Chapter 8 of Our Village is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Our Village is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it. It does not stir. Does it breathe? Oh yes, it does! It is alive, safe enough.
Chapter 8 of Our Village is here in full — 118 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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.
possessing life
From this reading “It is alive, safe enough.”
draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs
From this reading “Does it breathe?”
made afraid
From this reading “The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.”
young sheep
From this reading “The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.”
plural of “lie” — a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
From this reading “The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.”
not in physical motion
From this reading “The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.”
move an implement through
From this reading “It does not stir.”
plural of “villain” — a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
From this reading “The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.”
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.
possessing life
From this reading It is alive, safe enough.
sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs
From this reading Does it breathe?
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It does not stir.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading It is alive, safe enough.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
made afraid
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is alive, safe enough.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
young sheep
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
plural of “lie” — a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
not in physical motion
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It does not stir.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh yes, it does!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
free from danger or the risk of harm
From this reading It is alive, safe enough.
move an implement through
From this reading It does not stir.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
having come into contact
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
plural of “villain” — a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
From this reading The poor little pretty lamb! here it lies on the bank quite motionless, frightened I believe to death, for certainly those villains never touched it.
an affirmative
From this reading Oh yes, it does!
Chapter 8 of Our Village by Mary Russell Mitford holds 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 8 holds 118 sentences of Our Village, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Our Village by Mary Russell Mitford exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 118 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 8 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 Our Village by Mary Russell Mitford on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1743 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2496 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2496, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 145 minutes of reading across 349 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Our Village section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of Our Village 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 Our Village, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
