Chapter 29 of The Squirrel-Cage is here in full — 221 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXIX
Chapter 29 of The Squirrel-Cage is here in full — 221 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be. Passions spin the plot." "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul! I never supposed he'd go and get mad. It was just my fool notion of being funny."
Chapter 29 of The Squirrel-Cage is here in full — 221 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/44 · 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.
used as intensifiers
From this reading “"Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!”
a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)
From this reading “"Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!”
deliver a lecture or talk
From this reading “"Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!”
an ancient region on the coast of western Asia Minor; a powerful kingdom until conquered by the Persians in 546 BC
From this reading “"Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!”
a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal)
From this reading “Passions spin the plot."”
revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis
From this reading “Passions spin the plot."”
very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
From this reading “"... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.”
a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
From this reading “"... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.”
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 "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
later than; following
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I never supposed he'd go and get mad.
used as intensifiers
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading It was just my fool notion of being funny."
a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading It was just my fool notion of being funny."
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
arousing or provoking laughter
From this reading It was just my fool notion of being funny."
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading I never supposed he'd go and get mad.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading I never supposed he'd go and get mad.
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading "... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I never supposed he'd go and get mad.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was just my fool notion of being funny."
and nothing more
From this reading It was just my fool notion of being funny."
deliver a lecture or talk
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading "... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.
an ancient region on the coast of western Asia Minor; a powerful kingdom until conquered by the Persians in 546 BC
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
roused to anger
From this reading I never supposed he'd go and get mad.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading It was just my fool notion of being funny."
a condition requiring relief
From this reading "... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading I never supposed he'd go and get mad.
not any; not one
From this reading "... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.
a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
From this reading It was just my fool notion of being funny."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was just my fool notion of being funny."
plural of “passion” — a strong feeling or emotion
From this reading Passions spin the plot."
United States feminist (1885-1977)
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal)
From this reading Passions spin the plot."
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
express in words
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis
From this reading Passions spin the plot."
required or under orders
From this reading I never supposed he'd go and get mad.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Passions spin the plot."
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
From this reading "... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.
a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
From this reading "... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was just my fool notion of being funny."
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Say, Lydia," said Madeleine with her bluff good humor, coming into the house a few days after the French lecture, "say, I'm awfully sorry I told Paul!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "... in tragic life, God wot, No villain need be.
Chapter 29 of The Squirrel-Cage by Dorothy Canfield Fisher holds 221 sentences, grouped into 45 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 29 holds 221 sentences of The Squirrel-Cage, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 29 of The Squirrel-Cage by Dorothy Canfield Fisher exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 221 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 29 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 Squirrel-Cage by Dorothy Canfield Fisher on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7211 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #23768 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #23768, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1443 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Squirrel-Cage section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of The Squirrel-Cage 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 Squirrel-Cage, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
