Chapter 1 of The First Christmas Tree is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The First Christmas Tree is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place . (Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .
Chapter 1 of The First Christmas Tree is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
completely unclothed
From this reading “(Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .”
a university in England
From this reading “Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .”
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading “(Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .”
nonresinous wood of a fir tree
From this reading “Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .”
exert pressure or force to or upon
From this reading “Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .”
plural of “son” — a male human offspring
From this reading “Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .”
the body of faculty and students at a university
From this reading “Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .”
author of the first novel by an African American that was published in the United States (1808-1870)
From this reading “Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .”
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 Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading (Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .
completely unclothed
From this reading (Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .
a university in England
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
King of France from 1560 to 1574 whose reign was dominated by his mother Catherine de Medicis (1550-1574)
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946)
From this reading (Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .
nonresinous wood of a fir tree
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
an ornamental facade
From this reading (Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading (Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading (Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
exert pressure or force to or upon
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
a male human offspring
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
plural of “son” — a male human offspring
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading (Frontispiece) The fields around lay bare to the moon .
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
a base containing nitrogen that is found in RNA (but not in DNA) and derived from pyrimidine; pairs with adenine
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
the body of faculty and students at a university
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
author of the first novel by an African American that was published in the United States (1808-1870)
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading Charles Scribner's Sons New York University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. So they took the little fir from its place .
Chapter 1 of The First Christmas Tree by Henry Van Dyke holds 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 415 sentences of The First Christmas Tree, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The First Christmas Tree by Henry Van Dyke exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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.
Common questions about reading The First Christmas Tree by Henry Van Dyke on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The First Christmas Tree section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The First Christmas Tree 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 Christmas Tree, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
