Chapter 3 of The Blackguard is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Blackguard is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Soldier, soldier, where are your breeches, pray? Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away? Soldier, soldier, get up and dust. Busted the bugler? Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
Chapter 3 of The Blackguard is here in full — 129 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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 “brain” — that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading “Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?”
(used in the plural) trousers ending above the knee
From this reading “"Soldier, soldier, where are your breeches, pray?”
out of working order (“busted” is an informal substitute for “broken”)
From this reading “Busted the bugler?”
perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment
From this reading “Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?”
a tie in tennis or table tennis that requires winning two successive points to win the game
From this reading “Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?”
remove the dust from
From this reading “Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?”
a health facility where patients receive treatment
From this reading “Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?”
an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading “Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?”
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.
refuse to talk or stop talking; fall silent
In this reading “Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?”
rise to one's feet
In this reading “Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Soldier, soldier, where are your breeches, pray?
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
plural of “brain” — that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
(used in the plural) trousers ending above the knee
From this reading "Soldier, soldier, where are your breeches, pray?
someone who plays a bugle
From this reading Busted the bugler?
out of working order (“busted” is an informal substitute for “broken”)
From this reading Busted the bugler?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment
From this reading Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
a tie in tennis or table tennis that requires winning two successive points to win the game
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
remove the dust from
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
not accessible to view
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
a health facility where patients receive treatment
From this reading Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading "Soldier, soldier, where are your breeches, pray?
an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
cause to go somewhere
From this reading Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
From this reading Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading "Soldier, soldier, where are your breeches, pray?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Send him to hospital; Can't you shut up that confounded row?
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
in or at the place that
From this reading "Soldier, soldier, where are your breeches, pray?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Soldier, soldier, get up and dust; Where the deuce have you hidden your brains away?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Soldier, soldier, where are your breeches, pray?
Chapter 3 of The Blackguard by Roger Pocock holds 129 sentences, grouped into 26 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 129 sentences of The Blackguard, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Blackguard by Roger Pocock exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 129 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 Blackguard by Roger Pocock on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Blackguard section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Blackguard 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 Blackguard, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
