Chapter 1 of The Polite People of Pudibundia is here in full — 293 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Polite People of Pudibundia is here in full — 293 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
_This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow. Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place. There are about all places. The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it." "Yes.
Chapter 1 of The Polite People of Pudibundia is here in full — 293 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/58 · 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.
providing enjoyment; pleasantly entertaining
From this reading “The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."”
for the entire time appropriate to an activity
From this reading “_This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.”
social deportment
From this reading “_This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.”
-ing form of “mind” — be offended or bothered by; take offense with, be bothered by
From this reading “_This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.”
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading “_This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.”
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading “Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.”
plural of “pilot” — someone who is licensed to operate an aircraft in flight
From this reading “The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."”
plural of “tale” — 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 “The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."”
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 _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading There are about all places.
providing enjoyment; pleasantly entertaining
From this reading The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
for the entire time appropriate to an activity
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
and nothing more
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
social deportment
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
-ing form of “mind” — be offended or bothered by; take offense with, be bothered by
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
plural of “pilot” — someone who is licensed to operate an aircraft in flight
From this reading The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
plural of “place” — a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading There are about all places.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."
in the near future
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
plural of “story” — 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 Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
plural of “tale” — 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 The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."
express in words
From this reading The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
in or at the place that
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
which person or people
From this reading The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
an affirmative
From this reading Yes, I know there are peculiar stories about the place.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading The young pilots who have been there tell some amusing tales about it."
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading _This was a world where minding your manners was more than just a full-time job--it was murder!_ "Well, you will soon see for yourself, Marlow.
Chapter 1 of The Polite People of Pudibundia by R. A. Lafferty holds 293 sentences, grouped into 59 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 1 holds 293 sentences of The Polite People of Pudibundia, unabridged, divided into 59 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Polite People of Pudibundia by R. A. Lafferty exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 293 sentences, grouped into 59 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 59 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 59 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 Polite People of Pudibundia by R. A. Lafferty on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 293 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60955 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60955, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 24 minutes of reading across 59 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Polite People of Pudibundia section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The Polite People of Pudibundia 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 Polite People of Pudibundia, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
