Chapter 12 of Tales is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Tales is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TALE XXI. THE LEARNED BOY. Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam. SHAKESPEARE, Merchant of Venice. And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
Chapter 12 of Tales is here in full — 116 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.
a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body
From this reading “And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.”
A person or company involved in wholesale trade, especially with foreign countries.
From this reading “SHAKESPEARE, Merchant of Venice.”
a boy attending school
From this reading “And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.”
English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading “SHAKESPEARE, Merchant of Venice.”
freshwater or marine or terrestrial gastropod mollusk usually having an external enclosing spiral shell
From this reading “And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.”
in an unwilling manner
From this reading “And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.”
the provincial capital of Veneto; built on 118 islands within a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice; has canals instead of streets; one of Italy's major ports and a famous tourist attraction
From this reading “SHAKESPEARE, Merchant of Venice.”
-ing form of “whine” — move with a whining sound
From this reading “And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.”
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 Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
a youthful male person
From this reading THE LEARNED BOY.
a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
having or showing profound knowledge
From this reading THE LEARNED BOY.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
A person or company involved in wholesale trade, especially with foreign countries.
From this reading SHAKESPEARE, Merchant of Venice.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading SHAKESPEARE, Merchant of Venice.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
luggage consisting of a small case with a flat bottom and (usually) a shoulder strap
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
an educational institution
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
a boy attending school
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading SHAKESPEARE, Merchant of Venice.
marked by exceptional merit
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
freshwater or marine or terrestrial gastropod mollusk usually having an external enclosing spiral shell
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
produced or marked by conscious design or premeditation
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading TALE XXI.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE LEARNED BOY.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
in an unwilling manner
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
the provincial capital of Veneto; built on 118 islands within a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice; has canals instead of streets; one of Italy's major ports and a famous tourist attraction
From this reading SHAKESPEARE, Merchant of Venice.
(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 Like one well studied in a sad ostent, To please his grandam.
-ing form of “whine” — move with a whining sound
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
in the company of; together with
From this reading And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping, like a snail, Unwillingly to school.
the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty and one
From this reading TALE XXI.
Chapter 12 of Tales by George Crabbe holds 116 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 12 holds 116 sentences of Tales, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Tales by George Crabbe exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 116 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 12 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 Tales by George Crabbe on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1908 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5217 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5217, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 159 minutes of reading across 382 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Tales 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 Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
