Chapter 3 of The Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?” “No, no! He had a loud way of talking, and he and Edmund--er--er--” “Yates?” “No, sir; Edmund Spenser.” Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
Chapter 3 of The Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
From this reading “Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:”
without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers
From this reading “Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:”
King of France from 1560 to 1574 whose reign was dominated by his mother Catherine de Medicis (1550-1574)
From this reading ““Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?””
a word used in exclamations of confusion
From this reading ““Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?””
savory dressings for salads; basically of two kinds: either the thin French or vinaigrette type or the creamy mayonnaise type
From this reading ““Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?””
characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading ““Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?””
a message that seems to convey no meaning
From this reading “Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:”
English poet who wrote an allegorical romance celebrating Elizabeth I in the Spenserian stanza (1552-1599)
From this reading ““No, sir; Edmund Spenser.””
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.
as might be expected
In this reading “Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:”
continue a certain state, condition, or activity
In this reading “Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:”
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 Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He had a loud way of talking, and he and Edmund--er--er--” “Yates?”
without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
King of France from 1560 to 1574 whose reign was dominated by his mother Catherine de Medicis (1550-1574)
From this reading “Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
a word used in exclamations of confusion
From this reading “Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
savory dressings for salads; basically of two kinds: either the thin French or vinaigrette type or the creamy mayonnaise type
From this reading “Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He had a loud way of talking, and he and Edmund--er--er--” “Yates?”
a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs with yttrium
From this reading “Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
plural of “go” — a time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else)
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had a loud way of talking, and he and Edmund--er--er--” “Yates?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading “Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
not any; not one
From this reading “No, no!
a message that seems to convey no meaning
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle; approximately equal to 3.14159265358979323846...
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
term of address for a man
From this reading “No, sir; Edmund Spenser.”
English poet who wrote an allegorical romance celebrating Elizabeth I in the Spenserian stanza (1552-1599)
From this reading “No, sir; Edmund Spenser.”
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading He had a loud way of talking, and he and Edmund--er--er--” “Yates?”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
precisely as stated
From this reading “Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading “Charles Dickens had a very loud way of--er--er--” “Dressing?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Of course this is arrant nonsense on the face of it, but he won’t admit that he’s made pi of his story, and he goes on:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He had a loud way of talking, and he and Edmund--er--er--” “Yates?”
Chapter 3 of The Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful by Charles Battell Loomis holds 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 3 holds 426 sentences of The Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful by Charles Battell Loomis exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful by Charles Battell Loomis on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1751 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63863 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63863, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 145 minutes of reading across 351 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of The Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful 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 Four-Masted Cat-Boat, and Other Truthful, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
