Chapter 8 of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool. Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime. “Tra-la-la-lee, see me! See me! Happy am I as I can be!
Chapter 8 of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat is here in full — 49 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 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.
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading “Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.”
the boundary of a surface
From this reading “Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.”
any of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species
From this reading “Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.”
the father of your father or mother
From this reading “Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.”
an excavation that is (usually) filled with water
From this reading “Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.”
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading “Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.”
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading “Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.”
the season of growth
From this reading “Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.”
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.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading Happy am I as I can be!
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Happy am I as I can be!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Happy am I as I can be!
the boundary of a surface
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
any of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
the father of your father or mother
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading Happy am I as I can be!
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Happy am I as I can be!
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
the emotion of great happiness
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Tra-la-la-lee, see me!
a form of address for a man
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
above and across; more than
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
an excavation that is (usually) filled with water
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
North American blackbird with scarlet patches on the wings
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading “Tra-la-la-lee, see me!
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
the season of growth
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Grandfather Frog sat among the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Tra-la-la-lee, see me!
precisely as stated
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Over his head Mr. Redwing was singing as if his heart would burst with the very joy of springtime.
Chapter 8 of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 49 sentences, grouped into 10 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 8 holds 49 sentences of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 49 sentences, grouped into 10 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 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 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 8 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 Jerry Muskrat by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 954 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5110 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5110, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 79 minutes of reading across 191 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat 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 Jerry Muskrat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
