Chapter 7 of The Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales is here in full — 442 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of The Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales is here in full — 442 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“I have been playing skittles,” he answered. “Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked. “Not I,” he responded. “I only made merry.” On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
Chapter 7 of The Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales is here in full — 442 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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 long seat for more than one person
From this reading “On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.”
a large and stately mansion
From this reading “On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.”
Filled with or placed under the influence of magical power or charm.
From this reading “On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.”
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading ““I only made merry.””
the act of playing a musical instrument
From this reading ““I have been playing skittles,” he answered.”
past form of “respond” — show a response or a reaction to something
From this reading ““Not I,” he responded.”
tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
From this reading ““Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked.”
a bowling game that is played by rolling a bowling ball down a bowling alley at a target of nine wooden pins
From this reading ““I have been playing skittles,” he answered.”
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 “On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.”
anew
In this reading “On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.”
In this reading “On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.”
In this reading “On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.”
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.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading “I have been playing skittles,” he answered.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading “I have been playing skittles,” he answered.
a long seat for more than one person
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
a large and stately mansion
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked.
Filled with or placed under the influence of magical power or charm.
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
start firing a weapon
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “I have been playing skittles,” he answered.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “I have been playing skittles,” he answered.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I have been playing skittles,” he answered.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading “Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked.
gain knowledge or skills
From this reading “Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading “I only made merry.”
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading “I only made merry.”
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “Not I,” he responded.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
on one occasion
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
and nothing more
From this reading “I only made merry.”
the act of playing a musical instrument
From this reading “I have been playing skittles,” he answered.
past form of “respond” — show a response or a reaction to something
From this reading “Not I,” he responded.
tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
From this reading “Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked.
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
a bowling game that is played by rolling a bowling ball down a bowling alley at a target of nine wooden pins
From this reading “I have been playing skittles,” he answered.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked.
one of three equal parts of a divisible whole
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading On the third night he once more was in the enchanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Didn’t you learn to shiver?” the king asked.
Chapter 7 of The Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales by Clifton [Editor] Johnson holds 442 sentences, grouped into 89 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 7 holds 442 sentences of The Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of The Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales by Clifton [Editor] Johnson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 442 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 7 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 Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales by Clifton [Editor] Johnson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3488 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #68071 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #68071, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 290 minutes of reading across 698 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales 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 Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
