Chapter 2 of Original Plays, Second Series is here in full — 390 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Original Plays, Second Series is here in full — 390 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here. You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had. _Flor._ The bed was well enough. I have been robbed. _Mous._ Ay, ay?
Chapter 2 of Original Plays, Second Series is here in full — 390 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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.
with anger
From this reading “_Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.”
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading “You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.”
to come or go into
to or in any or all places
From this reading “_Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.”
people in general (often used in the plural)
From this reading “You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.”
inflected form of “rob” — take something away by force or without the consent of the owner
From this reading “I have been robbed.”
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading “You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.”
that is looked for
From this reading “_Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.”
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.
(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 You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
with anger
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading I have been robbed.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading _Flor._ The bed was well enough.
to come or go into
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
to or in any or all places
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
people in general (often used in the plural)
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I have been robbed.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
not any; not one
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
inflected form of “rob” — take something away by force or without the consent of the owner
From this reading I have been robbed.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
that is looked for
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading _Flor._ The bed was well enough.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
precisely as stated
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading _Flor._ The bed was well enough.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading _Enter FLORIAN, angrily._ _Flor._ So here you are: I’ve sought you everywhere-- _Mous._ Ay, I am here.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You’re early from your bed-- Well, it’s no bed for such fine folk as you; I’m very sorry, but ’twas all I had.
Chapter 2 of Original Plays, Second Series by W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert holds 390 sentences, grouped into 78 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 2 holds 390 sentences of Original Plays, Second Series, unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Original Plays, Second Series by W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 390 sentences, grouped into 78 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 78 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 78 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 2 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 Original Plays, Second Series by W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 12140 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59685 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59685, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2428 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Original Plays, Second Series section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 31 chapters of Original Plays, Second Series 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 Original Plays, Second Series, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
