Chapter 9 of Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’. Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy. That wasn’t much. Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs. ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
Chapter 9 of Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories is here in full — 444 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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.
affected manners intended to impress others
From this reading “Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.”
female of domestic cattle: "“moo-cow” is a child's term"
From this reading “‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.”
the yield from plants in a single growing season
From this reading “‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.”
plural of “crow” — black birds having a raucous call
From this reading “Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.”
undergo or live through a difficult experience
From this reading “Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.”
a person who operates a farm
From this reading “Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.”
the officer below the master on a commercial ship
From this reading “Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.”
a set of two similar things considered as a unit
From this reading “Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.”
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.
In this reading “‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.”
the country of origin of an immigrant
In this reading “Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.”
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 ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
affected manners intended to impress others
From this reading Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
a youthful male person
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
female of domestic cattle: "“moo-cow” is a child's term"
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
the yield from plants in a single growing season
From this reading ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
plural of “crow” — black birds having a raucous call
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
undergo or live through a difficult experience
From this reading Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.
a person who operates a farm
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
the officer below the master on a commercial ship
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.
a set of two similar things considered as a unit
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Now I know’d as much about farmin’ as a cow does o’ reefin’.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
not in physical motion
From this reading Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.
the property of being physically or mentally strong
From this reading Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That wasn’t much.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
employed in accomplishing something
From this reading Still, on the strength o’ that experience, he used to give himself airs.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That wasn’t much.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
at the time that
From this reading Cert’nly my mate—for there was a pair of us—had been scarin’ crows for a farmer in the Old Country when he was a boy.
a late time of life
From this reading ‘I think it was two years afore we got a crop o’ anythin’.
Chapter 9 of Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories by John Arthur Barry holds 444 sentences, grouped into 89 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 9 holds 444 sentences of Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories by John Arthur Barry exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 444 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 9 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 Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories by John Arthur Barry on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3950 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60482 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60482, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 329 minutes of reading across 790 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories 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 Steve Brown's Bunyip, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
