Chapter 26 of The Lock and Key Library — Old Time English is here in full — 156 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Lock and Key Library — Old Time English is here in full — 156 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will. The sleeping man went up to that instrument. "He laid his head in it, asleep." "Asleep?" "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
Chapter 26 of The Lock and Key Library — Old Time English is here in full — 156 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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.
in a state of sleep
From this reading “"He laid his head in it, asleep."”
the mental attitude that something is believable and should be accepted as true
From this reading “"To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.”
a device that requires skill for proper use
From this reading “The sleeping man went up to that instrument.”
set down according to a plan
From this reading “"He laid his head in it, asleep."”
a small pouch inside a garment for carrying small articles
From this reading “"He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.”
make a logical or causal connection
From this reading “"To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.”
the state of being asleep
From this reading “The sleeping man went up to that instrument.”
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 “"To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.”
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 "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
in a state of sleep
From this reading "He laid his head in it, asleep."
the mental attitude that something is believable and should be accepted as true
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
a strong cotton fabric with a raised pattern; used for bedcovers and curtains
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "He laid his head in it, asleep."
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading "He laid his head in it, asleep."
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading "He laid his head in it, asleep."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "He laid his head in it, asleep."
a device that requires skill for proper use
From this reading The sleeping man went up to that instrument.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "He laid his head in it, asleep."
set down according to a plan
From this reading "He laid his head in it, asleep."
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The sleeping man went up to that instrument.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
a small pocketknife; originally used to cut quill pens
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
a small pouch inside a garment for carrying small articles
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
make a logical or causal connection
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
the state of being asleep
From this reading The sleeping man went up to that instrument.
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 "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The sleeping man went up to that instrument.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The sleeping man went up to that instrument.
a man's sleeveless garment worn underneath a coat
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading The sleeping man went up to that instrument.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
a Caucasian
From this reading "He then took a little penknife out of the pocket of his white dimity waistcoat.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "To the story which I now have to relate, you may give credence, or not, as you will.
Chapter 26 of The Lock and Key Library — Old Time English by Julian [Editor] Hawthorne holds 156 sentences, grouped into 32 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 26 holds 156 sentences of The Lock and Key Library — Old Time English, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Lock and Key Library — Old Time English by Julian [Editor] Hawthorne exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 156 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 26 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #1831, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 518 minutes of reading across 1245 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Lock and Key Library — Old Time English section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Lock and Key Library — Old Time English to begin.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Lock and Key Library — Old Time English, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
