Chapter 4 of The Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy 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 Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy is here in full — 430 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Am I dreaming? FOPDOODLE [_from his concealment_]. Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him! Oh, how I crave to be a noble husband. O dazzling Violet!
Chapter 4 of The Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy 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 variable color averaging a vivid red
From this reading “Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!”
the condition of being concealed or hidden
have a craving, appetite, or great desire for
From this reading “Oh, how I crave to be a noble husband.”
A short knife with a pointed and edged blade, used as a stealth weapon.
From this reading “Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!”
amazingly impressive; suggestive of the flashing of lightning
From this reading “O dazzling Violet!”
one who works hard at boring tasks
From this reading “Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!”
get into a prostrate position, as in submission
From this reading “Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!”
use a knife on
From this reading “Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!”
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.
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 Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading Am I dreaming?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Oh, how I crave to be a noble husband.
a variable color averaging a vivid red
From this reading Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
the condition of being concealed or hidden
From this reading FOPDOODLE [_from his concealment_].
have a craving, appetite, or great desire for
From this reading Oh, how I crave to be a noble husband.
A short knife with a pointed and edged blade, used as a stealth weapon.
From this reading Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
amazingly impressive; suggestive of the flashing of lightning
From this reading O dazzling Violet!
imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake
From this reading Am I dreaming?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading FOPDOODLE [_from his concealment_].
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading FOPDOODLE [_from his concealment_].
one who works hard at boring tasks
From this reading Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading FOPDOODLE [_from his concealment_].
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Oh, how I crave to be a noble husband.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading Oh, how I crave to be a noble husband.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Am I dreaming?
impressive in appearance
From this reading Oh, how I crave to be a noble husband.
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 dazzling Violet!
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
get into a prostrate position, as in submission
From this reading Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
use a knife on
From this reading Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Oh for a carmine dagger to hack, to stab, to prostrate him!
any of numerous low-growing violas with small flowers
From this reading O dazzling Violet!
Chapter 4 of The Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy by Samuel Eberly Gross 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 Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy by Samuel Eberly Gross 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 Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy by Samuel Eberly Gross on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2185 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54014 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54014, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 182 minutes of reading across 437 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of The Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy 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 Merchant Prince of Cornville: A Comedy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
