Chapter 3 of The Colonel's Dream is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Colonel's Dream is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars." "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner. "Niggers are all just a passell o' black fools. Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me. I bought him fer six months.
Chapter 3 of The Colonel's Dream is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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 partially opened flower
From this reading “Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.”
the act of consuming liquids
From this reading “"Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."”
plural of “fool” — a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading “"Niggers are all just a passell o' black fools.”
to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught
From this reading “"Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."”
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading “"Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."”
United States slave and insurrectionist who in 1831 led a rebellion of slaves in Virginia; he was captured and executed (1800-1831)
From this reading “"You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.”
being five more than twenty
From this reading “"Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."”
a liquor made from fermented mash of grain
From this reading “"Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."”
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 before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
(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 "Niggers are all just a passell o' black fools.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Niggers are all just a passell o' black fools.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading "Niggers are all just a passell o' black fools.
inflected form of “buy” — obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction
From this reading I bought him fer six months.
a partially opened flower
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
plural of “dollar” — the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 cents
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
the act of consuming liquids
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
posing no difficulty; requiring little effort
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I bought him fer six months.
the cardinal number that is the product of ten and five
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
plural of “fool” — a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading "Niggers are all just a passell o' black fools.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I bought him fer six months.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
and nothing more
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
engage in
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
plural of “month” — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading I bought him fer six months.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Niggers are all just a passell o' black fools.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading "Niggers are all just a passell o' black fools.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Niggers are all just a passell o' black fools.
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading I bought him fer six months.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
United States slave and insurrectionist who in 1831 led a rebellion of slaves in Virginia; he was captured and executed (1800-1831)
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
being five more than twenty
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
a liquor made from fermented mash of grain
From this reading "Well," replied Haines, drinking down the glass of whiskey at a gulp, "I reckon about twenty-five dollars."
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Bud would 'a' b'en out now, if it hadn't be'n for me.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You can make it fifty just as easy," said Turner.
Chapter 3 of The Colonel's Dream by Charles W. (Charles Waddell) Chesnutt holds 430 sentences, grouped into 86 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 3 holds 430 sentences of The Colonel's Dream, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Colonel's Dream by Charles W. (Charles Waddell) Chesnutt exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 430 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Colonel's Dream by Charles W. (Charles Waddell) Chesnutt on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4261 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #19746 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #19746, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 355 minutes of reading across 853 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Colonel's Dream section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Colonel's Dream 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 Colonel's Dream, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
