Chapter 3 of The Big Time is here in full — 76 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Big Time is here in full — 76 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Hell is the place for me. For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen. With them will I go. There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord. There go the gold and the silver, the sables and ermine.
Chapter 3 of The Big Time is here in full — 76 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/15 · 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.
plural of “churchman” — a clergyman or other person in religious orders
From this reading “For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.”
the expensive white fur of the ermine
From this reading “There go the gold and the silver, the sables and ermine.”
unflinching in battle or action
From this reading “For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.”
characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit
From this reading “There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.”
plural of “knight” — originally a person of noble birth trained to arms and chivalry; today in Great Britain a person honored by the sovereign for personal merit
From this reading “For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.”
plural of “lover” — a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading “There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.”
plural of “sable” — an artist's brush made of sable hairs
From this reading “There go the gold and the silver, the sables and ermine.”
a sporting competition in which contestants play a series of games to decide the winner
From this reading “For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.”
In this reading “For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.”
In this reading “There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.”
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.
in addition
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
next to; at the side of
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
plural of “churchman” — a clergyman or other person in religious orders
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
the expensive white fur of the ermine
From this reading There go the gold and the silver, the sables and ermine.
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Hell is the place for me.
unflinching in battle or action
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
plural of “gentleman” — a man of refinement
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
coins made of gold
From this reading There go the gold and the silver, the sables and ermine.
characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
of behavior that is impressive and ambitious in scale or scope
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
any place of pain and turmoil
From this reading Hell is the place for me.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading With them will I go.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Hell is the place for me.
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
plural of “knight” — originally a person of noble birth trained to arms and chivalry; today in Great Britain a person honored by the sovereign for personal merit
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
plural of “lady” — a polite name for any woman
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
plural of “lover” — a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Hell is the place for me.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading Hell is the place for me.
plural of “sable” — an artist's brush made of sable hairs
From this reading There go the gold and the silver, the sables and ermine.
a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography
From this reading There go the gold and the silver, the sables and ermine.
plural of “soldier” — an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Hell is the place for me.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading With them will I go.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
a sporting competition in which contestants play a series of games to decide the winner
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading For to Hell go the fine churchmen, and the fine knights, killed in the tourney or in some grand war, the brave soldiers and the gallant gentlemen.
which person or people
From this reading There go also the fair gracious ladies who have lovers two or three beside their lord.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading With them will I go.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With them will I go.
Chapter 3 of The Big Time by Fritz Leiber holds 76 sentences, grouped into 16 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 3 holds 76 sentences of The Big Time, unabridged, divided into 16 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Big Time by Fritz Leiber exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 76 sentences, grouped into 16 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 16 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 16 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 3 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 Time by Fritz Leiber on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1875 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32256 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32256, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 156 minutes of reading across 375 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Big Time section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of The Big Time 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 Time, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
