Chapter 1 of The Water-Babies is here in full — 302 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Water-Babies is here in full — 302 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times. Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?” And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low. Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?” “Not now.”
Chapter 1 of The Water-Babies is here in full — 302 sentences across 61 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 26/60 · 5 reading units · Lines 126–130
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 “event” — something that happens at a given place and time
From this reading “Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?””
plural of “grime” — the state of being covered with unclean things
From this reading “Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?””
an old form of “have”, used with “thou”
From this reading “Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?””
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading ““Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.”
a boy or man
From this reading ““Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.”
possessive form of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
cooking in simmering liquid
From this reading “Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?””
comparative of “safe” — free from danger or the risk of harm
From this reading “Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?””
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 Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
anew
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
(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 Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
Having no one else present.
From this reading “Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.
any thing at all
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
plural of “event” — something that happens at a given place and time
From this reading Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
plural of “grime” — the state of being covered with unclean things
From this reading Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
an old form of “have”, used with “thou”
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading “Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
a boy or man
From this reading “Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.
immediately past
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading “Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.
possessive form of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
the force of workers available
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
a form of address for a man
From this reading Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “Not now.”
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading “Not now.”
cooking in simmering liquid
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
comparative of “safe” — free from danger or the risk of harm
From this reading Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
in a churlish manner
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
in spite of the fact that
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading Thy life’s safer than mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?”
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading “Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.
male cat
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading “Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite low.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, “Hast thou anything against me?”
(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 “Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times.
Chapter 1 of The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley holds 302 sentences, grouped into 61 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 1 holds 302 sentences of The Water-Babies, unabridged, divided into 61 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 302 sentences, grouped into 61 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 61 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 61 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 1 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 Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2578 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1018 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1018, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 214 minutes of reading across 516 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Water-Babies section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of The Water-Babies 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 Water-Babies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
