Chapter 14 of The Christmas Reindeer is here in full — 71 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of The Christmas Reindeer is here in full — 71 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother. He couldn’t get close enough to her. He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself. He wondered that his mother did not run. Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
Chapter 14 of The Christmas Reindeer is here in full — 71 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.
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading “WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.”
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading “Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.”
for more time
From this reading “He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.”
Arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes; called “reindeer” in Eurasia and “caribou” in North America
From this reading “WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.”
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading “WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.”
past form of “tremble” — move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
From this reading “WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.”
plural of “wolf” — any of various predatory carnivorous canine mammals of North America and Eurasia that usually hunt in packs
From this reading “Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.”
past form of “wonder” — have a wish or desire to know something
From this reading “He wondered that his mother did not run.”
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.
In this reading “Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.”
In this reading “He couldn’t get close enough to her.”
look towards one's back
In this reading “Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.”
In this reading “He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.”
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.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading He couldn’t get close enough to her.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He couldn’t get close enough to her.
overfilled or compacted or concentrated
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading He wondered that his mother did not run.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading He couldn’t get close enough to her.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He couldn’t get close enough to her.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He couldn’t get close enough to her.
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
for more time
From this reading He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
a particular point in time
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
not any; not one
From this reading He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He wondered that his mother did not run.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.
above and across; more than
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
Arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes; called “reindeer” in Eurasia and “caribou” in North America
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading He wondered that his mother did not run.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He wondered that his mother did not run.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
past form of “tremble” — move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading He no longer wanted to be out in the Great World by himself.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
at the time that
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
done by design
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
plural of “wolf” — any of various predatory carnivorous canine mammals of North America and Eurasia that usually hunt in packs
From this reading Every moment or two he looked back to see if those wolves were coming up over the hill.
past form of “wonder” — have a wish or desire to know something
From this reading He wondered that his mother did not run.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded up to his mother.
Chapter 14 of The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 71 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 14 holds 71 sentences of The Christmas Reindeer, unabridged, divided into 15 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 71 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 14 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.
