Chapter 1 of The London Prodigal is here in full — 398 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The London Prodigal is here in full — 398 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LANCELOT. Call him in, Daffodil. FLOWERDALE. O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger. [Enter Master Civet.]
Chapter 1 of The London Prodigal is here in full — 398 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
cat-like mammal typically secreting musk used in perfumes
From this reading “[Enter Master Civet.]”
any of numerous varieties of Narcissus plants having showy often yellow flowers with a trumpet-shaped central crown
From this reading “Call him in, Daffodil.”
to come or go into
From this reading “[Enter Master Civet.]”
a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading “O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.”
(Arthurian legend) one of the knights of the Round Table; friend of King Arthur until (according to some versions of the legend) he became the lover of Arthur's wife Guinevere
From this reading “LANCELOT.”
showing reason or sound judgment
From this reading “O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.”
possessing material wealth
From this reading “O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.”
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading “O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.”
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 O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Call him in, Daffodil.
cat-like mammal typically secreting musk used in perfumes
From this reading [Enter Master Civet.]
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
any of numerous varieties of Narcissus plants having showy often yellow flowers with a trumpet-shaped central crown
From this reading Call him in, Daffodil.
to come or go into
From this reading [Enter Master Civet.]
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading FLOWERDALE.
a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Call him in, Daffodil.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Call him in, Daffodil.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
(Arthurian legend) one of the knights of the Round Table; friend of King Arthur until (according to some versions of the legend) he became the lover of Arthur's wife Guinevere
From this reading LANCELOT.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
an artist of consummate skill
From this reading [Enter Master Civet.]
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
showing reason or sound judgment
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
possessing material wealth
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
term of address for a man
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading O I know him, sir, he is a fool, but reasonable rich; his father was one of these lease-mongers, these corn-mongers, these money-mongers, but he never had the wit to be a whore-monger.
Chapter 1 of The London Prodigal by William [Dubious author] Shakespeare holds 398 sentences, grouped into 80 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 1 holds 398 sentences of The London Prodigal, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The London Prodigal by William [Dubious author] Shakespeare exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 398 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 1 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 London Prodigal by William [Dubious author] Shakespeare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 803 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4031 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4031, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 66 minutes of reading across 161 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The London Prodigal section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of The London Prodigal 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 London Prodigal, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
