Chapter 17 of The Garden Party, and Other Stories is here in full — 235 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Garden Party, and Other Stories is here in full — 235 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing. Was it—could it all be true? It sounded terribly true. Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all? At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
Chapter 17 of The Garden Party, and Other Stories is here in full — 235 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/47 · 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.
round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
From this reading “Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?”
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading “Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?”
showing or feeling mirth or pleasure or happiness
From this reading “Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.”
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading “At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.”
experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness
From this reading “At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.”
heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading “At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.”
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading “It sounded terribly true.”
used as intensifiers
From this reading “It sounded terribly true.”
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 Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
later than; following
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Was it—could it all be true?
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Was it—could it all be true?
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Was it—could it all be true?
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Was it—could it all be true?
immediately past
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
the sound of laughing
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
showing or feeling mirth or pleasure or happiness
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
and nothing more
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Leila gave a light little laugh, but she did not feel like laughing.
heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
past form of “sound” — appear in a certain way
From this reading It sounded terribly true.
used as intensifiers
From this reading It sounded terribly true.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Was this first ball only the beginning of her last ball, after all?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
consistent with fact or reality; not false
From this reading Was it—could it all be true?
a formal word for “on”
From this reading At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad; it rose upon a great sigh.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Was it—could it all be true?
Chapter 17 of The Garden Party, and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield holds 235 sentences, grouped into 47 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 17 holds 235 sentences of The Garden Party, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Garden Party, and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 235 sentences, grouped into 47 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 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 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 17 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 Garden Party, and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4732 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1429 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1429, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 394 minutes of reading across 947 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Garden Party, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Garden Party, and Other Stories 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 Garden Party, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
