Chapter 12 of The Christmas Reindeer is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Christmas Reindeer is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE DEER PEOPLE Winter had come. The deer were on their winter feeding grounds. Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat. As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow. But the deer people minded this not at all.
Chapter 12 of The Christmas Reindeer is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/14 · 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.
for a short time
From this reading “Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.”
distinguished from Bovidae by the male's having solid deciduous antlers
From this reading “THE DEER PEOPLE Winter had come.”
the act of consuming food
From this reading “The deer were on their winter feeding grounds.”
your basis for belief or disbelief; knowledge on which to base belief
From this reading “The deer were on their winter feeding grounds.”
(used in combination) mentally oriented toward something specified
From this reading “But the deer people minded this not at all.”
precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
From this reading “As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.”
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading “THE DEER PEOPLE Winter had come.”
past form of “wonder” — have a wish or desire to know something
From this reading “Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading But the deer people minded this not at all.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
any thing at all
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading But the deer people minded this not at all.
for a short time
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
on the far side of; further than
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading THE DEER PEOPLE Winter had come.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
distinguished from Bovidae by the male's having solid deciduous antlers
From this reading THE DEER PEOPLE Winter had come.
take in solid food
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
the act of consuming food
From this reading The deer were on their winter feeding grounds.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
your basis for belief or disbelief; knowledge on which to base belief
From this reading The deer were on their winter feeding grounds.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading THE DEER PEOPLE Winter had come.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
(used in combination) mentally oriented toward something specified
From this reading But the deer people minded this not at all.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading But the deer people minded this not at all.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The deer were on their winter feeding grounds.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading THE DEER PEOPLE Winter had come.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE DEER PEOPLE Winter had come.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The deer were on their winter feeding grounds.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading But the deer people minded this not at all.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
up to a particular time
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading As far as could be seen, and far, far beyond that, there was nothing but snow.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The deer were on their winter feeding grounds.
in or at the place that
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading THE DEER PEOPLE Winter had come.
past form of “wonder” — have a wish or desire to know something
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Could you have been there, you would, until you had watched them awhile, have wondered where they could find anything to eat.
Chapter 12 of The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 72 sentences, grouped into 15 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 12 holds 72 sentences of The Christmas Reindeer, unabridged, divided into 15 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 72 sentences, grouped into 15 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 15 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 15 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 12 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 Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1457 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #64109 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #64109, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 121 minutes of reading across 292 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Christmas Reindeer section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of The Christmas Reindeer 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 Christmas Reindeer, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
