Chapter 9 of The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Oh, I’ve just been to China!” Timothy looked as if he did not believe him. “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.” And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly. Timothy was dumb.
Chapter 9 of The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and is here in full — 404 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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 communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world
From this reading ““Oh, I’ve just been to China!””
the act of counting; reciting numbers in ascending order
From this reading ““Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.””
slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
From this reading “Timothy was dumb.”
with full knowledge and deliberation
From this reading “And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly.”
plural of “sea” — a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading ““Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.””
grass with long cylindrical spikes grown in northern United States and Europe for hay
From this reading “Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.”
past form of “wink” — signal by winking
From this reading “And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly.”
performs some wicked deed
From this reading “And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly.”
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.
on a ship, train, plane or other vehicle
In this reading ““Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.””
In this reading “And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly.”
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 “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading “Oh, I’ve just been to China!”
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.
a committee having supervisory powers
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world
From this reading “Oh, I’ve just been to China!”
the act of counting; reciting numbers in ascending order
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.
slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
From this reading Timothy was dumb.
quickly or rapidly (often used as a combining form)
From this reading And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Oh, I’ve just been to China!”
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.
and nothing more
From this reading “Oh, I’ve just been to China!”
with full knowledge and deliberation
From this reading And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “Oh, I’ve just been to China!”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
plural of “sea” — a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
plural of “ship” — a vessel that carries passengers or freight
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
grass with long cylindrical spikes grown in northern United States and Europe for hay
From this reading Timothy looked as if he did not believe him.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Oh, I’ve just been to China!”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Timothy was dumb.
the state of being rich and affluent; having a plentiful supply of material goods and money
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
past form of “wink” — signal by winking
From this reading And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly.
performs some wicked deed
From this reading And the little wretch winked fast and knowingly.
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Yes, I’ve just been to the China seas, on board your ships, and I have been counting your wealth.”
Chapter 9 of The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and by Frances Jenkins Olcott holds 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 404 sentences of The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and by Frances Jenkins Olcott exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 404 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and by Frances Jenkins Olcott on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4809 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56914 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56914, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 400 minutes of reading across 962 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and 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 Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
