Chapter 4 of Pocket Island is here in full — 70 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Pocket Island is here in full — 70 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BOY. A boy is an inverted man. Small things seem to him great and great ones small. Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed. To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
Chapter 4 of Pocket Island is here in full — 70 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/14 · 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.
a relatively small granular particle of a substance
From this reading “To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.”
being in such a position that top and bottom are reversed
From this reading “A boy is an inverted man.”
a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading “To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.”
something (often something deceptively attractive) that catches you unawares
From this reading “To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.”
plural of “sucker” — a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of
From this reading “To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.”
the deliberate act of delaying and playing instead of working
From this reading “Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed.”
not noticed
From this reading “Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed.”
lacking in usefulness or value
From this reading “To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.”
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 A boy is an inverted man.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading A boy is an inverted man.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Small things seem to him great and great ones small.
a youthful male person
From this reading THE BOY.
a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
a piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
a group of persons together in one place
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
a relatively small granular particle of a substance
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Small things seem to him great and great ones small.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Small things seem to him great and great ones small.
the quality of being important and worthy of note
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
being in such a position that top and bottom are reversed
From this reading A boy is an inverted man.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A boy is an inverted man.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A boy is an inverted man.
a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
plural of “one” — the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Small things seem to him great and great ones small.
go across or through
From this reading Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed.
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Small things seem to him great and great ones small.
concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
From this reading Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Small things seem to him great and great ones small.
something (often something deceptively attractive) that catches you unawares
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
plural of “sucker” — a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
the process of shedding tears (usually accompanied by sobs or other inarticulate sounds)
From this reading Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BOY.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading Small things seem to him great and great ones small.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Small things seem to him great and great ones small.
the deliberate act of delaying and playing instead of working
From this reading Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed.
plural of “trouble” — a source of difficulty
From this reading Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed.
not noticed
From this reading Trifling troubles move him to tears and serious ones pass unnoticed.
lacking in usefulness or value
From this reading To snare a few worthless suckers in the meadow brook is to the country boy of more importance than the gathering of a field of grain.
Chapter 4 of Pocket Island by Charles Clark Munn holds 70 sentences, grouped into 14 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 4 holds 70 sentences of Pocket Island, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Pocket Island by Charles Clark Munn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 70 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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 4 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 Pocket Island by Charles Clark Munn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2040 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20057 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20057, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 170 minutes of reading across 408 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Pocket Island section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of Pocket 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 Pocket Island, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
