Chapter 1 of The Adventures of Prickly Porky is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Adventures of Prickly Porky is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Prickly Porky did as he was told. Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to. Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth. Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might. For a minute the piece of bark held.
Chapter 1 of The Adventures of Prickly Porky is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 58/84 · 5 reading units · Lines 286–290
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.
tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants
From this reading “Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.”
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading “Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.”
positioned so as to be ready for confrontation or danger
From this reading “Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.”
decoration that is hung (as a tapestry) on a wall or over a window
From this reading “Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.”
very irritable
From this reading “Prickly Porky did as he was told.”
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading “Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.”
make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading “Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.”
wanting in physical strength
From this reading “Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.”
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 For a minute the piece of bark held.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Prickly Porky did as he was told.
tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
positioned so as to be ready for confrontation or danger
From this reading Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Prickly Porky did as he was told.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For a minute the piece of bark held.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy
From this reading Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
decoration that is hung (as a tapestry) on a wall or over a window
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Prickly Porky did as he was told.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading For a minute the piece of bark held.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
in truth (often tends to intensify)
From this reading Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
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 Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.
a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
From this reading For a minute the piece of bark held.
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
a separate part of a whole
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Prickly Porky did as he was told.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
very irritable
From this reading Prickly Porky did as he was told.
past form of “pull” — cause to move by pulling
From this reading Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading Prickly Porky did as he was told.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging from Prickly Porky's mouth.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Prickly Porky did as he was told.
wanting in physical strength
From this reading Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that he was glad to.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.
Chapter 1 of The Adventures of Prickly Porky by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 424 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 1 holds 424 sentences of The Adventures of Prickly Porky, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Adventures of Prickly Porky by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 424 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 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 The Adventures of Prickly Porky by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 857 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15521 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15521, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 71 minutes of reading across 172 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Adventures of Prickly Porky section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of The Adventures of Prickly Porky 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 Prickly Porky, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
