Chapter 3 of The Pursuit of the House-Boat is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Pursuit of the House-Boat is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems. “‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned. ‘I was driven to it by necessity.’ “‘Not I,’ I replied. ‘As long as you play fair it will be all right.
Chapter 3 of The Pursuit of the House-Boat is here in full — 185 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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 light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted
From this reading ““‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.”
compelled forcibly by an outside agency
From this reading “‘I was driven to it by necessity.’”
expose or make accessible to some action or influence
From this reading ““‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned.”
a short vivid experience
From this reading ““‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.”
plural of “gem” — art highly prized for its beauty or perfection
From this reading ““‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.”
past form of “moan” — indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure
From this reading ““‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned.”
the condition of being essential or indispensable
From this reading “‘I was driven to it by necessity.’”
a jeweled headdress worn by women on formal occasions
From this reading ““‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.”
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 “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
(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 ‘As long as you play fair it will be all right.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading ‘As long as you play fair it will be all right.
call upon in supplication; entreat
From this reading “‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned.
a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading ‘I was driven to it by necessity.’
compelled forcibly by an outside agency
From this reading ‘I was driven to it by necessity.’
expose or make accessible to some action or influence
From this reading “‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned.
free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
From this reading ‘As long as you play fair it will be all right.
a boy or man
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
a short vivid experience
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
plural of “gem” — art highly prized for its beauty or perfection
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading ‘I was driven to it by necessity.’
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading ‘As long as you play fair it will be all right.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned.
past form of “moan” — indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure
From this reading “‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned.
the condition of being essential or indispensable
From this reading ‘I was driven to it by necessity.’
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
participate in games or sport
From this reading ‘As long as you play fair it will be all right.
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading “‘Not I,’ I replied.
precisely, exactly
From this reading ‘As long as you play fair it will be all right.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
a jeweled headdress worn by women on formal occasions
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘I was driven to it by necessity.’
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading ‘As long as you play fair it will be all right.
in the company of; together with
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “‘You are a great fellow,’ said I, as I held the tiara up to the light and watched with pleasure the flashing brilliance of its gems.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “‘I beg you’ll not expose me,’ he moaned.
Chapter 3 of The Pursuit of the House-Boat by John Kendrick Bangs holds 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 3 holds 185 sentences of The Pursuit of the House-Boat, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Pursuit of the House-Boat by John Kendrick Bangs exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 185 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 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.
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Yes. All 1779 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3169 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3169, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 148 minutes of reading across 356 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Pursuit of the House-Boat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Pursuit of the House-Boat 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 Pursuit of the House-Boat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
