Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 353 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 353 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Enter within. My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day. RACHEL _and_ PRISCILLA _enter the inn, followed by_ DEBORAH. _The organ music continues softly. After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry is here in full — 353 sentences across 71 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 23/70 · 5 reading units · Lines 111–115
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.
a former copper coin of Pakistan and India
From this reading “After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.”
third-person singular of “continue” — continue a certain state, condition, or activity
From this reading “_The organ music continues softly.”
having made preparations
From this reading “My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.”
a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
From this reading “_The organ music continues softly.”
(Old Testament) the second wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin
From this reading “RACHEL _and_ PRISCILLA _enter the inn, followed by_ DEBORAH.”
the back of a military formation or procession
From this reading “After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.”
On the present night.
From this reading “My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.”
possessive form of “winter” — the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading “My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.”
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 After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.
later than; following
From this reading After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
a former copper coin of Pakistan and India
From this reading After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading RACHEL _and_ PRISCILLA _enter the inn, followed by_ DEBORAH.
third-person singular of “continue” — continue a certain state, condition, or activity
From this reading _The organ music continues softly.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading RACHEL _and_ PRISCILLA _enter the inn, followed by_ DEBORAH.
to come or go into
From this reading Enter within.
having made preparations
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading RACHEL _and_ PRISCILLA _enter the inn, followed by_ DEBORAH.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.
bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
plural of “guest” — a visitor to whom hospitality is extended
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
From this reading RACHEL _and_ PRISCILLA _enter the inn, followed by_ DEBORAH.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading _The organ music continues softly.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
From this reading _The organ music continues softly.
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading RACHEL _and_ PRISCILLA _enter the inn, followed by_ DEBORAH.
(Old Testament) the second wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin
From this reading RACHEL _and_ PRISCILLA _enter the inn, followed by_ DEBORAH.
the back of a military formation or procession
From this reading After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.
a deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval)
From this reading After a slight pause enter_ ANNA _from rear left.
with low volume
From this reading _The organ music continues softly.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading RACHEL _and_ PRISCILLA _enter the inn, followed by_ DEBORAH.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
On the present night.
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
possessive form of “winter” — the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading Enter within.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading My guests tonight are gay And fain would turn this winter's night to day.
Chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare holds 353 sentences, grouped into 71 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 353 sentences of The White Christmas and other Merry, unabridged, divided into 71 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 353 sentences, grouped into 71 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 71 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 71 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 White Christmas and other Merry by Walter Ben Hare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4783 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #19826 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #19826, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 398 minutes of reading across 957 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The White Christmas and other Merry section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The White Christmas and other Merry 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 White Christmas and other Merry, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
