Chapter 1 of The Cavalier is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Cavalier is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone. Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt. Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon. When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books. Here was joy!
Chapter 1 of The Cavalier is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 33/84 · 5 reading units · Lines 161–165
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.
back and sides of a hog salted and dried or smoked; usually sliced thin and fried
From this reading “Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.”
plural of “biscuit” — small round bread leavened with baking-powder or soda
From this reading “Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt.”
an edible emulsion of fat globules made by churning milk or cream; for cooking and table use
From this reading “Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt.”
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading “His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.”
cooked by frying in fat
From this reading “Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.”
take up or begin anew
From this reading “When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.”
a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
From this reading “Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt.”
vigorous and animated
From this reading “Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.”
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.
Having no one else present.
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
in addition
From this reading Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
back and sides of a hog salted and dried or smoked; usually sliced thin and fried
From this reading Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
plural of “biscuit” — small round bread leavened with baking-powder or soda
From this reading Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
Bound written or printed works.
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
a youthful male person
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.
an edible emulsion of fat globules made by churning milk or cream; for cooking and table use
From this reading Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt.
rid of objects or obstructions such as e.g. trees and brush
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
an employee who performs clerical work (e.g., keeps records or accounts)
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
make full, also in a metaphorical sense
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
cooked by frying in fat
From this reading Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Here was joy!
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
the emotion of great happiness
From this reading Here was joy!
a white clayey mineral
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
the middle of the day
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
take up or begin anew
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt.
a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
From this reading Hot biscuits! with butter! and rock salt.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
to a small degree or extent
From this reading Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.
not in physical motion
From this reading Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
past form of “talk” — exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
a portable shelter (usually of canvas stretched over supporting poles and fastened to the ground with ropes and pegs)
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
vigorous and animated
From this reading Fried bacon also--somewhat vivacious, but still bacon.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Here was joy!
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
at the time that
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
during the time that
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
in the company of; together with
From this reading His new clerk dined with him that first day, at noon in his tent, alone.
the act of creating written works
From this reading When the tent began to fill with the smoke of his meerschaum pipe, and while his black boy cleared the table for us to resume writing, we talked of books.
Chapter 1 of The Cavalier by George Washington Cable holds 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 423 sentences of The Cavalier, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Cavalier by George Washington Cable exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 423 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 Cavalier by George Washington Cable on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4529 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9839 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9839, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 377 minutes of reading across 906 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Cavalier section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Cavalier 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 Cavalier, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
