Chapter 1 of The bonfire is here in full — 279 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The bonfire is here in full — 279 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Tales of the Village Children. THE BONFIRE. BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD. RUGELEY: JOHN THOMAS WALTERS. LONDON: JAMES BURNS, PORTMAN STREET.
Chapter 1 of The bonfire is here in full — 279 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/55 · 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 large outdoor fire that is lighted as a signal or in celebration
From this reading “THE BONFIRE.”
United States comedian and film actor (1896-1996)
From this reading “LONDON: JAMES BURNS, PORTMAN STREET.”
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading “LONDON: JAMES BURNS, PORTMAN STREET.”
English pathologist who discovered the cause of trichinosis (1814-1899)
From this reading “BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.”
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading “BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.”
plural of “tale” — a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading “Tales of the Village Children.”
United States clockmaker who introduced mass production (1785-1859)
From this reading “RUGELEY: JOHN THOMAS WALTERS.”
plural of “walter” — German conductor (1876-1962)
From this reading “RUGELEY: JOHN THOMAS WALTERS.”
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.
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 BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.
a large outdoor fire that is lighted as a signal or in celebration
From this reading THE BONFIRE.
United States comedian and film actor (1896-1996)
From this reading LONDON: JAMES BURNS, PORTMAN STREET.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading Tales of the Village Children.
a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for normal reproduction; an important antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals in the body
From this reading BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
From this reading LONDON: JAMES BURNS, PORTMAN STREET.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading RUGELEY: JOHN THOMAS WALTERS.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading LONDON: JAMES BURNS, PORTMAN STREET.
the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
From this reading BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Tales of the Village Children.
English pathologist who discovered the cause of trichinosis (1814-1899)
From this reading BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LONDON: JAMES BURNS, PORTMAN STREET.
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading BY FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A., RECTOR OF ELFORD.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading RUGELEY: JOHN THOMAS WALTERS.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading LONDON: JAMES BURNS, PORTMAN STREET.
plural of “tale” — a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading Tales of the Village Children.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Tales of the Village Children.
United States clockmaker who introduced mass production (1785-1859)
From this reading RUGELEY: JOHN THOMAS WALTERS.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading Tales of the Village Children.
plural of “walter” — German conductor (1876-1962)
From this reading RUGELEY: JOHN THOMAS WALTERS.
Chapter 1 of The bonfire by Francis Edward Paget holds 279 sentences, grouped into 56 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 279 sentences of The bonfire, unabridged, divided into 56 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The bonfire by Francis Edward Paget exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 279 sentences, grouped into 56 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 56 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 56 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 bonfire by Francis Edward Paget 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 bonfire section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The bonfire 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 bonfire, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
