Chapter 6 of The Adventures of Don Lavington is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of The Adventures of Don Lavington is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"You will afore long. Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs." "You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily. "Not a bit of it, my lad. If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
Chapter 6 of The Adventures of Don Lavington is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
on a ship, train, plane or other vehicle
From this reading “Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."”
with anger
From this reading “"You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily.”
plural of “back” — the posterior part of a human (or animal) body from the neck to the end of the spine
From this reading “Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."”
possessive form of “crew” — the men and women who man a vehicle (ship, aircraft, etc.)
From this reading “Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."”
a Spanish gentleman or nobleman
From this reading “"You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily.”
cause friction
From this reading “Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."”
past form of “scratch” — cause friction
From this reading “If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."”
bound or secured closely
From this reading “If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."”
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 Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
on a ship, train, plane or other vehicle
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You will afore long.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
with anger
From this reading "You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
plural of “back” — the posterior part of a human (or animal) body from the neck to the end of the spine
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading "Not a bit of it, my lad.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
possessive form of “crew” — the men and women who man a vehicle (ship, aircraft, etc.)
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
a Spanish gentleman or nobleman
From this reading "You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily.
a man of refinement
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Not a bit of it, my lad.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
a boy or man
From this reading "Not a bit of it, my lad.
showing or feeling mirth or pleasure or happiness
From this reading "You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading "You will afore long.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "You are laughing at me," cried Don angrily.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Not a bit of it, my lad.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "Not a bit of it, my lad.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "Not a bit of it, my lad.
cause friction
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
past form of “scratch” — cause friction
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
transport commercially
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
express in words
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
bound or secured closely
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
(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 Well, I'll tell you; bosun's mate's a gentleman kep' aboard ship to scratch the crew's backs."
used to ask for information about something
From this reading If I was to do what you want, I should be tied up to-morrow, and have my back scratched."
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "You will afore long.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You will afore long.
Chapter 6 of The Adventures of Don Lavington by George Manville Fenn holds 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 6 holds 423 sentences of The Adventures of Don Lavington, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of The Adventures of Don Lavington by George Manville Fenn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 6 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 The Adventures of Don Lavington by George Manville Fenn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8288 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21316 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21316, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1658 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Adventures of Don Lavington section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Adventures of Don Lavington 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 The Adventures of Don Lavington, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
