Chapter 4 of The Sick-a-Bed Lady is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Sick-a-Bed Lady is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it. You have got to go away again. You are a wound that will not heal. It is your Dear Mother's eyes. It is your Dear Mother's mouth.
Chapter 4 of The Sick-a-Bed Lady is here in full — 419 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 youthful male person
From this reading “"Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.”
dearly loved
From this reading “It is your Dear Mother's eyes.”
heal or recover
From this reading “You are a wound that will not heal.”
a small worthless amount
From this reading “"Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.”
possessive form of “mother” — a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading “It is your Dear Mother's eyes.”
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading “It is your Dear Mother's mouth.”
the act of using
From this reading “"Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.”
an injury to living tissue (especially an injury involving a cut or break in the skin)
From this reading “You are a wound that will not heal.”
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.
move away from a place into another direction
In this reading “You have got to go away again.”
In this reading “"Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.”
In this reading “It is your Dear Mother's eyes.”
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 wound that will not heal.
anew
From this reading You have got to go away again.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading You are a wound that will not heal.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading You have got to go away again.
a youthful male person
From this reading "Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.
dearly loved
From this reading It is your Dear Mother's eyes.
opinion or judgment
From this reading It is your Dear Mother's eyes.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading You have got to go away again.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading You have got to go away again.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading You have got to go away again.
heal or recover
From this reading You are a wound that will not heal.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.
a small worthless amount
From this reading "Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.
possessive form of “mother” — a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading It is your Dear Mother's eyes.
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading It is your Dear Mother's mouth.
not any; not one
From this reading "Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading You are a wound that will not heal.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading You are a wound that will not heal.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading You have got to go away again.
the act of using
From this reading "Little Boy Jack, there is no use in it.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading You are a wound that will not heal.
an injury to living tissue (especially an injury involving a cut or break in the skin)
From this reading You are a wound that will not heal.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You have got to go away again.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It is your Dear Mother's eyes.
Chapter 4 of The Sick-a-Bed Lady by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott holds 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 4 holds 419 sentences of The Sick-a-Bed Lady, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Sick-a-Bed Lady by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 419 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 4 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 Sick-a-Bed Lady by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4508 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34829 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34829, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 375 minutes of reading across 902 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Sick-a-Bed Lady section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of The Sick-a-Bed Lady 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 Sick-a-Bed Lady, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
