Chapter 3 of The First and the Last is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The First and the Last is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LARRY. I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat. It's worth more than money when you're down." Little grey man like a shaggy animal. And a newspaper boy came up and said: "That's right, guv'nors!
Chapter 3 of The First and the Last is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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 living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “Little grey man like a shaggy animal.”
talk socially without exchanging too much information
From this reading “I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.”
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading “Little grey man like a shaggy animal.”
a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements
From this reading “And a newspaper boy came up and said: "That's right, guv'nors!”
used of hair; thick and poorly groomed
From this reading “Little grey man like a shaggy animal.”
past form of “talk” — exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading “I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.”
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading “I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.”
an indefinite quantity of something having a specified value
From this reading “It's worth more than money when you're down."”
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 Little grey man like a shaggy animal.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading Little grey man like a shaggy animal.
a youthful male person
From this reading And a newspaper boy came up and said: "That's right, guv'nors!
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading And a newspaper boy came up and said: "That's right, guv'nors!
talk socially without exchanging too much information
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading It's worth more than money when you're down."
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
From this reading Little grey man like a shaggy animal.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And a newspaper boy came up and said: "That's right, guv'nors!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's worth more than money when you're down."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LARRY.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Little grey man like a shaggy animal.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Little grey man like a shaggy animal.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading It's worth more than money when you're down."
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading It's worth more than money when you're down."
a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements
From this reading And a newspaper boy came up and said: "That's right, guv'nors!
precisely, exactly
From this reading And a newspaper boy came up and said: "That's right, guv'nors!
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
used of hair; thick and poorly groomed
From this reading Little grey man like a shaggy animal.
past form of “talk” — exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading It's worth more than money when you're down."
express gratitude or show appreciation to
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And a newspaper boy came up and said: "That's right, guv'nors!
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading And a newspaper boy came up and said: "That's right, guv'nors!
at the time that
From this reading It's worth more than money when you're down."
an indefinite quantity of something having a specified value
From this reading It's worth more than money when you're down."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I talked to him, and he said, "Thank you for this little chat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It's worth more than money when you're down."
Chapter 3 of The First and the Last by John Galsworthy holds 410 sentences, grouped into 82 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 410 sentences of The First and the Last, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The First and the Last by John Galsworthy exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 First and the Last by John Galsworthy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1245 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2918 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2918, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 103 minutes of reading across 249 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The First and the Last section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of The First and the Last 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 First and the Last, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
