Chapter 8 of The Luck of the Dudley Grahams is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Luck of the Dudley Grahams is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused. “Never mind,” says Robin. “He doesn’t know what’s good. _We_ will eat instead.” Such a jolly party as it was!
Chapter 8 of The Luck of the Dudley Grahams is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 first of the Old Testament patriarchs and the father of Isaac; according to Genesis, God promised to give Abraham's family (the Hebrews) the land of Canaan (the Promised Land); God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son
From this reading “So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.”
plural of “delicacy” — the quality of being beautiful and delicate in appearance
From this reading “So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.”
an edible jelly (sweet or pungent) made with gelatin and used as a dessert or salad base or a coating for foods
From this reading “So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.”
16th President of the United States; saved the Union during the American Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)
From this reading “So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.”
round yellow to orange fruit of any of several citrus trees
From this reading “So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.”
adopted in order to deceive
From this reading “So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.”
small Old World songbird with a reddish breast
From this reading ““Never mind,” says Robin.”
past form of “tempt” — dispose or incline or entice to
From this reading “So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
take someone's hands and shake them as a gesture of greeting or congratulation
In this reading “So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.”
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 Such a jolly party as it was!
the first of the Old Testament patriarchs and the father of Isaac; according to Genesis, God promised to give Abraham's family (the Hebrews) the land of Canaan (the Promised Land); God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Such a jolly party as it was!
the two together, not just one
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
plural of “delicacy” — the quality of being beautiful and delicate in appearance
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “He doesn’t know what’s good.
take in solid food
From this reading _We_ will eat instead.”
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading “He doesn’t know what’s good.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
in place of, or as an alternative to
From this reading _We_ will eat instead.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Such a jolly party as it was!
an edible jelly (sweet or pungent) made with gelatin and used as a dessert or salad base or a coating for foods
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
full of or showing high-spirited merriment
From this reading Such a jolly party as it was!
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “He doesn’t know what’s good.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
16th President of the United States; saved the Union during the American Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading “Never mind,” says Robin.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading “Never mind,” says Robin.
in a stubborn unregenerate manner
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
round yellow to orange fruit of any of several citrus trees
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
an organization to gain political power
From this reading Such a jolly party as it was!
adopted in order to deceive
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
past form of “refuse” — show unwillingness towards
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
small Old World songbird with a reddish breast
From this reading “Never mind,” says Robin.
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading “Never mind,” says Robin.
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Such a jolly party as it was!
past form of “tempt” — dispose or incline or entice to
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Such a jolly party as it was!
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading _We_ will eat instead.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “He doesn’t know what’s good.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading _We_ will eat instead.”
in the company of; together with
From this reading So I pretended to shake hands with the much-enduring Abraham Lincoln, and tempted him with lady-fingers and orange jelly, both of which delicacies he obstinately refused.
Chapter 8 of The Luck of the Dudley Grahams by Alice Calhoun Haines holds 417 sentences, grouped into 84 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 8 holds 417 sentences of The Luck of the Dudley Grahams, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Luck of the Dudley Grahams by Alice Calhoun Haines exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 417 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 8 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 Luck of the Dudley Grahams by Alice Calhoun Haines on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3280 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57301 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57301, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 273 minutes of reading across 656 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Luck of the Dudley Grahams section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Luck of the Dudley Grahams 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 Luck of the Dudley Grahams, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
