Chapter 5 of The Rose and the Ring is here in full — 154 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Rose and the Ring is here in full — 154 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey. The Queen, the Princess, and Gruffanuff were all three in the room. As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen. ‘You little vulgar thing!’ says the Princess. ‘You beast!’ says Gruffanuff.
Chapter 5 of The Rose and the Ring is here in full — 154 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/30 · 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 living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “‘You beast!’ says Gruffanuff.”
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading “So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.”
impressiveness in scale or proportion
From this reading “So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.”
possessive form of “queen” — the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading “So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.”
two times
From this reading “So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.”
lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
From this reading “‘You little vulgar thing!’ says the Princess.”
performs some wicked deed
From this reading “As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen.”
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 So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
(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 The Queen, the Princess, and Gruffanuff were all three in the room.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading ‘You beast!’ says Gruffanuff.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen.
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
bending the knees; a gesture of respect made by women
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Queen, the Princess, and Gruffanuff were all three in the room.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The Queen, the Princess, and Gruffanuff were all three in the room.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
impressiveness in scale or proportion
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
The daughter of a monarch; a female member of a royal family.
From this reading The Queen, the Princess, and Gruffanuff were all three in the room.
the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading The Queen, the Princess, and Gruffanuff were all three in the room.
possessive form of “queen” — the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading The Queen, the Princess, and Gruffanuff were all three in the room.
cut with a saw
From this reading As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen.
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
in the near future
From this reading As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen.
a special situation
From this reading ‘You little vulgar thing!’ says the Princess.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading The Queen, the Princess, and Gruffanuff were all three in the room.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
two times
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
From this reading ‘You little vulgar thing!’ says the Princess.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The Queen, the Princess, and Gruffanuff were all three in the room.
at the time that
From this reading So when the Queen’s bell rang twice, Betsinda came to Her Majesty and made a pretty little curtsey.
performs some wicked deed
From this reading As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading As soon as they saw her they began, ‘You wretch!’ says the Queen.
Chapter 5 of The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray holds 154 sentences, grouped into 31 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 5 holds 154 sentences of The Rose and the Ring, unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 154 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 5 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 Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1424 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #897 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #897, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 118 minutes of reading across 285 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Rose and the Ring section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Rose and the Ring 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 Rose and the Ring, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
