Chapter 1 of Pearl of Pearl Island is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Pearl of Pearl Island is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?" "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme. Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that. She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing. They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
Chapter 1 of Pearl of Pearl Island is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 74/83 · 5 reading units · Lines 366–370
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.
call upon in supplication; entreat
From this reading “She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.”
be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading “Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.”
third-person singular of “depend” — be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading “"It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.”
accept an excuse for
From this reading “She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.”
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading “They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."”
superlative of “kind” — having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading “She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.”
evidencing the possession of inside information
From this reading “And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"”
the act of creating written works
From this reading “She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.”
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 "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.
(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 Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
call upon in supplication; entreat
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
third-person singular of “depend” — be contingent upon (something that is elided)
From this reading "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
accept an excuse for
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.
superlative of “kind” — having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
evidencing the possession of inside information
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
a polite name for any woman
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
a form of address for a man
From this reading "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.
not any; not one
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
precisely, exactly
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
express in speech
From this reading They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
express a supposition
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "It a' depends on the little leddy, Mr. Graeme.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
up to a particular time
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
From this reading They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading They were all on their heads, so to speak, as ye can understand."
at the time that
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading And there's no knowing when Lady Elspeth will return, I suppose?"
the act of creating written works
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
an old word for “you”, speaking to more than one person
From this reading Her leddyship will stay till everything's all right, ye may depend upon that.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading She told me to give you her kindest regairds and beg you to excuse her not writing.
Chapter 1 of Pearl of Pearl Island by John Oxenham holds 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 416 sentences of Pearl of Pearl Island, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Pearl of Pearl Island by John Oxenham exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 Pearl of Pearl Island by John Oxenham on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4149 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15259 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15259, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 345 minutes of reading across 830 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Pearl of Pearl Island section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Pearl of Pearl Island 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 Pearl of Pearl Island, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
