Chapter 1 of The Philosopher's Joke is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Philosopher's Joke is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc. Myself, I do not believe this story. Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination. Their difficulty is there are six of them. Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
Chapter 1 of The Philosopher's Joke is here in full — 180 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading “Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.”
without doubt or question
From this reading “Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.”
make (someone) agree, understand, or realize the truth or validity of something
From this reading “Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.”
an effort that is inconvenient
From this reading “Their difficulty is there are six of them.”
illusory perception; a common symptom of severe mental disorder
From this reading “Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.”
United States feminist (1885-1977)
From this reading “Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.”
third-person singular of “perceive” — to become aware of through the senses
From this reading “Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.”
past form of “persuade” — win approval or support for
From this reading “Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.”
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 Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
Having no one else present.
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading Myself, I do not believe this story.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
without doubt or question
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
make (someone) agree, understand, or realize the truth or validity of something
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
an effort that is inconvenient
From this reading Their difficulty is there are six of them.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Myself, I do not believe this story.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
illusory perception; a common symptom of severe mental disorder
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
a specific instance of feeling hopeful
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Myself, I do not believe this story.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
the force of workers available
From this reading Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading Myself, I do not believe this story.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Myself, I do not believe this story.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
United States feminist (1885-1977)
From this reading Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
third-person singular of “perceive” — to become aware of through the senses
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
plural of “person” — a human being
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
past form of “persuade” — win approval or support for
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
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 Myself, I do not believe this story.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Each one alone perceives clearly that it never could have been.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Their difficulty is there are six of them.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Their difficulty is there are six of them.
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Their difficulty is there are six of them.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Myself, I do not believe this story.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading Author of "Paul Kelver," "Three Men in a Boat," etc., etc.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
a fact that has been verified
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Six persons are persuaded of its truth; and the hope of these six is to convince themselves it was an hallucination.
Chapter 1 of The Philosopher's Joke by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome holds 180 sentences, grouped into 36 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 180 sentences of The Philosopher's Joke, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Philosopher's Joke by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 180 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 Philosopher's Joke by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 371 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #868 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #868, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 30 minutes of reading across 75 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Philosopher's Joke section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of The Philosopher's Joke 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 Philosopher's Joke, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
