Chapter 17 of On the Stage--and Off is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of On the Stage--and Off is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company. The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later: ------ ------- left on Saturday. We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
Chapter 17 of On the Stage--and Off is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/49 · 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.
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading “We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.”
a period of fourteen consecutive days
From this reading “The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:”
plural of “house” — a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading “We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.”
repeat a passage from
From this reading “QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.”
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading “------ ------- left on Saturday.”
(astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading “The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:”
the capital raised by a corporation through the issue of shares entitling holders to an ownership interest
From this reading “QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.”
taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment
From this reading “We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.”
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.
a company whose capital is represented by stock
In this reading “QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.”
In this reading “The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:”
In this reading “QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.”
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 first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
later than; following
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
(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 had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
a period of fourteen consecutive days
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
destroyed or killed
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
plural of “house” — a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
and nothing more
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading ------ ------- left on Saturday.
the literary culture
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading ------ ------- left on Saturday.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
repeat a passage from
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
on the contrary
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading ------ ------- left on Saturday.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
(astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
the capital raised by a corporation through the issue of shares entitling holders to an ownership interest
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment
From this reading We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We had crowded houses all the time he was with us, and I’m not surprised.
in the company of; together with
From this reading QUOTE from two more letters, and then I have done with this stock company.
set down in writing in any of various ways
From this reading The first was written just after our star had set--or rather gone to the next town--the second about a fortnight later:
Chapter 17 of On the Stage--and Off by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome holds 249 sentences, grouped into 50 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 17 holds 249 sentences of On the Stage--and Off, unabridged, divided into 50 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of On the Stage--and Off by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 249 sentences, grouped into 50 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 50 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 50 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 17 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 On the Stage--and Off by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1967 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #48475 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #48475, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 163 minutes of reading across 394 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through On the Stage--and Off section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of On the Stage--and Off 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 On the Stage--and Off, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
