Chapter 14 of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat is here in full — 34 sentences across 7 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat is here in full — 34 sentences across 7 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“One step, two steps, three steps, so! Four steps, five steps, six steps go! Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.” Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook. And every time he said it, he felt better.
Chapter 14 of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat is here in full — 34 sentences across 7 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/6 · 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 natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)
From this reading “Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.”
showing or feeling mirth or pleasure or happiness
From this reading “Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.”
inflected form of “plod” — walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
From this reading “Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.”
having spots or patches (small areas of contrasting color or texture)
From this reading “Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.”
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading ““One step, two steps, three steps, so!”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading ““One step, two steps, three steps, so!”
a sweater or jersey with a high close-fitting collar
From this reading “Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.”
be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious
From this reading “Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.””
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 Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading And every time he said it, he felt better.
a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading Four steps, five steps, six steps go!
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading Four steps, five steps, six steps go!
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Four steps, five steps, six steps go!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading And every time he said it, he felt better.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
showing or feeling mirth or pleasure or happiness
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
by chance
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “One step, two steps, three steps, so!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
above and across; more than
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
inflected form of “plod” — walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
not move; be in a resting position
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
precisely, exactly
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading Four steps, five steps, six steps go!
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading “One step, two steps, three steps, so!
having spots or patches (small areas of contrasting color or texture)
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading “One step, two steps, three steps, so!
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “One step, two steps, three steps, so!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading “One step, two steps, three steps, so!
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
a sweater or jersey with a high close-fitting collar
From this reading Spotty the Turtle said this over to himself every time he felt a little down-hearted, as he plodded along the bed of the Laughing Brook.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading “One step, two steps, three steps, so!
during the time that
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Keep right on and do your best; Mayhap you'll win while others rest.”
Chapter 14 of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 34 sentences, grouped into 7 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 14 holds 34 sentences of The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat, unabridged, divided into 7 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 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 34 sentences, grouped into 7 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 7 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 7 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 14 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.
