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.
Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure. It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained. Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house. He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference. He hadn't a bit of appetite.
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 79/84 · 5 reading units · Lines 391–395
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 feeling of craving something
From this reading “He hadn't a bit of appetite.”
possessive form of “brown” — an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading “Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.”
without care or concern
From this reading “He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.”
bound with chains
From this reading “It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.”
the quality of being unlike or dissimilar
From this reading “He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.”
a person who operates a farm
From this reading “Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.”
in spite of what has just been said
From this reading “Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.”
past form of “sneak” — to go stealthily or furtively
From this reading “Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.”
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 Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
a feeling of craving something
From this reading He hadn't a bit of appetite.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading He hadn't a bit of appetite.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.
possessive form of “brown” — an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
without care or concern
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
bound with chains
From this reading It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
the quality of being unlike or dissimilar
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
a yard outside the front or rear door of a house
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
divisible by two
From this reading Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.
considered likely or probable to happen or arrive
From this reading It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.
a person who operates a farm
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He hadn't a bit of appetite.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.
and nothing more
From this reading It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
engage in
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
in spite of what has just been said
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
not any; not one
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He hadn't a bit of appetite.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
past form of “sneak” — to go stealthily or furtively
From this reading Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.
having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to make sure.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference.
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.
