Chapter 1 of Tales of Folk and Fairies is here in full — 427 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Tales of Folk and Fairies is here in full — 427 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. He took out his pipe and blew a tune. Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!" 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head. 127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.
Chapter 1 of Tales of Folk and Fairies is here in full — 427 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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 man who is the lover of a man or woman
From this reading “Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"”
past form of “bellow” — shout loudly and without restraint
From this reading “Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"”
inflected form of “blow” — exhale hard
From this reading “He took out his pipe and blew a tune.”
an evil supernatural being
From this reading “127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.”
inflected form of “fly” — travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading “127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.”
an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built
From this reading “29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.”
a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco
From this reading “He took out his pipe and blew a tune.”
a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
From this reading “He took out his pipe and blew a tune.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading He took out his pipe and blew a tune.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading 127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.
a man who is the lover of a man or woman
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
past form of “bellow” — shout loudly and without restraint
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
next to; at the side of
From this reading 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
inflected form of “blow” — exhale hard
From this reading He took out his pipe and blew a tune.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
an evil supernatural being
From this reading 127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
inflected form of “fly” — travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading 127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.
an ornamental facade
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He took out his pipe and blew a tune.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built
From this reading 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He took out his pipe and blew a tune.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading 127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.
not any; not one
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He took out his pipe and blew a tune.
a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco
From this reading He took out his pipe and blew a tune.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
perception by means of the eyes
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading 29 She sat down beside the hearth and took off her head.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Frontispiece Seeing no one, the creature dropped on its knees and bellowed, "Beau Madjam!"
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading 127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading 127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading He took out his pipe and blew a tune.
a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
From this reading He took out his pipe and blew a tune.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading 127 Then the demon flew out through the window and away through the night.
Chapter 1 of Tales of Folk and Fairies by Katharine Pyle holds 427 sentences, grouped into 86 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 427 sentences of Tales of Folk and Fairies, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Tales of Folk and Fairies by Katharine Pyle exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 427 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Tales of Folk and Fairies by Katharine Pyle on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2963 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25913 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25913, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 246 minutes of reading across 593 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tales of Folk and Fairies section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of Tales of Folk and Fairies 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 of Folk and Fairies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
