Chapter 15 of The small bachelor is here in full — 394 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of The small bachelor is here in full — 394 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Well, Mullett?" The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening. He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips. "A wasp in the beehive!" cried Mullett. "Don't be an idiot," said George.
Chapter 15 of The small bachelor is here in full — 394 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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.
any workplace where people are very busy
From this reading “"A wasp in the beehive!" cried Mullett.”
a person of subnormal intelligence
From this reading “"Don't be an idiot," said George.”
the rate of moving (especially walking or running)
From this reading “The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.”
the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
From this reading “He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips.”
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading “He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips.”
a manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer
From this reading “The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.”
a white person of Anglo-Saxon ancestry who belongs to a Protestant denomination
From this reading “"A wasp in the beehive!" cried Mullett.”
an increase in width
From this reading “The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.”
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.
In this reading “The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.”
In this reading “The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.”
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 The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading "Don't be an idiot," said George.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "Don't be an idiot," said George.
any workplace where people are very busy
From this reading "A wasp in the beehive!" cried Mullett.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "A wasp in the beehive!" cried Mullett.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Don't be an idiot," said George.
opinion or judgment
From this reading The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading "Don't be an idiot," said George.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.
a person of subnormal intelligence
From this reading "Don't be an idiot," said George.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "A wasp in the beehive!" cried Mullett.
plural of “lip” — either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Well, Mullett?"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips.
above and across; more than
From this reading He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips.
the rate of moving (especially walking or running)
From this reading The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Don't be an idiot," said George.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.
the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
From this reading He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips.
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading He passed the tip of his tongue over his lips.
a manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer
From this reading The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.
a white person of Anglo-Saxon ancestry who belongs to a Protestant denomination
From this reading "A wasp in the beehive!" cried Mullett.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well, Mullett?"
an increase in width
From this reading The valet fell back a pace, his eyes widening.
Chapter 15 of The small bachelor by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse holds 394 sentences, grouped into 79 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 15 holds 394 sentences of The small bachelor, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of The small bachelor by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 394 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 15 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 small bachelor by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The small bachelor section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The small bachelor 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 small bachelor, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
