Chapter 15 of The Desert Fiddler is here in full — 276 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of The Desert Fiddler is here in full — 276 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was October. The bolls had opened beautifully. The cotton was ready to pick. As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders. It was the finest crop of cotton either of them had ever seen.
Chapter 15 of The Desert Fiddler is here in full — 276 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/55 · 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 beautiful manner
From this reading “The bolls had opened beautifully.”
plural of “boll” — the rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant
From this reading “The bolls had opened beautifully.”
soft silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state
From this reading “The cotton was ready to pick.”
the yield from plants in a single growing season
From this reading “It was the finest crop of cotton either of them had ever seen.”
the Hebrew patriarch who saved himself and his family and the animals by building an ark in which they survived 40 days and 40 nights of rain; the story of Noah and the flood is told in the Book of Genesis
From this reading “As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.”
the month following September and preceding November
From this reading “It was October.”
plural of “row” — an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading “As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.”
plural of “stalk” — material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
From this reading “As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.”
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 As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
in a beautiful manner
From this reading The bolls had opened beautifully.
move up and down repeatedly
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
plural of “boll” — the rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant
From this reading The bolls had opened beautifully.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
soft silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state
From this reading The cotton was ready to pick.
the yield from plants in a single growing season
From this reading It was the finest crop of cotton either of them had ever seen.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
one or the other of two
From this reading It was the finest crop of cotton either of them had ever seen.
at any time
From this reading It was the finest crop of cotton either of them had ever seen.
superlative of “fine” — being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading It was the finest crop of cotton either of them had ever seen.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The bolls had opened beautifully.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was October.
the Hebrew patriarch who saved himself and his family and the animals by building an ark in which they survived 40 days and 40 nights of rain; the story of Noah and the flood is told in the Book of Genesis
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
the month following September and preceding November
From this reading It was October.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was the finest crop of cotton either of them had ever seen.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading The bolls had opened beautifully.
select carefully from a group
From this reading The cotton was ready to pick.
completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress
From this reading The cotton was ready to pick.
plural of “row” — an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading It was the finest crop of cotton either of them had ever seen.
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
plural of “stalk” — material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The bolls had opened beautifully.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading It was the finest crop of cotton either of them had ever seen.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The cotton was ready to pick.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading As Bob and Noah walked down the rows the stalks came up to their shoulders.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was October.
Chapter 15 of The Desert Fiddler by William H. (William Henry) Hamby holds 276 sentences, grouped into 56 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 15 holds 276 sentences of The Desert Fiddler, unabridged, divided into 56 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of The Desert Fiddler by William H. (William Henry) Hamby exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 276 sentences, grouped into 56 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 56 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 56 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 15 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 Desert Fiddler by William H. (William Henry) Hamby on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3016 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25960 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25960, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 251 minutes of reading across 604 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Desert Fiddler section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 30 chapters of The Desert Fiddler 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 Desert Fiddler, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
