Chapter 10 of The Pond is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of The Pond is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler. "Pretty well, thanks," replied the May-fly grub. "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs. Otherwise, I've had a capital time." Aren't you almost ready?"
Chapter 10 of The Pond is here in full — 140 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
assets available for use in the production of further assets
From this reading “Otherwise, I've had a capital time."”
informal terms for a meal
From this reading “The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.”
undertake a journey or trip
From this reading “The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.”
staying power
From this reading “"There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.”
in other respects or ways
From this reading “Otherwise, I've had a capital time."”
a roll of hair brushed back from the forehead
From this reading “"There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.”
an acknowledgment of appreciation
From this reading “"Pretty well, thanks," replied the May-fly grub.”
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading “"There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.”
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.
In this reading “"There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.”
In this reading “Aren't you almost ready?"”
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 "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Aren't you almost ready?"
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Aren't you almost ready?"
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
assets available for use in the production of further assets
From this reading Otherwise, I've had a capital time."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
dearly loved
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
take in solid food
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
informal terms for a meal
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Otherwise, I've had a capital time."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Otherwise, I've had a capital time."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
undertake a journey or trip
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
staying power
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Pretty well, thanks," replied the May-fly grub.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
in other respects or ways
From this reading Otherwise, I've had a capital time."
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading "Pretty well, thanks," replied the May-fly grub.
completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress
From this reading Aren't you almost ready?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading "Pretty well, thanks," replied the May-fly grub.
a roll of hair brushed back from the forehead
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
an acknowledgment of appreciation
From this reading "Pretty well, thanks," replied the May-fly grub.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Cray-Fish's Journey "How is my dear grub?" asked little Mrs. Reed-Warbler.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Otherwise, I've had a capital time."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
inflected form of “tug” — pull hard
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
(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 "Pretty well, thanks," replied the May-fly grub.
a conical child's plaything tapering to a steel point on which it can be made to spin
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
which person or people
From this reading "There was a roach, who wanted to eat me; and two caddis-grubs, who tugged at me; and a whirligig, who bit me in one of my legs.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Aren't you almost ready?"
Chapter 10 of The Pond by Carl Ewald holds 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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 10 holds 140 sentences of The Pond, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of The Pond by Carl Ewald exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 140 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 10 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 Pond by Carl Ewald on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1500 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31708 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31708, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 125 minutes of reading across 300 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Pond section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The Pond 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 Pond, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
