Chapter 3 of The Silent Mill is here in full — 477 sentences across 96 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Silent Mill is here in full — 477 sentences across 96 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder. "What shall we sing?" she asks. "Must we part, beloved maid?"--he suggests. She shakes her head. "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
Chapter 3 of The Silent Mill is here in full — 477 sentences across 96 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/95 · 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.
third-person singular of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “"What shall we sing?" she asks.”
plural of “fix” — informal terms for a difficult situation
From this reading “Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.”
plural of “fold” — an angular or rounded shape made by folding
From this reading “Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.”
in such a manner as to make something clearly evident
From this reading “"Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."”
plural of “put” — the option to sell a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date
From this reading “Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.”
plural of “shake” — building material used as siding or roofing
From this reading “She shakes her head.”
third-person singular of “suggest” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading “"Must we part, beloved maid?"--he suggests.”
an established custom
From this reading “Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.”
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.
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
(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 "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
third-person singular of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "What shall we sing?" she asks.
dearly loved
From this reading "Must we part, beloved maid?"--he suggests.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
plural of “fix” — informal terms for a difficult situation
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
plural of “fold” — an angular or rounded shape made by folding
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Must we part, beloved maid?"--he suggests.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading She shakes her head.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
lie partly over or alongside of something or of one another
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
a female domestic
From this reading "Must we part, beloved maid?"--he suggests.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading "Must we part, beloved maid?"--he suggests.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading "Must we part, beloved maid?"--he suggests.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
in such a manner as to make something clearly evident
From this reading "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
the particular portion of space occupied by something
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
plural of “put” — the option to sell a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
on the contrary
From this reading "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
plural of “shake” — building material used as siding or roofing
From this reading She shakes her head.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading "What shall we sing?" she asks.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
deliver by singing
From this reading "What shall we sing?" she asks.
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity
From this reading "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
third-person singular of “suggest” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading "Must we part, beloved maid?"--he suggests.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Nothing about love," she says rather pointedly, "that's all so stupid."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "What shall we sing?" she asks.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What shall we sing?" she asks.
at the time that
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
an established custom
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
distant but within sight (“yon” is dialectal)
From this reading Then she puts herself in position, folds her hands in her lap as she is wont to do when singing, and fixes her eyes on the pigeon-house yonder.
Chapter 3 of The Silent Mill by Hermann Sudermann holds 477 sentences, grouped into 96 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 3 holds 477 sentences of The Silent Mill, unabridged, divided into 96 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Silent Mill by Hermann Sudermann exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 477 sentences, grouped into 96 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 96 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 96 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.
Common questions about reading The Silent Mill by Hermann Sudermann on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1896 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34407 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34407, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 158 minutes of reading across 380 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Silent Mill section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of The Silent Mill 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 Silent Mill, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
