Chapter 3 of The house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii is here in full — 222 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii is here in full — 222 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"We know. We have it from our fathers and our fathers' fathers. They came like lambs, speaking softly. Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours. As I say, they spoke softly.
Chapter 3 of The house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii is here in full — 222 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/44 · 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.
plural of “father” — a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading “We have it from our fathers and our fathers' fathers.”
plural of “island” — a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading “Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.”
plural of “lamb” — young sheep
From this reading “They came like lambs, speaking softly.”
the one or ones belonging to us
From this reading “Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.”
with low volume
From this reading “They came like lambs, speaking softly.”
the utterance of intelligible speech
From this reading “They came like lambs, speaking softly.”
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading “As I say, they spoke softly.”
having strength or power greater than average or expected
From this reading “Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.”
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.
(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 Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading We have it from our fathers and our fathers' fathers.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As I say, they spoke softly.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading They came like lambs, speaking softly.
plural of “father” — a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading We have it from our fathers and our fathers' fathers.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading We have it from our fathers and our fathers' fathers.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading We have it from our fathers and our fathers' fathers.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading As I say, they spoke softly.
plural of “island” — a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading We have it from our fathers and our fathers' fathers.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "We know.
plural of “lamb” — young sheep
From this reading They came like lambs, speaking softly.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading They came like lambs, speaking softly.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading We have it from our fathers and our fathers' fathers.
the one or ones belonging to us
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
express in words
From this reading As I say, they spoke softly.
with low volume
From this reading They came like lambs, speaking softly.
express in speech
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
the utterance of intelligible speech
From this reading They came like lambs, speaking softly.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading As I say, they spoke softly.
having strength or power greater than average or expected
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They came like lambs, speaking softly.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We know.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.
Chapter 3 of The house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii by Jack London holds 222 sentences, grouped into 45 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 222 sentences of The house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii by Jack London exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 222 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii by Jack London on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2252 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2416 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2416, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 187 minutes of reading across 451 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii 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 house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
