
the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
From this reading “WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.”
plural of “tale” — 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 “Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.”
United States jazz singer noted for her complex bebop phrasing and scat singing (1924-1990)
From this reading “Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.”
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.
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.
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
elected vice president and became 21st President of the United States when Garfield was assassinated (1830-1886)
From this reading Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.
large terrestrial monkeys having doglike muzzles
From this reading WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading CHAPTER ONE.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.
a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (“rick” and “wrick” are British)
From this reading WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading CHAPTER ONE.
Welsh industrialist and social reformer who founded cooperative communities (1771-1858)
From this reading Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
past form of “simmer” — boil slowly at low temperature
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
From this reading WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.
plural of “tale” — 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 Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
United States jazz singer noted for her complex bebop phrasing and scat singing (1924-1990)
From this reading Old Hendrik's Tales, by Captain Arthur Owen Vaughan.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The day was hot, and the koppies simmered blue and brown along the Vaal River.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading WHY OLD BABOON HAS THAT KINK IN HIS TAIL.
Chapter 1 of Old Hendrik's Tales by Arthur Owen Vaughan holds 478 sentences, grouped into 96 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 478 sentences of Old Hendrik's Tales, unabridged, divided into 96 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Old Hendrik's Tales by Arthur Owen Vaughan exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 478 sentences, grouped into 96 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 96 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 96 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 Old Hendrik's Tales by Arthur Owen Vaughan on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2357 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32921 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32921, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 196 minutes of reading across 472 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Old Hendrik's Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of Old Hendrik's 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 Old Hendrik's Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
