Chapter 9 of The Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
PHILIP. [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other. SIR TIMOTHY. Yesterday? PHILIP.
Chapter 9 of The Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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 path over which electrical signals can pass
From this reading “[_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.”
plural of “fact” — a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading “[_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.”
past form of “guess” — expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading “[_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.”
Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)
From this reading “PHILIP.”
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading “[_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.”
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “[_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.”
grass with long cylindrical spikes grown in northern United States and Europe for hay
From this reading “[_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.”
the day immediately before today
From this reading “[_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.”
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 [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
an occurrence of something
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
a path over which electrical signals can pass
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
plural of “fact” — a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
past form of “guess” — expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)
From this reading PHILIP.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
on the contrary
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
term of address for a man
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
grass with long cylindrical spikes grown in northern United States and Europe for hay
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
in the company of; together with
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
the day immediately before today
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading [_With a smile._] I'd rather you didn't put it in that way, Sir Timothy; but I guessed yesterday that the facts of the case had reached you through some channel or other.
Chapter 9 of The Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts by Arthur Wing Pinero holds 429 sentences, grouped into 86 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 9 holds 429 sentences of The Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts by Arthur Wing Pinero exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 429 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 9 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 Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts by Arthur Wing Pinero on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3925 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25984 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25984, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 327 minutes of reading across 785 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts 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 Big Drum: A Comedy in Four Acts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
