Chapter 3 of The Boys' Life of Mark Twain is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Boys' Life of Mark Twain is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Brownell poked his head in the door. The two were great chums. "What will you have, Sam?" he asked. "Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble. I want somebody to light my pipe."
Chapter 3 of The Boys' Life of Mark Twain is here in full — 411 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
in a state of sleep
From this reading “"Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.”
plural of “chum” — a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities
From this reading “The two were great chums.”
possessive form of “henry” — a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading “"Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.”
a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco
From this reading “I want somebody to light my pipe."”
past form of “poke” — poke or thrust abruptly
From this reading “Brownell poked his head in the door.”
a guided missile fired from land or shipboard against an airborne target
From this reading “"What will you have, Sam?" he asked.”
a person, without saying who
From this reading “I want somebody to light my pipe."”
a source of difficulty
From this reading “"Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.”
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 "Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "What will you have, Sam?" he asked.
in a state of sleep
From this reading "Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Brownell poked his head in the door.
plural of “chum” — a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities
From this reading The two were great chums.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Brownell poked his head in the door.
impotence resulting from a man's inability to have or maintain an erection of his penis
From this reading "Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The two were great chums.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "What will you have, Sam?" he asked.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "What will you have, Sam?" he asked.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading Brownell poked his head in the door.
possessive form of “henry” — a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading "Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Brownell poked his head in the door.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I want somebody to light my pipe."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Brownell poked his head in the door.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading I want somebody to light my pipe."
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I want somebody to light my pipe."
a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco
From this reading I want somebody to light my pipe."
past form of “poke” — poke or thrust abruptly
From this reading Brownell poked his head in the door.
a guided missile fired from land or shipboard against an airborne target
From this reading "What will you have, Sam?" he asked.
a person, without saying who
From this reading I want somebody to light my pipe."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Brownell poked his head in the door.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I want somebody to light my pipe."
a source of difficulty
From this reading "Come in, Ed; Henry's asleep, and I'm in trouble.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading The two were great chums.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading I want somebody to light my pipe."
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The two were great chums.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What will you have, Sam?" he asked.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "What will you have, Sam?" he asked.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "What will you have, Sam?" he asked.
Chapter 3 of The Boys' Life of Mark Twain by Albert Bigelow Paine holds 411 sentences, grouped into 83 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 411 sentences of The Boys' Life of Mark Twain, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Boys' Life of Mark Twain by Albert Bigelow Paine exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 411 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Boys' Life of Mark Twain by Albert Bigelow Paine on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4549 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3463 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3463, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 379 minutes of reading across 910 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Boys' Life of Mark Twain section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Boys' Life of Mark Twain 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 Boys' Life of Mark Twain, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
