Chapter 3 of The Tale of Timber Town is here in full — 128 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Tale of Timber Town is here in full — 128 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Wreck of the Mersey Witch. The Maori is a brown man. His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet. His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam. A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.
Chapter 3 of The Tale of Timber Town is here in full — 128 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
plural of “creation” — the human act of creating
From this reading “A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.”
an airplane powered by one or more jet engines
From this reading “His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.”
an ethnic minority of Polynesian and Melanesian descent who speak Maori and live in New Zealand
From this reading “The Maori is a brown man.”
possessive form of “nature” — the essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized
From this reading “A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.”
of a white the color of pearls
From this reading “His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.”
reflect brightly
From this reading “His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.”
a female sorcerer or magician
From this reading “The Wreck of the Mersey Witch.”
something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
From this reading “The Wreck of the Mersey Witch.”
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 Maori is a brown man.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading The Maori is a brown man.
of textures that are rough to the touch or substances consisting of relatively large particles
From this reading His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.
come or bring to a finish or an end
From this reading A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.
plural of “creation” — the human act of creating
From this reading A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.
opinion or judgment
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
be shiny, as if wet
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The Maori is a brown man.
an airplane powered by one or more jet engines
From this reading His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The Maori is a brown man.
an ethnic minority of Polynesian and Melanesian descent who speak Maori and live in New Zealand
From this reading The Maori is a brown man.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Wreck of the Mersey Witch.
used to form the superlative
From this reading A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.
possessive form of “nature” — the essential qualities or characteristics by which something is recognized
From this reading A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Wreck of the Mersey Witch.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.
of a white the color of pearls
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading A Maori's smile is one of Nature's most complete creations.
plural of “smile” — a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
reflect brightly
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
successive (without a break)
From this reading His hair is straight, coarse, black, and bright as jet.
the kind and number and arrangement of teeth (collectively) in a person or animal
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Wreck of the Mersey Witch.
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
at the time that
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
a Caucasian
From this reading His eyes are brown, his teeth are pearly white; and, when he smiles, those brown eyes sparkle and those white teeth gleam.
a female sorcerer or magician
From this reading The Wreck of the Mersey Witch.
something or someone that has suffered ruin or dilapidation
From this reading The Wreck of the Mersey Witch.
Chapter 3 of The Tale of Timber Town by Alfred A. (Alfred Augustus) Grace holds 128 sentences, grouped into 26 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 128 sentences of The Tale of Timber Town, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Tale of Timber Town by Alfred A. (Alfred Augustus) Grace exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 128 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 Tale of Timber Town by Alfred A. (Alfred Augustus) Grace on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7529 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #28906 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #28906, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1506 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Tale of Timber Town section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Tale of Timber Town 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 Tale of Timber Town, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
