Chapter 7 of The Little House in the Fairy Wood is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of The Little House in the Fairy Wood is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma. Her bed had not been slept in. They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes. The room was strange and lonely without her. The fire had died in the night.
Chapter 7 of The Little House in the Fairy Wood is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
the state of being absent
From this reading “They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.”
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading “The fire had died in the night.”
lacking companions or companionship
From this reading “The room was strange and lonely without her.”
ready to fall asleep
From this reading “They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.”
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading “Her bed had not been slept in.”
a female sorcerer or magician
From this reading “A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.”
inflected form of “wake” — be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading “A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.”
the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading “They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.”
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 A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
the state of being absent
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The room was strange and lonely without her.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading Her bed had not been slept in.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Her bed had not been slept in.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
plural of “child” — a young person of either sex
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading The fire had died in the night.
opinion or judgment
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
start firing a weapon
From this reading The fire had died in the night.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Her bed had not been slept in.
only a very short time before
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her bed had not been slept in.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Her bed had not been slept in.
lacking companions or companionship
From this reading The room was strange and lonely without her.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
not any; not one
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Her bed had not been slept in.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading The room was strange and lonely without her.
ready to fall asleep
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading Her bed had not been slept in.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading The room was strange and lonely without her.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
in or at that place or location
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
at the time that
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
a female sorcerer or magician
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading The room was strange and lonely without her.
inflected form of “wake” — be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading A WITCH AT THE WINDOW When the children woke the next morning, there was no Helma.
the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading They had been too sleepy the night before to wonder at her absence, but now they could hardly believe their eyes.
Chapter 7 of The Little House in the Fairy Wood by Ethel Cook Eliot holds 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 7 holds 186 sentences of The Little House in the Fairy Wood, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of The Little House in the Fairy Wood by Ethel Cook Eliot exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 7 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 Little House in the Fairy Wood by Ethel Cook Eliot on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2374 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #10463 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #10463, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 197 minutes of reading across 475 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Little House in the Fairy Wood section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Little House in the Fairy Wood 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 Little House in the Fairy Wood, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
