Chapter 1 of The Dumpling is here in full — 99 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Dumpling is here in full — 99 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!" 333 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling." _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING. PROLOGUE.
Chapter 1 of The Dumpling is here in full — 99 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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.
small balls or strips of boiled or steamed dough
From this reading “In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."”
plural of “illustration” — artwork that helps make something clear or attractive
From this reading “333 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.”
not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
From this reading “_To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.”
the cloak as a symbol of authority
From this reading “The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"”
French general who became emperor of the French (1769-1821)
From this reading “The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"”
an addictive narcotic extracted from seed capsules of the opium poppy
From this reading “In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."”
sheet glass cut in shapes for windows or doors
From this reading “In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."”
an introduction to a play
From this reading “PROLOGUE.”
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 “In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."”
In this reading “_To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.”
In this reading “333 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.”
In this reading “_To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 333 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
run or move very quickly or hastily
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
the habitation of wild animals
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
small balls or strips of boiled or steamed dough
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
an ornamental facade
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"
intense and profound fear
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
plural of “illustration” — artwork that helps make something clear or attractive
From this reading 333 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"
The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions on one's way of life.
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
give or make a list of; name individually; give the names of
From this reading 333 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
the act that results in something coming to be
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
the cloak as a symbol of authority
From this reading The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"
French general who became emperor of the French (1769-1821)
From this reading The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"
an addictive narcotic extracted from seed capsules of the opium poppy
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
a multivalent nonmetallic element of the nitrogen family that occurs commonly in inorganic phosphate rocks and as organic phosphates in all living cells; is highly reactive and occurs in several allotropic forms
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
sheet glass cut in shapes for windows or doors
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
past form of “peer” — look searchingly
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
an introduction to a play
From this reading PROLOGUE.
except for; apart from
From this reading The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Mantle of Napoleon 325 "God Save the King!"
in or at that place or location
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading _To face p._ 126 "The Dumpling was making a desperate dash for liberty" " 190 "I fell back in incredulous horror" " 324 THE DUMPLING.
a Caucasian
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
morally bad in principle or practice
From this reading In the Opium Den _Frontispiece_ "There peered through a broken pane of glass ... the white and wicked face of the Dumpling."
Chapter 1 of The Dumpling by Coulson Kernahan holds 99 sentences, grouped into 20 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 99 sentences of The Dumpling, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Dumpling by Coulson Kernahan exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 99 sentences, grouped into 20 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 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
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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 Dumpling, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
