Chapter 4 of The Irrational Knot is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Irrational Knot is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor. The Rev. George Lind was coming. Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform. “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand. “Why did you trouble to meet me?
Chapter 4 of The Irrational Knot is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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 member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church
From this reading ““How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.”
possessive form of “earl” — a British peer ranking below a marquess and above a viscount
the yield from plants in a single growing season
From this reading “Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.”
Swedish soprano who toured the United States under the management of P. T. Barnum (1820-1887)
From this reading “The Rev. George Lind was coming.”
plural of “preparation” — the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose
From this reading “Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.”
line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight
From this reading “Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.”
increase the number of rotations per minute
From this reading “The Rev. George Lind was coming.”
plural of “tower” — a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading “Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading The Rev. George Lind was coming.
a small house with a single story
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
dearly loved
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading “Why did you trouble to meet me?
a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
possessive form of “earl” — a British peer ranking below a marquess and above a viscount
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
a boy or man
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading The Rev. George Lind was coming.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
the yield from plants in a single growing season
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
Swedish soprano who toured the United States under the management of P. T. Barnum (1820-1887)
From this reading The Rev. George Lind was coming.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Why did you trouble to meet me?
come together
From this reading “Why did you trouble to meet me?
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
a raised horizontal surface
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
plural of “preparation” — the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
line that is the commercial organization responsible for operating a system of transportation for trains that pull passengers or freight
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
get something; come into possession of
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
increase the number of rotations per minute
From this reading The Rev. George Lind was coming.
the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
plural of “tower” — a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
a source of difficulty
From this reading “Why did you trouble to meet me?
someone who visits
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Lord Carbury drove in the wagonet to the railway station, and met him on the platform.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Long before the harvest was home, preparations were made at Towers Cottage to receive another visitor.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading “Why did you trouble to meet me?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “How are you, my dear fellow?” cried the clergyman, shaking the earl’s hand.
Chapter 4 of The Irrational Knot by Bernard Shaw holds 430 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 4 holds 430 sentences of The Irrational Knot, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Irrational Knot by Bernard Shaw exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 430 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 4 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 Irrational Knot by Bernard Shaw on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8934 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #11354 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #11354, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1787 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Irrational Knot section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of The Irrational Knot 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 Irrational Knot, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
