The Proof of the Pudding

Chapter III

Chapter 3 of The Proof of the Pudding is here in full — 239 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

By Meredith Nicholson • Curated US English Learning Edition

Chapter 3 of The Proof of the Pudding by Meredith Nicholson holds 239 sentences, grouped into 48 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.

What does chapter 3 of The Proof of the Pudding contain?

Chapter 3 holds 239 sentences of The Proof of the Pudding, unabridged, divided into 48 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 3 of The Proof of the Pudding by Meredith Nicholson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 239 sentences, grouped into 48 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.

How do I study chapter 3 of The Proof of the Pudding?

Work through the 48 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 48 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.

Can chapter 3 be read aloud to me?

Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 3 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.

Questions about reading The Proof of the Pudding

Common questions about reading The Proof of the Pudding by Meredith Nicholson on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of The Proof of the Pudding?

Yes. All 5333 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66354 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of The Proof of the Pudding is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #66354, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does The Proof of the Pudding take to read?

About 444 minutes of reading across 1067 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read The Proof of the Pudding section by section

How to work through The Proof of the Pudding section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

Open a chapter

Choose one of the 27 chapters of The Proof of the Pudding to begin.
Read one section

Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Listen and tap

Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in The Proof of the Pudding

Words and structures a reader meets early in The Proof of the Pudding, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Meredith: A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Proof of the Pudding; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Nicholson: A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Proof of the Pudding; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Proof: A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Proof of the Pudding; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Pudding: A word that appears in the opening chapter of The Proof of the Pudding; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.

Cover illustration for The Proof of the Pudding

English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5

MR.

FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

The bookcases that lined the walls had rarely been opened; they contained the “Waverley Novels,” Dickens’s “Works” complete, and a wide range of miscellaneous fiction, including “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” most of Mark Twain, Tourgée’s novel of Reconstruction, “A Fool’s Errand,” Helen Hunt Jackson’s “Ramona,” and a number of Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney’s stories for girls--these latter reminiscent of Nan’s girlhood.

Narrator

Speed 0.75x

AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English

LEARNER DICTIONARY

Archivist

/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/

Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Chapter III Reading 1/48

The Proof of the Pudding Meredith Nicholson

Chapter III

Chapter 3 of The Proof of the Pudding is here in full — 239 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

MR. FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples. The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side. The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers. The bookcases that lined the walls had rarely been opened; they contained the “Waverley Novels,” Dickens’s “Works” complete, and a wide range of miscellaneous fiction, including “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” most of Mark Twain, Tourgée’s novel of Reconstruction, “A Fool’s Errand,” Helen Hunt Jackson’s “Ramona,” and a number of Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney’s stories for girls--these latter reminiscent of Nan’s girlhood.

The Proof of the Pudding

Chapter III

Chapter 3 of The Proof of the Pudding is here in full — 239 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/48 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1

MR.

Line 2

FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

Line 3

The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

Line 4

The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

Line 5

Learner Dictionary

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, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Been auxiliary verb US /bɪn/

the past participle of “be”

From this reading “The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.”

Parlor noun US /ˈpɑːrlər/

an old-fashioned sitting room

From this reading “The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.”

These determiner US /ðiːz/

the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned

From this reading “The bookcases that lined the walls had rarely been opened; they contained the “Waverley Novels,” Dickens’s “Works” complete, and a wide range of miscellaneous fiction, including “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” most of Mark Twain, Tourgée’s novel of Reconstruction, “A Fool’s Errand,” Helen Hunt Jackson’s “Ramona,” and a number of Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney’s stories for girls--these latter reminiscent of Nan’s girlhood.”

All words in this reading · 88

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

andeterminerUS /æn/

the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

andconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

BECOMES

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

beenauxiliary verbUS /bɪn/

the past participle of “be”

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

bookcases

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The bookcases that lined the walls had rarely been opened; they contained the “Waverley Novels,” Dickens’s “Works” complete, and a wide range of miscellaneous fiction, including “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” most of Mark Twain, Tourgée’s novel of Reconstruction, “A Fool’s Errand,” Helen Hunt Jackson’s “Ramona,” and a number of Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney’s stories for girls--these latter reminiscent of Nan’s girlhood.

brick

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

byprepositionUS /baɪ/

showing who or what does the action

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

Cabin

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

complete

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

comprised

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

contained

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

den

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

Dickens's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

dining-room

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

Errand

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

EXPLICIT

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

FARLEY

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

Farley's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

Farleys

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

fiction

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

floor

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

Fool's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

forprepositionUS /fɔːr/

intended to be given to, or used by, somebody

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

girlhood

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

girls

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

hadauxiliary verbUS /hæd/

the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

hepronounUS /hiː/

a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

Helen

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

house

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

Hunt

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

inprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

including

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

Jackson's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

latter

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

library

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

lined

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

lived

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

lower

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

maples

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

Mark

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

miscellaneous

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

most

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading MR.

Mrs

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

Nan's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

newspapers

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

novel

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

Novels

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

number

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

old-fashioned

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

onprepositionUS /ɑːn/

touching and supported by a surface

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

opened

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

parlornounUS /ˈpɑːrlər/

an old-fashioned sitting room

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

pipe

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

Ramona

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

range

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

rarely

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

read

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

Reconstruction

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

reminiscent

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

side

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

sitting-room

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

smoked

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

square

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

stories

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

surrounded

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

thatconjunctionUS /ðæt/

used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt

ThedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

thesedeterminerUS /ðiːz/

the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned

theypronounUS /ðeɪ/

the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject

Tom's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

Tourgée's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

Twain

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

twenty

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

Uncle

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

walls

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

Waverley

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

whereconjunctionUS /wer/

in or at the place that

From this reading The library had been Farley’s den, where he smoked his pipe and read his newspapers.

Whitney's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

wide

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

withprepositionUS /wɪð/

in the company of; together with

From this reading The lower floor comprised a parlor, sitting-room, and dining-room, with a library on the side.

Works

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

years

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading FARLEY BECOMES EXPLICIT The Farleys had lived for twenty years in an old-fashioned square brick house surrounded by maples.

Chapter III

What does chapter 3 of The Proof of the Pudding contain?

How do I study chapter 3 of The Proof of the Pudding?

Can chapter 3 be read aloud to me?

Questions about reading The Proof of the Pudding

How to read The Proof of the Pudding section by section

Open a chapter

Read one section

Listen and tap

Vocabulary met early in The Proof of the Pudding